Story Whale: The Penultimate Chapter
Lew and co. are on the home stretch...
Howdy and welcome!
It’s been a couple of weeks, but Story Whale is back! And it’s back with a special one — the penultimate chapter.
For those who don’t know, this is the ongoing story of a lost pigeon in New York City. It’s been a journey!
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Now, please enjoy today’s new chapter.
It was only a brief nap in the end. A cool breeze snuck in through a crack in the crane window and brushed my feathers, waking me up.
I looked around and it was nighttime. For once, everything was calm. No sapping sun, no bullying gusts of wind. Even the traffic had settled — only stirring briefly from time to time as the streets slept.
Francois was already awake. He was sitting up on the dashboard of the crane cockpit, looking out over the city below. I hopped up to join him. He was looking better than before, but he was still very far from his usual self. He was missing numerous chunks of feathers and I could see a deep tiredness in his eyes.
“I thought you would be sleeping for days,” I said.
“I shouldn’t have slept at all,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “You’re exhausted. You’re injured. Some rest is exactly what you need.”
“It’s too risky,” he said. “We’re not in the clear yet. I wish we were, but we’re not. Howell’s not going to give up easy.”
“But no one knows we’re here, right?” I asked. “We’re safe here.”
“Don’t underestimate the power Howell has over this city. Right this second, he’ll have all of his birds out searching for us.”
I sat beside Francois and looked out over the city. It was quiet and calm. The moon gave good light.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Francois.
“Sore,” he said. “Tired.”
He surprised me with a smile. “But we’ve made it this far. Home stretch. Then we can rest all we want.”
I grinned back at him. It was good to see him smiling again, even if he was just forcing it for my sake.
He turned his attention back to the city.
“So how did you do it?” he asked.
I was confused. “Do what?”
“The heist,” he said. “What was your secret?”
Since it happened, I had barely actually thought about the heist. It felt so distant now.
“It was just like we practiced,” I said. “Well… sort of.”
“You’re being modest,” he said. “Really, how did you do it?”
It took a moment for me to get it out. I already knew my answer.
“The vents, the jewellery store, getting out… we did it together. We always had each other’s back. We kept each other calm. It was how we avoided pigeon panic.”
“I’m impressed,” he said. “Seriously.”
Looking out over the city, a little blue something caught my eye as it nipped through the air in the distance. It looked like a small bird.
Across the street, it landed on the roof of the building opposite us and briefly disappeared.
“Did you see that?” I asked.
“See what?”
A moment passed and then the bird popped up again on top of the building across the way, looking out now, scanning the city.
“There!” I said.
Francois focused.
“It’s a blue jay,” he said. “They will be one of Howell’s.”
He scooted back slightly from the glass in front of us and I did the same.
The blue jay took off. Now it was flying right towards us.
“Wake up Joan and Ruby,” said Francois.
He turned and flew up to a bright orange vest that was hanging down from the top of the seat in the crane. He was trying to unhook it.
I split off and plopped down to the seat where Joan and Ruby were sleeping and nudged them each awake. They were both dazed and blinking, their big recovery sleep cut painfully short.
Suddenly, the orange vest fell down right beside us.
“Hide under it,” said Francois, scrambling back to the seat. “Quick!”
Ruby and Joan were lost.
“Someone’s here,” I clarified.
Just like that, the brief peace was over. We all burrowed in under the vest, trying to completely cover ourselves in it. We were clustered in close together, right up against each other. Tucked away and hidden, there was a little gap in the orange vest that I was able to see through.
The blue jay first landed on the front window of the crane. They were bobbing their head, searching for signs of life. They were lingering, checking and double-checking.
The four of us under the vest held our breath.
There was a moment where it felt like the blue jay was staring directly at me. I had thought there was no chance they would be able to see me under the vest. What if I was wrong? Maybe they could see something I didn’t realise. Maybe they had seen some movement. Maybe they just had a hunch that something was off.
The fact that the blue jay was hanging around for so long meant that they must have had some suspicions. Once they were done at the front, they moved around to one of the side windows.
Thankfully, the blue jay couldn’t fit through the gap in the window. Francois had closed it just enough after we initially got inside.
The blue jay then pecked and scratched at the ajar window. They were struggling. They were too small. The window wasn’t budging.
I desperately hoped they would just turn away and leave. I didn’t want another chase.
Eventually, the pecking stopped. It seemed like the blue jay had given up. They were still hanging around the window though. Whatever they were doing, they were up to something.
A few moments passed and then they finally took off.
Just to be safe, we waited a good little while before leaving the vest. Once everything seemed clear, Francois went out.
“It’s ok,” he said after a cautionary check. “Now let’s get out of here. They’re probably getting back-up.”
We left the vest and the first thing we did was fly to the window.
Once we were there, we soon realised what had happened.
The blue jay had locked it shut.
Thank you kindly for reading! Here’s to a great week ahead.