Day:230, Words:230

Today was the Øksfjord plastic duck lottery race. The last of the 350 yellow ducks were so sold but there was a nervous atmosphere following the debacle last year. There was little water in the river in 2011 and the ducks struggled to advance past the reeds, rocks and sand. After an hour had passed and most of the crowd had dispersed, a small group floated meekily past the finish line, just enough for the prizes to be awarded.

This year, with all the rain, surely the ducks would rush down the river at a rapid pace. To be safe, the starting point was brought forward a few metres. After an hour of children's activities and cod liver treats on the shore, the ducks were let loose.

At first, they raced down the fast flowing river at such a speed, that screams of 'Here they come' could be heard from the starting point. The coffee drinking folk sprinted over to the finish line in the hope that they would see their duck float past in the top three. There was no need to rush as many of the yellow ducks once again became stuck. After 15 minutes, the first ducks came into view of the crowd by the finish line.

The owners of the first three were jubilant and collected their winnings, while the duck retrieval commitee got to work.

 

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