The Lost Pigeon(Debra Widdicombe) Hannah’s magenta eyes scanned the poster on the wide pole in front of her with a measure of curiosity. It read:

LOST PIGEON

RESPONDS TO ‘DENNIS’
LAST SEEN: 6/28/2010 AROUND 5:00 PM
CROSSING ATLANTIC AVE, BY COURT ST.

ABOUT 10 INCHES LONG
GREY FEATHERS W/ SOME GREEN COLORATION
ORANGE FEET
WEIGHS APPROX. 12 OZ

IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL
RAND O. JOHNSON – 508-364-9948

Hannah laughed. There were more than 18 million pigeons in NYC so how was the owner expecting to find this one in South Brooklyn?

She was used to seeing lost signs for cats and dogs, but pigeons? Whatever next, a subway rat? She pulled out her mobile phone and took a clear photo of the poster so that she could zoom in on the pigeon if by some miracle, she actually came across this feathered friend. She knew that rock doves in NYC were a feral subspecies and very few people had managed to tame any of them. They roosted all over the place and found easy sources of food. Humans and pigeons’ side-by-side in the cities of America. Maybe Dennis was a homing, racing, or messenger pigeon? More likely a ‘Dennis the Menace’ who pooped all over the place. The droppings of ‘guano’, as her posh friends referred to it.

In any case, she had to get to her office for the day, so she kept walking and thought little of it until she returned home to her small apartment on Atlantic Avenue. She let herself in and dropped her backpack in the corner as usual. Then she went to open all the windows to let some fresh air into the stale apartment. The volume of the traffic noise went up as soon as the windows creaked open, and the sunlight shone through to light up her rather gloomy apartment. She sat down to eat her dinner when she heard the familiar sound of cooing noises. She looked up at her wide windowsill and there sat three pigeons. They all looked grey to her, with orange feet, but one of them had a distinct area of green feathers. She gently took out her mobile phone and zoomed in on the photo of Dennis and compared the pigeons. It was Dennis! She was reasonably sure of that, based on the mugshot of the pigeon that she had in front of her. How was she going to catch him?

Then she remembered the fishing net she had bought to scoop out fish in Central Park’s waterways. Hannah carefully retrieved the fishing net from the storage cupboard and crawled up to the window, as quietly as possible. She swung the net in a relatively silent and wide arc and it landed over Dennis, who immediately tried to fly away. She pulled him inside and closed the window.

‘Calm down, Dennis. I’m going to put you in an empty bird cage in the apartment and call your owner.’ Dennis seemed to understand and pulled in his wings, so his feathers weren’t getting caught in the sides of the net. Hannah reached into the net and felt his soft and warm feathers, as she wrapped her fingers around his body. His head bobbed around as he stared at her curiously. Hannah then transferred him to the cage and prepared to call his owner. She got through and it was answered on the second ring.

‘Hello?’
‘Hi, my name is Hannah. I saw your LOST PIGEON poster and I may have caught Dennis?’
‘How do you know he’s Dennis? I’ve been getting crank calls from all over NYC.’
‘Well, I compared him to the photo on your poster and he looked very similar, if not identical. He also seems really tame to me.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘I put him in a spare bird cage I just happened to have in my apartment in South Brooklyn.’
‘Nonsense! Dennis would never let a stranger put him in a small bird cage. He is a racing pigeon and used to being in a large aviary on my property. Don’t waste my time!’ With that, he slammed down the phone, otherwise known as ‘swiping left’. Hannah was fuming. How could the owner, Rand Johnson, make such a presumption and then treat her as if she was the crazy one?

The next day, she decided to call Rand again and left him a message. After buying some pigeon food, she decided to keep looking after Dennis until Rand came to his senses. This went on for a month. Hannah calling Rand every day and feeding Dennis every night. The constant cooing at night of the lonely pigeon was getting to her. Either she would need to deliver him to his owner or let him go free. Hannah grabbed the bird cage by the ring at the top and headed out of her apartment door. Dennis was silent as they travelled on the subway to Rand’s place. She had managed to find out where Rand lived through a local Detective friend of hers. The other travellers on the subway glanced at her and then at the pigeon and some of them even rolled their eyes in disbelief.

When she arrived at Rand’s mansion, she rung the bell at the gate to the long driveway and peered up through the tall swaying trees. The sweet scent of Spring flowers filled her nostrils. Someone answered the intercom who sounded very much like a butler.

‘Hello, this is Hannah at the gate, with Dennis in a bird cage. Please can I speak to Rand?’
‘Sorry, my dear, but Rand is not here.’
‘Don’t lie to me. He is there and if he doesn’t come out soon, I can’t say what I might do to Dennis.’ It wasn’t an idle threat, but the butler didn’t get it.
Hannah flew into a fit of rage and grabbed poor Dennis and snapped his neck, with a loud crunch!

Then she heard the butler saying on the intercom that Rand had been away for a month on an international trip and was expected back today. The sound of an engine behind her, made Hannah swivel around and there behind her was a Range Rover driven by Rand. He got out and ran to the birdcage.
‘You killed my Dennis!’

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