So after starting the week with the sober topic of revising our work we now turn to an even more important topic in Fiction Dailyland.
Ping. Yes, Ping.
These days a “ping” is a message of some kind, sent from blogs or e-mails or Web sites. It’s a way we connect over the Web, share ideas and give each other props for original thinking.
I love the word. Ping! It sounds so cheerful. It brings a much-needed boost to any business conversation … Don’t worry about the deadline, I’ll ping you when we need it … When I read this item I had to ping you with the link.
Ping!
Yet there’s another Ping we must honor … and that is Ping, the Duck, created by Marjorie Flack in The Story About Ping the Duck.
Ping was a duck who lived on a ship in China. Everyday, Ping and his family would go out to fish and at night, the fishermen would round them back into the boat. The last duck on board got a swat with a switch. Ping despised the switching, and when he saw he was destined to be last again, he decided to spend the night outside the boat. Adventures ensue!
This dear book still has meaning for me … as I have become a Ping of the adult world. I’m always traipsing around in last place, carrying too much stuff, slowest one, just like Ping.
That little duck is with me today, still swimming just beyond the ship hoping to avoid the sting of the switch.
