Henry the Duck

Henry the Flower Collector

his is the story of Henry the duck, but it’s a different Henry to the Henry you might know.  Because, not everybody knows this, but just about every duck is called Henry! 

And this Henry loved to collect flowers.

Ever since he’d been small Henry had loved flowers. Big flowers, little flowers, long flowers, short flowers, Henry loved them all and whenever he discovered a new flower, he’d take it home for his collection.

Henry had flowers of every colour imaginable and his duck hole looked a bit like the inside of a rainbow with all the flowers stuck up on the walls. 

Most of the other ducks thought Henry was a little crazy. They couldn’t understand why someone would want a dry flower that didn’t smell anymore, when you only had to fly across the lake and you could see (and smell) all kinds of flowers.

But Henry had collected flowers that couldn’t be found anywhere near his lake and some of his flowers were very rare. Henry had even collected and dried flowers that only existed for a few days each year, so that he could enjoy them all year long.

In fact, Henry loved flowers so much that he spent all day, every day, collecting flowers. Some days when he found lots of new flowers for his collection he’d get so excited he’d even forget to eat.

Henry’s neighbors tried to tell Henry that collecting flowers was a waste of time, that it was bad for his health when it stopped him eating, and that he should give it up! But all that changed when the king and queen duck came to visit.

Not many people know that all ducks have a king and queen (but then, there are lots of things that people don’t know about ducks). All the ducks were so excited that the king and queen were coming for a visit and Henry was more excited than most.

The king and queen duck thought Henry’s lake was beautiful. The queen duck said she had seen some of the loveliest flowers as they flew in, but unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to see them up close. Because, it turned out, the queen had very bad allergies. Even though she loved flowers, the smell always made her sneeze and left her feeling terrible.     

When the king and queen duck found out about Henry’s flower collection they asked if they could spend the afternoon at his place. Henry was both surprised and delighted and he quickly agreed. The queen loved Henry’s flowers so much that Henry insisted that she take some home with her.

From that time on ducks all around the world began to collect flowers, hoping that the king and queen duck might come to their place.

Even some of Henry’s neighbors who’d teased Henry about his collection began their own collections. But Henry’s flower collection was one of the best in the world and whenever the king and queen duck visited, they would always spend time at Henry’s place. All of which made Henry a bit of a celebrity and very, very, famous.

And that’s the story of Henry the duck.

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 This is a free children’s story from www.henrytheduck.net
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