Fiction | Isakei | Monday Mashup Response
Feathers and Footsteps
A Pigeon’s Tale : A Human Odyssey
Frank the pigeon, with his feathers ruffled just right, perched confidently on the edge of the rooftop, emanating an air of rugged determination. As his coos echoed through the air, Penelope, the wise old owl and his loyal servant, gracefully landed nearby.
Frank greeted her with a nod of respect, “Penelope, what’s the word on the street tonight?”
Penelope hooted softly, “Heard some rumblings ‘bout a new crew movin’ in, lookin’ to take over the park.”
Frank’s eyes narrowed, and he cooed sternly, “Who? Is it the Blue Jays from West side?”
“Someone closer. Someone familiar,” Penelope cryptically replied.
The revelation caught Frank off guard, and he shifted uneasily, contemplating the implications. “If they’re looking for trouble, they’ll find it. Nobody messes with Frank or the Brooklyn Birds.”
With a reassuring tone, Penelope offered, “Leave it to me, Frank. I’ll handle the situation swiftly and discreetly. The crew need not be involved.”
Frank waved his wing dismissively, “No, I won’t stand idly by. I’ll gather the toughest birds in Brooklyn. Together, we’ll make it clear that disrupting our neighborhood won’t be tolerated.”
“Bird,” she corrected.
“Bird? Who is this bird?” Frank inquired, puzzled.
“You…”
With a sudden, shocking revelation, Penelope’s demeanor shifted, and she swiftly drove her razor-sharp talon into Frank’s feathered chest.
The pain was excruciating, and Frank gasped for breath, his eyes wide with disbelief and betrayal. “Penelope… Why?”
Penelope’s expression remained stoic, her loyalty shattered. “It’s time for a new leader, Frank. I’ve served you faithfully for years, but the neighborhood needs a stronger, wiser ruler. It’s time for me to take charge.”
Frank’s heart sank as he struggled to comprehend the magnitude of the deception. “But… you were like family to me.” He staggered to his feet and readied his own talons.
Penelope’s voice softened slightly, a tinge of regret in her hoot, “I never wanted to hurt you, Frank, but the gangs of the neighborhood have been at war for too long. I can bring about that peace.”
Frank lashed out instinctively. With his talons unsheathed, he aimed to strike back at the owl who had been his loyal servant for so long, but as he attacked, he quickly realized the vast difference in their sizes.
Penelope, with her massive wingspan and imposing presence, easily deflected Frank’s blows with a gentle yet firm restraint. She didn’t retaliate; instead, she maintained a composed demeanor, trying to reason with the enraged pigeon.
“It’s time for a new chapter in Brooklyn’s history, Frank. Unfortunately for you, this is a chapter you cannot be in.”
He lunged again, this time with desperate ferocity, but Penelope’s experience and wisdom allowed her to remain in control of the situation. She stepped back and gently pinned Frank’s wings to his sides, immobilizing him. Frank struggled, trying to break free, but he couldn’t match Penelope’s strength. As his energy waned, his rage subsided just enough to let her words penetrate his thoughts.
“Frank, listen to me,” Penelope implored, “I did this for a reason. For the betterment of the masses. It’s just a shame you won’t be around to see my royal coronation when I become Queen of Brooklyn and bring all the gangs together as one.”
Frank’s anger began to give way to confusion and vulnerability. “But why didn’t you trust me enough to tell me this? Why did you have to deceive me?”
Penelope’s talons trembled, her gaze filled with a mixture of sorrow and compassion as she looked into Frank’s eyes. “I had hoped you would find the strength to choose peace over pride. But this is where our paths diverge.”
With those final words, Penelope threw Frank’s broken and wounded body off the rooftop. His body spun and hurled through the air he desperately tried to muster the strength to spread his wings and take flight. Yet, the pain coursing through his battered form rendered him too weak to rise above. In his fading consciousness, the last image that greeted him was Penelope’s figure gazing down with remorse, before he met the unforgiving impact of the sidewalk pavement below.
“No, this can’t be the end,” Frank said to himself, his voice tinged with determination. “I won’t let her deceit define my fate.”
“Sammy, Milo, they wouldn’t betray me,” Frank mused, trying to hold on to his faith in their loyalty. “They’ve always had my back, and I’ve had theirs. We’ve faced challenges together, and they’ll see through Penelope’s deception.”
“They’ll avenge my death, for sure,” he assured himself, trying to gather the strength to believe in his friends. “They won’t let this injustice go unchallenged. They love me.”
“Right?”
“Wake up!”
As Frank’s consciousness stirred, he heard a distant voice calling out to him. The voice seemed familiar, yet strangely different. He blinked his eyes open, expecting to see the familiar rooftops of Brooklyn, but instead, he found himself surrounded by walls and a ceiling he didn’t recognize.
“Frank, wake up,” the voice urged, growing clearer as he regained awareness.
Confused, Frank tried to sit up, but his body felt foreign and heavy. Panic surged through him as he looked down and saw hands, fingers, and legs that were nothing like his usual feathers and wings.
“What… what’s happening?” Frank stuttered, his voice trembling.
“Sleeping on the job?” the voice scolded.
Startled, Frank blinked rapidly and looked around, trying to shake off the drowsiness. He found himself in an unfamiliar office, seated at a desk cluttered with paperwork.
“I- this isn’t right,” Frank stammered as he tried to work his fingers. “I was in Brooklyn on the rooftops.”
Ms. Williams, the office manager, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed. “Frank, we work and live in LA, not Brooklyn. And we’re not on rooftops; we’re in an office.”
Frank’s heart raced as he tried to grasp the dissonance between his memories of being a pigeon and his current human reality. He couldn’t believe how real his avian life felt, the memories of his bird gang and their adventures so vivid.
“But it felt so real,” Frank insisted, his voice filled with both confusion and urgency. “I was a pigeon, and I ran a gang of birds. There was Milo, Sammy, and Penelope… She betrayed me! Penelope stabbed me in the chest and threw me off the roof!”
Ms. Williams raised an eyebrow, clearly finding it hard to believe what she was hearing. “Frank, I understand that you might be dealing with something, but we have a job to do here. Pigeons and owls are not part of our work, so let’s focus, okay?” She turned to walk away and paused for a moment, “And lay off the grilled octopus burritos. It’s messing with your head.”
Frank’s heart sank as he realized that nobody around him shared his memories. It was as if the life he had led as a pigeon and the bonds he had formed were slipping away, leaving him feeling disconnected from his own identity.
As the workday continued, Frank struggled to concentrate on his tasks. His mind kept drifting back to the memories of his life as a pigeon — the adventures, the friendships, and the purpose he had felt. But the more he tried to hold onto those memories, the more they seemed to slip through his grasp.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something fundamental was missing from his life. The mundane routine of the office and the taste of the once-enjoyable grilled octopus burritos couldn’t fill the void left by the world he had known as Frank, the leader of a bird gang.
As time passed, Frank couldn’t escape the feeling that he was living two separate lives, each one pulling him in a different direction. He longed to find a way to reconcile the two, to bridge the gap between the pigeon he once was and the human he had become. But for now, he remained adrift, holding onto fading memories, wondering if he would ever truly find his place in this complex and puzzling world.
I broke the rules for Jonathon Sawyer’s Monday Mashup #29. This story is a tad over 1,300 words but in an act of defiance, I refuse to shorten it.
With this tale added to the growing lore of Frank the pigeon it does beg the question: is this the end of Frank? Is our favorite cocky Brooklyn pigeon forever gone? Or could this be the beginning of an epic return?
Main theme (2pts):
-Frank wakes up in another world.
Constraints (1pt ea):
-Penelope is a loyal servant to Frank
-Penelope betrays Frank
-Frank and Penelope have a "sword" aka talon fight
-Frank ate a grilled octopus burrito
Hardcore constraint (2pts)
-Penelope talks about her future coronation as Queen of all of Brooklyn
Literary device (5 pts):
-Frank monologues about how he thinks his crew will react to his death but
questions their loyalty.
14 points (Including bonus point for tallying score)I’ll answer no further questions, officer.