A New Day
A New Day...
Lew has finally gotten some sleep. Now it’s time to check on Francois.
If you’re new here, this is the story of a lost pigeon in New York City. You can catch the full series here:
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Now, please enjoy today’s new chapter!
The next day, the rain had finally fell away and the morning was sunny and tranquil. With the constant rumble of the rain gone, I felt like I could think again.
Ruby and Joan were already awake and talking amongst themselves down on one of the central branches of the tree. Feeling better, I went and joined them.
“Good morning,” I said as I landed.
“Good morning,” they each said.
“How did you sleep in the end?” asked Ruby.
“Not too badly,” I said with a smile.
It was time for breakfast. We chipped away at the pistachios that Ruby had prepared the night before, breaking them up into small bits. It was nice to be able to slow things down and just focus on the food in front of us. We didn’t need to worry about everything that was going on. We got to just focus on cracking open the pistachios and enjoying our food.
As breakfast went on, we talked about our favourite delicacies.
“Raspberries are number one,” said Ruby. “No question about it. The humans were growing some in here for a while. Yummiest food on earth. I think I ate a few too many and they ended up giving up on growing them. Silliest thing I’ve ever done.”
Joan and I broke out laughing. Ruby remained serious. It took a second for her to buckle and join us.
“It’s good old grain for me,” said Joan. “Back on the farm, before I came here, the grain was endless. We were absolutely spoilt. There was more than we could ever eat. You just don’t get food like that here in the city.”
Then it was my turn.
“Well, I grew up near the ocean,” I said. “Just near a fish market. The humans there would throw all of the rotting fish back into the water and we would all feast.”
There was a long pause once we had finished our breakfast of pistachios. It was time to get back to the real world and all of its troubles and bitter complications. But we didn’t want to. We just wanted to keep eating in peace.
“I’ve been thinking…” said Ruby eventually, “and I think I know where we can check in on Francois.”
“Where?” asked Joan.
Ruby turned to me. “Lew, remember that vet I took you to with all of the birds that would sing?”
“Sure,” I said.
“That’s the nearest vet to those humans who took Francois,” she went on. “Chances are, that’s where he’ll be.”
“Let’s do it then,” said Joan. “Let’s see how the old pigeon is going.”
We left the greenhouse and followed Ruby’s lead to the vet.
We made it to the rooftop of the vet and Ruby unscrewed the bolts of the vent with her beak, just like last time. The vent door fell out and we each hopped up onto the ledge entrance.
We looked into the dark cave of the vent. I looked at Joan beside me and she had an expression of concern on her face as she stared into the blackness.
Ruby dropped coolly into the vent and started walking forwards, claws clicking faintly against the metal. I waited with Joan, sensing something was off.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“I’ve never been in something like that before,” she said. “It looks horrible.”
“You get used to it,” I said, trying to relax things.
Begrudgingly, she eventually hopped in and we started to walk through the vent.
After a couple of turns, there was the sudden sound of a dog’s bark – perhaps the scariest sound known to birdkind. Joan flinched in panic and brought out her wings in a frantic scramble.
“It’s ok!” I told her. “It’s ok!”
Ruby was standing a metre or so ahead of us in the vent, waving us over with her wing.
“Look, Joan,” she said. “The dog’s down there.”
We made our way to Ruby. Joan was still extremely on edge, looking around all the time, still expecting a dog to come suddenly barging down the tunnel of the vent.
Ruby nodded down at the ground. There were slices of light coming up through the vent. It was one of the viewing squares.
Joan approached it cautiously and peered down. As she did, there was more barking, but this time she could tell it was coming from down below. She looked into the room through the vent and saw a dog with some humans around it. The humans were trying to get a look at the dog’s paw, but the dog was not cooperating one little bit. It was the type of dog that would send birds flying for the trees.
Ruby assured Joan, “We’re safe up here.”
I could see that Joan was starting to settle down. Her wings relaxed to her side and her breathing steadied. She was calm. The pigeon panic had faded away… And that was exactly what got me thinking…
We continued on along the vent towards the room with the birds. My mind was still fixed on what had just happened with Joan. She had been in the grips of pigeon panic, on the verge of going full fever mode and flying into the walls, just like Francois had at the mall. And yet that didn’t happen this time. She was able to calm down. We were able to calm her down. Maybe that was the trick! Maybe that was how we could pull off the mall heist! By sticking together, by keeping each other calm, by having each other’s backs.
Still deep in thought, I was trailing at the back of the group as we arrived at the room with the birds.
We gathered around the viewing square and scanned the cages in the room below for Francois.
“There he is!” said Ruby.
Francois was pacing back and forth in his cage, a bandage wrapped around one of his wings. He seemed to be moving well.
Ruby called out to him, “Francois!”
It took him a moment, but he heard us and looked around, eventually finding us up above.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“We wanted to make sure you’re ok,” said Joan.
“How are you feeling?” Ruby asked.
“Not too bad,” he said.
“Once you’re good to fly, they’ll let you out,” Ruby explained.
Francois lifted his wings, but quickly had to lower them back down. He wasn’t ready quite yet.
“I’ll be good by tomorrow, I think,” he said.
It was hard to take his word for it, but he was a tough pigeon. If anyone could recover that fast, it was him.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a human walked in.
Francois was able to get out one last instruction. “When I’m out, meet me at the cinema roof.”
With the human in the room, we had to duck out of sight. Our visit was over.
As always, thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week!