Pigeons of Paris [on hold]

Chapter 3

As that day too drew to a close, Marcel and Emilie once again sat under the bridge, listening to the sounds of nocturnal Paris.

            In the darkness Marcel whispered to Emilie, “Emilie ... Emilie, are you still awake?”

            “Oui, what is it?”

            “I am thirsty, can you come with me? S’il te plait!”

            “Oh, is Marcel afraid of the dark? Hehe,” chuckled Emilie in reply.

            “Non!”

            “Ok, I will come, I found this new puddle, it is a lot closer to the bridge.”

Together they flew into the night, Marcel following Emilie.

After a brief flight, Emilie landed abruptly on the pavement. After quickly surveying the surroundings, Emilie found the puddle she was after – a smooth, glassy circle.

            “Marcel, ‘ere it is!” The pigeon strutted over to the circle. Quickly he began sipping at the liquid. He heard Emilie stating that she too would take a drink. Oh! The water tasted so good...

Suddenly he felt an unimaginable force pulling him from the ground. He struggled and fluttered with his wings but, whatever he tried he could not free himself.  Before he knew what was happening he was already being thrown to the ground. Marcel tried to open his eyes but all he could see was a black void and then thousands of colours twisted together in psychedelic patterns. Desperately he tried to make a noise so that somebody, anybody, would come to help. Before he could fight back any longer a sea of calm engulfed him and he no longer felt anything.

Many hours later – although it had seemed like just a few moments – Marcel felt the warmth of the sun on his body. He also felt the cold of the pavement beneath him and slowly he opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around to see where he was. A cluster of tall buildings, a grey road, some trees and, beside him, a smooth glassy puddle. When he finally thought to look at himself to see if he had suffered from the nights events, he received the greatest shock of all. Slowly and carefully he stood up and walked to the nearest window and looked at himself. All he could see was slender young man with thick brown hair dressed in a neat grey suit, green and purple tie and glossed black shoes. As he took a step closer to the window he saw two grey eyes staring back at him. He moved a leg and the character in the window moved too. It couldn’t be true, could it? Before he had any time to think another question suddenly came over him – where was Emilie?