Bogleech.com's 2017 Horror Write-off:

Anatidaephobia

Submitted by creepy pasťák

I suffer from anatidaephobia.

In other words,im afraid that a duck is somehow constantly watching me.You may have read about it in one of those "Top 10 weirdest phobias" lists.You probably just laughed at it and shrugged it off
as something ridiculous.But let me tell you,it´s as real as it could be,and it´s no fun.I am aware
of how absurd my fear is,I mean how and why would a duck be watching me?But it doesn´t make me any
less paranoid.Whether im home,at work,walking outside or in public transport,im always nervous and
keep looking around.I try to tell myself it´s not real."Keep calm man,just keep calm.There is no
duck and you know it.Just chill out,there is no duck." Usually i can distract myself and stop thin-
king about it at least for a while.

On my way to work,I pass by a local pond in which a bunch of ducks live.There are always some people around,feeding them bread,or if they are smarter,vegetables.Whenever i walk by,i have to
laugh a little.It´s a rare moment when my phobia is justified.When i think about it,even if a duck
was actually watching me,it wouldn´t be anything terrible.I mean,duck are prettly harmless and even
a bit cute animals.

As of late,i´ve been feelin pretty good.Looks like im getting over my phobia and can finally just
relax.But today,something changed.I was waiting for my bus,just sitting on the bench and staring
into my phone,when i heard quacking."What the fuck?" I thought.When i looked around i saw a duck.
A male duck with a blue head and shiny feathers.Just a normal duck standing in the street."Oh hey
there,what are you doing here?" I said to it jokingly."Quack,Quack." The duck responded.After a
minute the bus pulled over."Oh well,gotta go.Bye my little duck friend!" I got in the bus and just
before the door closed,I heard a voice behind me."Feed me." It was a weird,squeaky,goblin-like
voice."The fuck was that?!" I looked out of the window.There was noone,except that duck."God damn it!" Just when i thought i was getting over it,it starts again!

Later that day,I was sitting in my office,doing my ususal job.Until i heard the quacking.I looked
around in horror,searching for it´s source."It´s ok,it´s nothing to worry about.Somebody probably
just clicked some ad or is watching youtube videos with duck or something like that." I thought to
myself.But the quacking wouldn´t stop.I couldn´t bear it anymore.I stood up and shouted "Where the
hell is that quacking coming from?!" Everyone turned around adn stared at me."Are you ok,David?"
A coworker asked me."Y-yeah,im fine...sorry about that." He patted my back and smiled."No problem
man,I know about your phobia.It´s not your fault." "I guess so..."

When i finished work,I decided to take the longer way home,just to avoid that pond.I was sick of
duck today and didn´t want to see any.However,I wasn´t spared.I saw a bunch of ducks in the middle
of the street.They were just there,doing nothing in particular and quacking.I sped up and quickly
got away.However,just before I left,I heard a bunch of voices."Feed us.Come on,feed us.Stop running
human." I turned around in shock.There were no people in the streets,only those fucking ducks.I
raised my middle finger,screamed "Fuck off!" and ran away.When i got home,I took a shower and went
to sleep.I had enough of this.That night I had terrible nightmares where various giant,monstrous
ducks kept chasing me,quacking and shouting human words.I woke up in cold sweat and screaming.I decided to get a day off.

The next day,as I was getting ready,I kept telling myself "It will be alright.They are just ducks.
Just regular fucking ducks.It´s all in your head." As i was walking to the bus station,i noticed
something.There were duck everywhere.Waddling through the streets,sitting on cars and buildings,
flying through the air.The quacking,that terrible fucking quacking was everywhere.I ran to the bus
station and the bus was already there."Thank goodnes,finally i can escape those damned ducks!" But
when i entered the bus,I screamed in horror.The driver had a duck head.Where a human head would be,
was a giant duck head.He started quacking loudly.I screamed and ran away.I was running home and all
the people around me had duck head and kept quacking at me."NO!THIS CAN´T BE HAPPENING!" I screamed
as I ran through the streets.

When i finally got home,I locked the door behind me and sat on the ground.Then i saw my wife coming
in,but when i looked at her,she too had a duck head and started quacking at me."NO,YOU ARE NOT MY
WIFE,YOU MONSTER!" I screamed as i grabbed a metal chair and bashed her head with it.

Soon after that,I was arrested for murder.I told them everything about the ducks.I was deemed insane and committed to a mental asylum.Im kept in solitary confinement,because im considered dan-
gerous.There is a single small window in my cell.I keep sitting there,facing away from it,because I
know that if I turned around,I would see a bunch of ducks watching me.

I know it.

I can hear them quacking.