It is with great sadness that I bring you this update. I arrived back to my new apartment after work yesterday evening to find a most shocking and upsetting scene.
The pigeon’s egg was lying shattered on the kitchen surface. The new, unborn life inside, snuffed out like a candle when the power comes back on. It’s father nowhere to be seen. It’s mother hanging around outside, as if expecting the horrific incident she has experienced to suddenly undo itself.
Having not been around to experience the events as they unfolded I can only surmise as to what actually happened. I imagine the mother was going about her business in the kitchen when suddenly she lost her balance. Staggering across the shelf she just about managed to right herself in time to prevent a nasty fall. In doing so, her tail inadvertantly clipped the egg and set it rolling. As she turned to see what was happening, everything began to move in slow motion. Ever so slowly the egg moved towards the sheer drop represented by the shelf’s edge. The mother started waddling towards it as quick as she could, but couldn’t seem to move her flat feet fast enough. Just as the rodent with wings caught up with the egg, the rugby shaped foetus seemed to speed up. Without arms and hands aid her, the vermin was helpless. She tried to use her feet to change the direction of the accelerating oval, but to no avail. Despairingly she watched as her baby hurtled towards the kitchen surface below.
Of course, it probably didn’t happen like that at all. It is more likely that a gust of window blew through from the balcony, knocking the egg over the edge. But that wouldn’t really constitute a story