To Scrape the Sky

Like tendrils grasping upward the city’s spires reached to the azure heaven above. Lazy clouds wisped and floated by the towers seeking to scrape the sky. Perched atop a fire escape railing in a dark alley, a dingy brown pigeon watched the heavenly puffs drift leisurely on their own. No struggle for motion, merely a wind-breath to breeze them along. The bird’s eyes were mirrors moving with the breathy billows.

A rusted metal door clanged against a brick wall. The wistful brown pigeon’s heavenly gaze stuttered back down to earth. Out came a heavyset baker with garbage bags flowing over. Baguettes, buns, and stale bread peeked out of the loaded sacks. The bag-bearer slogged to the dumpster and murmured as he chucked his bag in the bin. A concealed cadre of hungry pigeons watched as the baker disposed of their dinner. For the watching pigeons, the filthy trash receptacle would become a table laid with a day-old feast.

As the disgruntled bread-maker grunted his way back inside, he hefted the door shut, signaling the gathered pigeons to begin their pillage. The famished fowl coo-ed and fluttered on the dumpster’s brim, awed by the stale glory of tossed away bread. 

While the flock feasted first with their eyes, brown pigeon’s look returned to the sky. As his attention floated with the clouds, the tawny bird’s flockmates hopped into the open dumpster. 

As the pack of pigeons hemmed in their free feast, one bird, blue pigeon, noticed that his wistful friend brown pigeon remained perched on the dumpster’s brim. Quickly he hopped over to his skygazing companion and jabbed him with a wing. Startled, brown pigeon’s head turned to his mate. Blue pigeon coo-ed toward the open bread bag and hopped over to sample the fare. Soon his beak was crackling the crust and picking apart stale bits.

Despite blue pigeon’s dining demonstration, the tawny fowl turned his stare back to the sky. Undaunted, brown pigeon’s flock-fellow dropped a picking of bread at his talons. Brown pigeon looked at the proffered piece. Rapidly his head fluttered between the open sky and the stale bread. 

Slowly brown pigeon began to back away from the bread and move toward the dumpster’s edge. Blue pigeon coo-ed alarmingly. A flank of the flock formed in front of brown pigeon. Surrounded by his fowl friends, the tawny bird hopped backward with a fierce quiver. Blue pigeon nudged the bread bit closer to his hemmed in flock mate.

Brown pigeon lowered his trembling head to the stale offering. His beak slowly scooped up the gift and he swallowed. The bit dropped in brown pigeon’s stomach with the force of a bomb while his taste buds relished the aftershock of the flavor. The tawny bird locked his gaze on the remaining unbroken baguettes and feasted with a fury.

As brown pigeon devoured the delights, a single ray of sunlight passed over him. In the brightness of that gleam, he saw a mountain of chewed crusts at his talons and his flockmates furiously gorging discarded baked goods. Brown pigeon hawkered out the crumbs in his mouth and looked up to the shining sun. He stretched wide his tawny wings and flapped against the dumpster air. Unsteadily he ascended from the trash receptacle and aimed upwards. 

At first he gained altitude, but the weight of his feast started to drag him down. Like an anchor sinking to the seabed, brown pigeon collided with the alleyway pavement. Though glued to the ground, he turned his quavering eyes to watch a gloomy cloud darken the sun. He let out a low-pitched coo and closed his eyes. Night descended and brown pigeon slept in the dark alley.

Many hours later, a gentle light greeted brown pigeon’s shuttered eyes. Awakening to peek at this bright visitor, the tawny bird saw the morning sun low in the sky. Slowly he rose to his talons, discovering the night had lessened the weight of his dumpster feast. Seeing only the rising light and hearing only the snoring-coos of his wasted flockmates, brown pigeon stumbled toward the sun. His wings slowly spread wide to soak in the rays. They flapped with gathering intensity as brown pigeon began to run toward the new-day star. The dank alley floor sank away from the flying fowl. Brown pigeon winged toward the light, and he was ascending with the rising sun. With each flap, his feathers transformed from dingy brown to glittering gold in the sun’s light. He soared upward with the city’s ascending spires knowing that he too would scrape the sky.