The Little Ducky - Tales from Bark Mountain

On this heartwarming episode of Tales from Bark Mountain, a tiny duckling disappears into a rushing storm drain during a sunny afternoon at Bark Mountain Park. As worried families gather and a mother duck searches desperately for her baby, the Bark Mountain firefighters race to the park and quickly start searching storm drains in an attempt to find the little creature.

 Goose the Fire Dog leads the rescue through dark underground tunnels, as the crew discovers that even the smallest life is worth saving. 

Because in Bark Mountain, courage, teamwork, and kindness always answer the call — even if it's only one tiny heartbeat at a time.    

This Tales from Bark Mountain episode was created and narrated by Steve Serbic

Music from Bensound.com

License code: JOMKAMTPZ2OJIAIF

Artist: : Benjamin Tissot

Check out goosethefiredog.com for pictures and more stories 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Welcome to another tale from Bark Mountain. The sun was shining brightly over Bark Mountain Park, and the walking trails were filled with families enjoying the warm spring afternoon. Children laughed near the playground while birds chirp high in the trees. Near the edge of the park, beside the road, a mother duck carefully waddled through the grass with her seven tiny ducklings following closely behind. Look at the babies, a little girl shouted excitedly from a nearby bench. People stopped to smile as the duck family approached the road. Cars slowed down immediately. Everyone in Bark Mountain knew to watch carefully when animals crossed the road near the park. The mother duck carefully stepped off the curb, and as she waddled across the road her family of ducklings formed a fuzzy yellow line following close behind. One, two, three, four, five, six. But the seventh duckling was much smaller than the others and struggled to keep up. Its tiny little legs moved as fast as they could while the rest of the family reached the curb on the other side. And as this seventh little duckling tried to move as fast as it could, it started to waddle off course and far away from its family down the road. The mother duck hopped safely onto the sidewalk first, and all the other ducklings followed. But that seventh duckling was quite a ways down the road and it was hurrying as fast as it could, and all of a sudden there was a cheep, and the little ducky disappeared. It slipped between the metal bars of the storm drain and vanished. The mother duck began pacing back and forth along the curb, quacking loudly in panic while the other ducklings huddled close together. A crowd quickly grew down the road where the duckling disappeared. I think it fell into the drain, a little boy said. What do we do? Another person said. Call the fire department, a man yelled from the back of the crowd. Within minutes the alarms echoed throughout the Bark Mountain fire hall. Minutes later, Engine eleven rolled into the parking lot with lights flashing. Rescue eleven was not far behind. When Fire Chief Steve arrived, he stepped out of his command truck with Goose the Fire Dog at his side near the drain. Firefighters Tom, Jake, and Izzy were already removing the storm drain cover. Red Forrest and Dazzle were grabbing ropes from the fire trucks. What do we have? Chief Steve calmly asked. A duckling fell into the storm drain, a man in the crowd explained, pointing towards the drain. We could hear it chirping below, said a lady. Everyone grew quiet. But you couldn't hear anything. Fire Chief Steve told Izzy and Tom and Goose to go down the street to the next storm drain and listen. As the firefighters got to the next storm drain, they heard something. From deep underground came a faint sound that only Goose could hear. Cheep, cheep, cheep. Goose tilted his ears forward immediately. He hears it, Izzy said softly. Dazzle and Jake then went to the next storm drain and removed the heavy storm cover. With a loud clang the metal cover slid and rattled on the road. Now all the firefighters were gathered around this one storm drain where Goose could hear the little duckling far below. They all peered downward into the darkness of the storm drain. Water rushed through the drain pipe several feet below. But no duckling could be seen. Then all of a sudden there, Red shouted suddenly. For just a second, a tiny yellow duckling bobbed its head as it passed by, disappearing farther down the pipe in the rushing water. It's being carried downstream, Forrest said. Chief Steve nodded seriously. We need to move fast. All the firefighters started to spread out across the park near the curb and removing all the storm drain covers downstream. Chief Steve went to every storm drain and goose followed him nose low to the ground. A few minutes later, Daz away from down the street. Chief, over here. Near the edge of the park was another storm drain where the water rushed loudly below. This drain pipe was far enough down the road where the duckling would eventually come through the pipe. Chief Steve knelt beside Goose. Buddy, he said gently, we need your help. Goose barked and wagged his tail once. As the firefighters carefully removed the storm cover out of the way, this drain opened into a larger tunnel with enough room for goose to safely be lowered inside. Tom clipped a safety harness onto Goose while Izzy attached a small light to his vest. This is gonna be easy, Goose, she whispered. Find that little ducky, she smiled. Goose slowly looked down the dark pipe. He really didn't like dark, tight spaces, but there was a ducky that needed his help. Goose took one big deep breath, and the firefighter started to lower him down into the pipe. There was a powerful light on his vest. The entire pipe lit up. When Goose got to the bottom of the rushing water, he put his paws out and quickly disappeared into the tunnel. Everyone stood waiting. As the firefighters held onto the rope, Goose stood in the rushing water looking up the drain with his powerful flashlight, and all of a sudden, a tiny trembling ducky started to float towards him. Goose gently lowered himself into the rushing water, blocking it so that little ducky would not be able to drift past him. He slowly turned his head and gently grabbed onto the little ducky's feathers, and then he barked three times. All the firefighters heard Goose's bark as they held onto the safety line outside of the drain pipe. Three muffled barks meant pull, so they gently started pulling on the rope, hoping that when it came to the opening in the storm drain goose and the little ducky would be on the other end. Carefully and very slowly they started to pull the rope, and all of a sudden a soaking wet dog and a tiny little bird popped into view, and the crew moved quickly as Izzy scooped the frightened little bird into her safety net. We got the duckling, Tom shouted. Children smiled and pointed as Goose climbed proudly out of the drain tunnel, dripping wet but wagging his tail. That was amazing, a little boy shouted. The mother duckling hurried towards her little baby duckling, quacking loudly. The tiny duckling answered her with happy chirps as the firefighters carefully placed it on the ground. Cheers erupted on the street from the crowd that was watching as the firefighters knelt down to pat their favorite rescue dog. Goose waited for the perfect time until everyone was close enough to shake his fur wildly and get everyone soaking wet. The entire crowd laughed and Goose gave out a big howl. Silly goose, Fire Chief Steve said. Now everyone was safe and sound. One by one, the ducklings all gathered together again and started to walk in a straight line, following their mother. This time the smallest little duckling was up front, staying very close to his mother so she could keep an eye on him. Seven little ducklings made their way safely across the park and they all plopped into the pond. The entire crowd burst into applause. As Chief Steve opened the door in his command truck, Goose hopped in. The chief patted him and scratched his ears for a moment with a big smile. Nice work, partner, Fire Chief Steve said. As the firefighters packed up their tools as the evening sun stretched across the park, they know this to be true. Sometimes even the smallest rescue can show the whole town that kindness becomes powerful the moment someone chooses to care. Because even the smallest life can bring people together in the biggest ways. And refusing to walk away when something or someone vulnerable needs help. Because in Bark Mountain, caring is never measured by size, only by heart, because sometimes the smallest rescue teaches us the biggest lessons of all. And when an entire community chooses to care together, even the tiniest heartbeats can echo through a whole town. The firefighters knew they hadn't just rescued a little life that day. They reminded everyone watching what real strength looks like. Showing up, caring, and answering every call, one tiny heartbeat at a time.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Thank you for listening. Please check out goostofiredog.com for more stories and pictures. Every Sunday the crew gathers around for another tale from Mark Mountain. Please join us. Good morning, good day, good night, little firefighters, everywhere.