As mentioned in some other thread, I’m currently out of (looking for) work - one of the effects of this is a bit of an economy drive… well, actually and economy walk - I’m going on foot wherever possible.
So yesterday I walked the few miles to the bank and shops - it was a nice day, so this was quite pleasant. On the way home I witnessed a fatal accident.
No humans came to harm though - the victim was a member of the quite considerable population of a wood pigeons we have around here. It struck the car windscreen and was propelled high into the air, descending in a fluttery parabola through a cloud of feathers to land on the path directly across the road from me, where it lay fluttering and twiching.
The driver pulled over and stopped - an elderly lady. Thinking about the distress suffered by all parties, I crossed the road, with the intention of putting the obviously-mortally-wounded pigeon out of its misery (and saving the woman the upset of seeing it suffer), but by the time I got across, it had already expired.
So there’s me. Mangetout, standing over the lifeless, plump body of a young wood pigeon. Anyone that has known me for more than a second will know exactly what thoughts were running through my head. For those that have just met me, allow me to fill in the blank: I was thinking “Hmmm… a little red wine, some garlic and mushrooms and a slow braise in a low oven…”
My reverie was interrupted by the arrival on scene of the driver. “Ohhh, poor thing!”, she said.
“Don’t worry, it was an accident - there’s nothing you could have done to avoid it,” I reassured her
“I’ll take it home and bury it,” she replied
“Don’t worry yourself, I’ll deal with it,” I said
“I’ll bury it in the garden,” she said, appearing not to have heard me
“It’s OK,” I told her, as gently as I could, “I’ll take it home and cook it - might as well make some use of all this,”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly let you do that,” she replied
I tried weakly responding with "It’s really not any trouble… ", but she had already picked it up and that was the end of the matter. What a waste. I should have just picked it up and run with it while I had the chance.
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