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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/NotJustSomeNumbers on 2024-10-11 21:09:29+00:00.
It all started while we were walking to the bus stop. I've never bothered getting a car because of how cheap and mostly reliable public transport was here. A friend of mine worked close to my office so we often took the same bus home.
Lately, I’ve noticed an increase in pigeons downtown and near where we waited for the bus. Personally, I liked the birds. I thought they were a bit goofy and aside from all the poop they left, I didn’t think they were a problem. My friend, Mat, hated them. He often had a new insult for the birds. That day was no different. At least twenty pecked around at the sidewalk in our path. He rat at them to startled them causing the flock to move further down. I frowned at him for being so cruel.
I think any city with a pigeon problem also has a pigeon person. Someone who appeared homeless took care of the birds or treated them as if they were friends. Our local pigeon man was between us and the bus stop. He was dressed in a long black coat regardless of the weather. He fed and petted the birds as he talked with them. He had a beard, but it didn’t appear unkempt. I wondered if he had a home and pigeons were just a hobby. He also had a sign made of cardboard asking for donations. He listed how much money it would cost to feed the pigeons he was so fond of. 1.50 for a loaf of bread to 25$ for a month's worth of croutons. Mat nodded towards the man ready to mock him, but I gave him a look to shut him up.
We started to walk by them while dodging birds at our feet. The man tore off pieces from a freshly baked loaf of bread. There wouldn’t be nearly enough for all the birds. I felt bad for them.
I made it three steps past them as I sighed and turned around. Mat expected this. I have always been a bit of a pushover. He waited as I went over to the man and read over his sign again.
“They’ll repay the favor.” The man said not looking away from his birds.
“They will?” I asked while still trying to decide how much to donate.
“These birds are better than people. They’re special. They don’t accept anything for free, so they’ll repay you.”
I felt a hundred eyes on me. It appeared as if all the birds were watching as I pulled two bills from my wallet. I had recently snagged some overtime at work so I could afford to pay for a month's worth of croutons for the birds. The man accepted the money and nodded a small thanks. A few birds flapped their wings as Mat tapped his foot showing a sign he wanted to keep moving.
“Don’t forget to take care of yourself.” I told him and joined my friend.
“He’s probably just going to buy some drugs.” Mat said even though we weren’t out of earshot just yet.
“Good for him either way.” I shrugged.
We could still see the man and the flock of pigeons from our bus stop. True to his word, he went inside the small store he had been standing in front of and came outside with a bag of croutons. At least someone was taking care of the poor birds. But wasn’t bread bad for them? It made them happy so that was something.
Our bus arrived and I had forgotten all about the exchange. It was only until a small incident happened a week later, that I was reminded of the pigeon man.
I had been about to cross the street and had stepped off the curb when a pigeon flew in front of my face scaring the hell out of me. Thankfully it did because a car turned when it shouldn’t have. If I didn’t step back, I would have been hit. I stood stunned over what happened, my heart racing a mile a minute. Looking up I spotted the bird that saved my life sitting on a power line. I could have sworn it nodded at me.
The day after I nearly died, I was walking to the bus stop but without Mat. The pigeon man was sitting on the ground looking after his birds again. I walked over to him and got down low so we could talk.
“I only have this much on me today.” I said offering a five-dollar bill.
“You still have three weeks left.” He said and didn’t reach out to take the offered cash.
I was confused. Glancing over I saw so many of those birds staring in my direction. Their eyes appeared as if they understood what was going on.
“A pigeon helped me out the other day. I wanted to repay it. Here.”
He finally took the bill, and I stood back up. It would be nice if I could feed the bird that saved my life regardless of whether it meant to or not. But who knew what one it was. And I also hoped this man was taking care of himself and not just the birds. I noticed my bus drive by us. I darted down the street hoping to catch it in time. I scared a few birds as I ran down the street expecting the bus to drive away at any second. When I reached the stop, I noticed the reason why it hadn’t moved. A bunch of pigeons were sitting in the road blocking the bus and other traffic. They flew off after I got on.
To be honest, I didn’t give the man expecting favors from the pigeons. At first, I didn’t even believe they were smart enough to do anything for a person and thought the man had some sort of harmless illness. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what I believed. Even if they were helping me out in some way because I bought their services, they were birds. What else could they even do?
In the back of mind my I was counting down the days until my so-called pigeon contract ended. On the final night, I came home very late because of some final project crunch at work. My girlfriend also had been working nonstop to finish a big project. She was an artist who did massive paintings that a local gallery sold. She would spend a few months creating new pieces and living off the pay from the last batch. We were both suddenly hurting for cash because the gallery ordered three more large pieces and that meant she needed to pay for materials she hadn’t budgeted for. Once they were finished it would be worth it.
“You’re late.” She commented stretching and greeting me by the door. “I heard Mat was going out tonight. Did you go with him?”
The apartment smelled of paint even though she had all the windows open. She was covered with all sorts of colors and needed a shower. I bet that's just what she had been about to do before I walked in the door.
“No, I was at work. I wanted to finish some stuff so I could have tomorrow off.”
Faintly I heard a podcast in her painting room. Since she worked for long hours, she needed something to listen to. But I didn’t fully approve of her listening to so many true crime podcasts. She got pretty freaked out after so many hours of them.
“You need to shower. So, do I. Let’s save some water.” I offered with a smile.
I really wanted to hug her but didn’t want to get paint on my work clothes.
“Can you take a rain check? I’m sore from working today.” She suggested.
She expected me to be disappointed, I was a little and I snapped my fingers as if I had just lost a bet.
“Darn it. Ok, next time. And how did you hear Mat was going out tonight?”
“His girlfriend told me. But if you’re not with him that means he’s going out drinking alone.” She said while crossing her arms.
Mat liked to drink at a bar about a ten-minute walk from my place. For lack of a better way to put it, Mat had a drinking problem. Unless someone was with him to keep him in line, he always got in trouble while on a night out. I knew what was even going to be said before the words came out of her mouth.
“Maybe you should see if he’s at the bar and get him home.” She suggested.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. I was thinking of excuses when she raised paint-stained hands in a threat. I raised my own in defeat.
“Fine. I wanted to buy something from the store either way. Let me get changed first. And you need to stop listening to those podcasts.” I told her.
“I like Mat’s girlfriend. He might get wasted and cheat on her and she doesn’t deserve that.”
“Mat is dumb but not dumb enough to cheat. Even if he tried, he’s such a messy drunk no one would take him. You just think he’s going to be nabbed by those Smiley Face Killers. Who aren’t real by the way.” I said with arms crossed.
She narrowed her eyes over just how easily I saw through her and how I refused to believe a conspiracy she did.
“If you keep that up, they’ll get you next. They also target boyfriends who don’t buy their loving girlfriends Cheetos.” She said while backing up towards the bathroom.
I guess she wanted Cheetos while I was out. I let her get into the shower as I left to get my friend into a cab back home before he caused any trouble.
I should never second-guess my girlfriend. She was smarter than me because somehow, she knew Mat needed help. I sent a few texts asking if he was at the bar. It wasn’t a very popular one so I could easily find him inside if he was there. I was a block away when I saw someone stumble out of the bar. Two people followed behind him. My hand tightened over my phone ready to dial the police if needed. I quickened my pace to try and catch up to the three of them.
The pair closed the distance between the first man, and I heard my friend yell. They dragged him into a small alleyway as Mat drunkenly shouted for them to let him go. I turned the corner to see one man keeping a hand on Mat’s jacket and was in his face over something.
“Do you always go around talking to other people’s girls? Huh? Do you really think she would give you the time of day?” The larger man accused.
I suddenly felt exhausted. Why couldn’t Mat just behave? He made things worse by not understanding how much tro...
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