The Spinning Doors
The last challenge: the spinning doors…
New chapter time!
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For those new here, this is the ongoing story a lost pigeon in New York City and the world of trouble he has been caught up in.
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We didn’t notice the security guard at first as we slipped into the moving glass capsule of the mall’s rotating doors. There were two other humans in front of us who had our attention. Initially, they didn’t even notice that we had slipped in behind them.
Ruby fortunately spotted the security guard before he could turn us into stomped-on sidewalk chewing gum. Before she could even warn us he was there, I caught the terror in her eyes.
I turned and saw the colossal figure of the guard towering over us, covering us in shadow.
He shot out his arms and reached for us, his big hands outstretched. We dodged his big clamping fingers and scrambled backwards, accidentally bumping into the other two humans in the capsule.
Once they saw us, the two of them had a decidedly and predictably human reaction, squealing as if we were venomous and then retreating to the edge of the capsule.
Turning our focus back to the security guard, he was low to the ground now. He then leapt at us like a cat. Ruby and I were able to jump aside and take off. In between us, Joan was his main target. I suppose he still had a grudge on her for pooping on him.
Joan was only just able to jump up before his hands could close on her like a mouth chomping shut. She plopped up on the guard’s head briefly and then launched off into the air.
There was something about us birds in flight that made the other two humans take their freak-out to a whole other level.
We had to stay as high as possible, trying to stick near the ceiling of the still-rotating capsule.
The guard was desperately jumping into the air with his hands outstretched. Like a pigeon lost in pigeon panic, he was totally out of control, completely overtaken with anger.
We stayed high, barely but safely out of reach.
It had only been seconds since we got in there, but it felt like the rotating door was moving in slow motion.
Down below, even the other humans were being freaked out by the security guard.
Beyond the glass, I could see the light of day just ahead of us. We were almost out.
The door began to rotate open. Just as we were about to fly for the gap, Joan was suddenly plucked from the air.
The guard had gotten his hands on a scarf from one of the other humans and had used it to swat Joan out of the air like a fly.
She was knocked into the glass and then she fell to the ground, tangled up in the scarf.
The door was open now and the other two humans immediately scrambled out.
We weren’t leaving Joan behind. Without speaking, we kicked into action. Straight away, Ruby dropped down to Joan to help unwrap the scarf that she was still tangled up in. Before the guard could get to them, I went for him.
I got right up in his face and flapped my wings as rapidly and loudly as I could manage, trying to distract and disorient him. He swatted awkwardly at me, clipping me, but not enough to shoo me way. I needed to keep at it. I needed to buy Joan and Ruby more time.
I could see Joan and Ruby struggling down below, having to scoot frantically along to keep up with the moving doors.
Unsurprisingly, no one got in as the door rotated past the street. I’m sure people saw the mess that was happening and thought better of it.
The guard kept flailing and eventually caught me with the palm of his hand, briefly sending me staggering. I had to fight to keep my balance and keep in the air.
The spinning doors continued on and opened to the mall side of things. Once again, no other humans opted to join us.
Just in time, Ruby had freed Joan from the scarf.
“Charge him!” Joan yelled.
All together, we sprung into action. We weren’t trying to hurt him. We weren’t even touching him. We just needed to overwhelm him.
The more and more he swung at us, the more and more wildly he missed. He was switching between us, trying to get anyone in reach.
The doors opened again to the street and we flew straight for the sunlight without a moment’s hesitation.
The guard cried out behind us like a baby as we finally flew free.
We went high into the air, away from the gawking people below. That had been enough human interaction for a lifetime.
As we flew, the three of us were still carrying our bounty from the jewellery store. In that moment we were the three most extravagantly accessorised birds in the whole city.
But we didn’t have time to stop and catch our breaths. Not yet.
Flying upwards, we spotted Mac and his band of pigeons still loitering on top of the mall roof, looking bored as they waited for us at the vents.
They would have to keep waiting…
Still, we didn’t have much time. Sooner or later, they were going to realise something wasn’t right. Then they would go after Francois.
For us, we knew our next stop. We needed to get back to the cinema roof. Francois was going to be released from the vet at any minute and the cinema roof was where he’d be going.
That was our plan for the moment anyway…
It felt incredible to be out in the open again. A break from the vents and glass walls and humans. A break from the bright fake lights and stinky human cleaning products and perpetual ceilings over our heads.
As we flew, we were all smiling.
Thanks so much for reading! 😊