Legs Like Thunderbolts

New Story Whale Chapter!

Hello!

It’s time for a new chapter!

I was down with COVID last week and opted for a week off posting. I’m back now and so is Lew.

If you’re new to Lew’s story, you can find the full series here:

In short, this is the story of a lost pigeon in New York City and the world of trouble he quickly finds himself in.

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Now, please enjoy!

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There Ruby and I were together at the foot of the cabinet.

I looked up at the glass wall that towered over us.

We birds spent our lives soaring through the air above mountains and skyscrapers, and yet in that moment that cabinet seemed as high above as the moon.

I leapt into the air and flapped my wings. The short flight was awkward as I tried to move my wings as quietly as possible.

I made it to the top and looked around the store very briefly for any big white human eyes that might potentially be staring me down.

It seemed all clear.

I looked back down at Ruby and nodded.

She instantly took off and nipped seamlessly through the air to the top of the cabinet without a sound.

We made our way across the cabinet to quickly duck over the other side of it. Walking across the glass, I couldn’t help but look down.

The glass box of the cabinet was filled with all manner of sparkling bits and pieces of human treasure. It was all right there, just out of reach.

We hopped back down to the floor on the other side of the cabinet. It was a narrow little area that ran along the outside of the store. There was some room under the overhang of the cabinets which we were able to tuck ourselves into.

I told Ruby, “We need to get to the back of the store where the cabinets are busier.”

“Let’s do it,” she said.

We turned and started to walk along the corridor, progressing along.

I saw a set of human legs come walking around the corner and we had to immediately stop in our tracks and hide up against the cabinets again. The human was moving towards us at a steady pace.

I held my breath as the human stomped by, barely a pigeon’s wingspan away from us.

The human passed us and carried on down the corridor into the distance. They made it to the end and then walked around a corner and disappeared.

I took a big breath out and felt my body relax.

Ruby and I looked at each other. We had to keep moving.

We carried on along the corridor, looking backwards every now and then to see if that human was coming back. We were on high alert, skittish and ready for anything.

Together, we got to the corner of the cabinet and very carefully peered around it to see what lay ahead.

It was what I had expected and what I had wanted. It was also an absolutely terrifying sight.

Legs, legs, and more legs.

Each of those human legs came down like thunderbolts from the sky. And they were equally as dangerous too.

We ducked back behind the corner. This was our last chance to talk things over and come up with a plan.

I had to think back to Francois and the initial strategy he had.

“There will be a noise,” I told Ruby. “We’ll hear when the cabinet opens. A click. That’s our signal to go for it.”

“Do we both go in?” Ruby asked.

“We both go in,” I said, “but I’ll have to focus on getting in the way of the humans and keeping the cabinet open.”

“Then what?”

“We grab what we can and then we get out,” I said.

In that moment, the issue of the automatic door dawned on me. What if no one was coming in or out of the store? We’d be trapped.

“I think I know how to deal with the door,” said Ruby, reading my mind. “I’ll get it open.”

“I guess we’re all set then,” I said.

There was nothing more to say. It was time.

We looked around the corner and everything was the same as it had been before. We made our way slowly towards the human legs in the distance, hugging the wall of the cabinet as we went.

We got to the first set of legs and stopped. From down on the floor, we had no idea what was going on up their above the cabinets. As we focused in, we could hear what sounded like humans talking. It seemed like they were maybe with a customer.

Ruby and I looked at each other and we didn’t have to say anything. We just had to be ready.

Any second now, we could hear the click…

It was impossible to tell how much time passed. It couldn’t have been too long.

Even though we had never heard the click before in our lives, there was no mistaking it the moment it happened.

We looked at each other one final time and then we sprung into the air, flapping out wings hard just enough times to make it to the edge of the cabinet.

Sure enough, there was a flap hanging open at the back of the cabinet where the humans would reach inside. There was no time to look up at the humans to see their response. We just had to dive right in.

Inside the cabinet, I felt like I could barely breathe. There was no space; it was as cramped as human shoebox. Instantly, I felt a flutter of pigeon panic starting up. It was like the vents, but so much worse, like I was trapped in the mouth of a fountain human statue and the stone jaws might close at any moment.

Ruby had adjusted much better and was already rounding up any shiny items she could get her claws on.

I had to concentrate. I had to get back in the moment.

There was a sudden squeal from the human we had snuck past to get in. They had stepped back from the cabinet and had their hands on their face and a look of complete and utter terror as if we were fierce creatures capable of swallowing them whole.

I took my chance and grabbed a few shiny bits and pieces as well. Some rings and a necklace made of pearls. It was tricky to pick the little human items up, but a lifetime of sifting through rubbish and picking at fish bones had prepared me well.

Other humans were rushing over now.

We needed to get out.

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Thanks for reading today’s new chapter. I hope you’ve been enjoying the heist so far.

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