Project Mallard

Published by Thin Air, 14 October 2022
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‘The area of iridescent blue feathers on a duck’s wing is called the speculum,’ Kali reads on Wikipedia.
Weird, she thinks.
Etymology? She thinks.
No. Don’t look.
She doesn’t want a medical speculum ruining the moment if she gets lucky and sees the feathers again. She’s glimpsed them once or twice, on the mottled brown female in flight.