Lew Goes Shopping

The heist is heating up…

Howdy, everyone!

Long time, no see! Apologies for not posting last week. I was lucky enough to travel to Melbourne for the Formula 1. First time seeing it live and it did not disappoint.

Today’s post is the newest chapter in the story of a certain lost little pigeon named Lew in New York City.

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With the raccoon hot on our tails, we hadn’t had any other choice but to jump, although, really, it was more of a tumble than a jump…

Out of the dark and into the light, the mall itself felt as bright as the surface of the sun.

We fell together through the air, bumping into each other and struggling to stabilise. The whole world was spinning.

Finally settling, we hovered together in the air. Briefly looking back up at the vents, I saw the hungry, toothy face of the raccoon staring down at us.

“What is that?!” I asked, still in shock.

“It’s a raccoon,” said Joan. “Deadly creatures. Is everyone ok?”

We nodded. Everyone was shaken, but physically fine.

There wasn’t any time for us to dwell on what had happened. We needed to keep moving.

Scanning the mall itself, there was action everywhere. There were humans all over the place, and all of them moving, like a packed road of flowing cars. You could sometimes see the little groups that they were moving in. Partners, friends, families. Like little overlapping flocks of migrating birds.

We didn’t have much time.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like anyone had noticed our inopportune entrance into the mall. No one seemed to be looking up at us and no one seemed to be panicking in that strange way that humans panic when they see a bird indoors.

Still, we needed to find some cover -- a spot to stop and think things over.

Except everything in the mall was just so open. It was all bright and white and swimming with people.

“There,” said Joan, nodding. “That vending machine.”

We followed her lead straight away. We went for it and raced across the open to the vending machine, hoping no one looked up. We made it to the machine and hid on its roof, tucking ourselves away as far out of sight as possible.

Vending machines were often a hard lesson to learn for birds. You initially see one and you think you’ve hit the food jackpot. You’ll be lucky to get out of the experience without a bruised beak.

“Where to now?” asked Joan.

I ducked my head up for another look at the mall. It was hard to tell which way was which. It was one of those human spaces were everything seems to look the same. Apparently, humans love that.

I thought about what Francois had said and I tried to think back to my own understanding of the mall’s layout. I had a rough map of the place in my head.

“I think it’s that way,” I said, nodding left.

“Shall we then?” asked Joan.

We each nodded.

“We’ll keep as high as we possible can,” said Joan. “Right up by the ceiling, as far out of view as possible.”

We took off and flew straight up into the air, getting some space between us and the humans below.

We flew along up near the ceiling, making our way across the mall. It was far better than the vents, but we still needed to be wary of pigeon panic. We were still indoors, after all. One bad moment and everything could fall apart.

Like a stream leading to a lake, the laneway of the mall where we had entered eventually opened up to a much bigger area.

Suddenly, the air changed. The mall no longer smelt of stale and sterile human chemicals. Suddenly, it smelt incredible… French fries, pizza, bread being baked. Sugary things and greasy things. Even a faint smell of fresh fish.

We had reached the food court.

We found a sign above one of the food stores and landed on it to stop for a moment and talk things over.

It was clear that we were each struggling to not be totally entranced by the food smells around us. All of those beautiful bins just sitting there. The occasional table left unattended with scraps. A squished French fry smeared into the floor like the most irresistible little morsel on earth. Joan and I were both getting lost in the feast that lay before us.

Ruby had to snap us pigeons out of it.

“We need to focus,” said Ruby. “Once we pull off this heist, you’ll be able to eat whatever you want.”

We had to stop looking at the food.

“Where do we go now, Lew?” asked Ruby.

I looked back towards the multiple streams of store lanes that each poured into the open lake that was the food court.

It was tricky. Each lane of stores looked so alike. I suppose that is what humans think when they see trees in a forest, that they’re all the same.

I remembered that the jewellery store had been visible from outside during my scouting missions with Francois. It had to be on the edge of the mall somewhere.

Through some glass at the edge of the food court, I saw a building I thought I recognised. Things began to click in my mind. I had a theory.

“This way,” I said.

We took off again, flying near the ceiling. Joan and I couldn’t help but look down at the buffet below us. Unintentionally, we were flying at a slow glide, our eyes fixated on the sprawl of food temptations.

“Keep it moving,” said Ruby, calling back to us.

I locked in and focused up. Now wasn’t the time for pigeon greed. For once in my life, I had to put food aside. I thought of Francois and the importance of the situation came back to me. For his sake, this heist needed to work.

We made it out of the magnetic pull of the food court and followed one of the shop laneways that ran along the edge of the mall.

The crowds were slightly lighter and many of the stores had humans standing on guard outside of them, like frogs protecting their tadpoles in a pond.

Eventually, we reached the store.

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Thanks for reading!

New chapter next week.