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On the calm banks of Bayou St. John lived a little duckling named Dewdrop. Dewdrop was the smallest of her brothers and sisters—tiny, fluffy, and always a little unsure of herself. While the others paddled fast and splashed confidently, Dewdrop often wobbled and fell behind.
But she had a big, curious heart. She loved watching the sun sparkle on the water and listening to the music drifting from the city. She dreamed of being brave—like the heroes in the stories her mama told at night—but she never felt quite brave enough.
One summer afternoon, everything changed.
A sudden storm rolled in from the Gulf. The wind howled and the sky turned dark and wild. Waves tossed Dewdrop and her family, pushing them farther and farther from the calm shore. The ducklings tried their best to paddle, but the storm was too strong.
Dewdrop’s heart pounded.
“I’m scared!” she squeaked.
“I’m right here,” her mama called, but even she was struggling against the wind.
Just when it felt like all hope was lost, a shadow swept overhead—large wings cutting through the rain.
It was Tiki the Pelican, the friendliest bird in all of New Orleans.
“Hold on tight, cher!” he shouted.
One by one, Tiki scooped up the ducklings, carefully settling them on his strong back. Dewdrop squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her feathers, terrified of the height, terrified of falling—but she held on.
Through the wind and rain, Tiki flew them to safety beneath a grand old oak tree where neighbors gathered to shelter. When Dewdrop’s webbed feet finally touched the ground again, she trembled—not from fear, but from relief.
“You were very brave,” Tiki said gently, lowering his head to her level.
“Me? But I was scared the whole time,” Dewdrop whispered.
Tiki smiled.
“Being brave doesn’t mean you’re never scared. It means you keep going even when you are.”
The words warmed Dewdrop more than the sunlight returning to the sky.
Maybe being small wasn’t a weakness. Maybe courage wasn’t loud or showy.
Maybe courage was… her.
From then on, Dewdrop tried new things every day:
🌊 She practiced paddling in deeper water.
🎶 She learned to quack along with the jazz band that played near the bayou.
💛 And she helped other little ducklings who felt afraid, reminding them the same words Tiki taught her.
One evening, long after the storm had passed, Dewdrop and her family were invited to Tiki’s famous lantern-lit gathering by the water. The band played, neighbors danced, and everyone clapped when Dewdrop stood proudly at the front and quacked:
“Courage means doing what’s right even when you’re scared!”
The crowd cheered.
Tiki winked.
And Dewdrop felt her heart swell like a second line trumpet.
She wasn’t the smallest anymore—
She was the bravest little duck on the bayou.
And every time she saw the sunset glow gold across the river, she remembered the day she found her courage… with a little help from a pelican with a heart as big as New Orleans.
