# The Pigeons



## w.riter (May 22, 2017)

The flying wind took Josh and Anne by surprise as their lips were engaged in a French kiss: over them flew the pigeons.


They cautiously had to stop their caressing and leave the place of the good memories, as they would call any bench. Both of them knew that the spirit of a bench  had special powers; many couples found their loved ones while sitting on a bench, they were told. And now they knew it was true, first hand.


''How about we went for a movie.'' asked Anne, while caressing Josh's chest under his shirt. The bench on the outskirts of the park was getting darker. The night was creaping in, and both of them were looking for some lights.


They left the place and headed for downtown. The street they choose to follow was wet from the rain that had arrived from the heavens above a few hours ago. It was a hot season of the year, it was summer. No one complained about the rain's freshness. And this was true for Josh and Anne as well.


''I wanted to ask you something, Josh...'' asked Anne. ''Do you like the humidity of the rain?''


Josh was taken by surprise; ''Humidity of the rain''? What is she talking about?''


''I'm not sure what you're asking me, dear.'' answered Josh, suspecting that this could be some kind of a trick question; The tricky questions were what drew him to her in the first place. The tricky questions were the chemistry, the alchemy of their relationship.


''Never...the...less; I like your questions... Very, very, very much...!'' They stopped, he drew her strength even nearer to him, and they performed the French kiss all over again. They remembered the love for the bench. 


Their steps were taking them nearer to the part of the town where there were more people.  


''Tell me, what did you mean by asking me what I thought about the humidity of the rain?''


''Well, I don't know, it reminded me of a humid feeling I got while we were there on the bench. No one around, just us and other kissers, you know...'' Anne felt giddy and cuddled nearer to Josh's broad shoulders. 


Another flock of pigeons flew over their heads, causing them to feel like they were something special. 


''Are we something special, Josh?''


''Sure we are, we are in love, aren't we?'', another flock of pigeons flew over their heads.


Their feelings grew less intense. Anne uncontrollably removed her hand from Josh's and placed it in her right pocket.


''Come on, Anne! You know what it meant, don't you?'' begged Josh. ''That meant nothing to me. Just a passing farse, just a meaningless ... affair!'' ''Affair'' was the word he never wanted to use, as it had a bad influence on Anne.


''I knew her, I knew how good a friend she was to me. But, I hadn't met you yet then. You see, _she _was before _you_ were.''


''Are you suggesting that she could have been that a good friend of yours and still _take _your man?''


Anne stopped, and looked into the shop window. She tried to imagine her girlfriend Joanne beside her. What would she have said now? It was Joanne who tried to steal her boyfriend. She tried to charm and take Josh for herself. 


The shop window was silent. Joanne didn't show up in it. ''Is something wrong with me?'' asked Anne half loudly.


''What was that, Anne?'' Josh asked jumping into her thoughts. ''What are you asking yourself?''  


''Am I beautiful?'', answered Alice. 


''If that's your question, I'd have to say – Yes, you are.''


''You'd_ have _to say? Is Joanne beautiful? What would you _have _to say about that?''

''Anne, our connection, our ... relationship isn't based on how beautiful we are!'' exclaimed  Josh considerately. ''We are more than our ckeekbones and our curvaceuosness!'' continued Josh in order to talk some sense into her. He really meant it.


Josh was not a man who would pay much attention to the outside looks of a girl or a woman. He was interested in the person's soul. And now he was able to see a person's soul in anguish. He slowly took Anne's hand from within her pocket, and placed it back in his warm hand. 


''Anne, look at _me_...!'' said Josh. ''Look at the _lights. _The beautiful lights in front of us. Downtown, Anne. The downtown cinema, Anne. Don't cry, please.''


Small tears rolled down her face. She was facing Josh. Josh saw the tears and kissed them away. Anne took a look at him, filled with thankfulness. 


''I believe you, Josh.''


Another flock of pigeons flew over their heads, heading for downtown.

To Be Continued


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## w.riter (May 22, 2017)

Continuance:

The city lights were attractive like Christmas light bulbs, Anne thought. ''How strange. I'm thinking of Christmas in summer time...'' she tried to pull herself together. Still, her inability to see just how sentient and lucid she were had nothing to do with the fact that the lights were indeed ornamenting the view of the city. 


Anne felt most insecure. Josh could feel her hand shake in his hand. Despite of that he chose not to say anything. Anne was still looking at the shop windows, Josh noticed.


''If only I could help her.''


''Hey, Josh!''exclamed Anne in an attempt to help herself. ''Let's go and get ourselves some sugar cotton wool!'' 


''She is better.''thought Josh before asking her where she spotted the wool's vendor. 

''There he is, Josh!'' pointed Anne toward the edge of the street, just under a modern artistic statue.


Josh could spot the wool vendor. He was an elderly man, his eyes were sparkling in the night resembling the rest of the lights around them. The wool was fresh as could be, and they bought two pieces. 


''Are you feeling better?'' asked Josh. 


''You know, actually I do ... I can hardly wait for the movie...'' said Anne thoughtfully chewing small pieces of the wool.


''You know, you look funny.'' laughed Josh a bit. Anne finally smiled. The sugar in her cold blood did its thing.


''Thank you, sir!'' Josh payed the old vendor. 


''Ahem ... wait a little, my children'', mumbled the vendor and cleared his thought. ''I've been told that I have special powers ... not that I hadn't known that before'' smiled he gently. ''What seems to be the problem, young lady?'' he turned his look towards Anne who was staring at him dazzled, her wool in her mouth.


''Do you have any partnership problems?'' asked the man, looking somehow older now. His smile disappeared, and his voice became serious.


''In fact, yes.'' answered Josh. ''My girlfriend holds a grudge at me for having an affair with her best girlfriend.'' Anne got impatient and turned he rlook away from both Josh and the vendor.


''Well that's nothing I haven't heard before, my dear'' stretched the vendor his compassionate hand to Anne. ''You know who I am?'' asked the vendor. Anne turned her view back at him, now more interested.

To Be continued.


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## w.riter (May 22, 2017)

blank post


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## H.Brown (May 22, 2017)

w.riter said:


> .



Right this is the third time I have seen you bump your own thread. Look at the rules before a moderator comes along. You are doing your extracts more harm than good. I know you want to get feedback on yojr work who amongst us here doesn't but commenting with a full stop on your own work is not the way to go about it. Trust me as Iwant this to be the last time I have to repeat this advice to you.

We have a lot of writers here that all visit at different times of the day two hours is not enough time for everyone to see your post. When I havr time I add my critique but when I see members bump their threads this much it puts me off.


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## w.riter (May 22, 2017)

H.Brown said:


> Right this is the third time I have seen you bump your own thread. Look at the rules before a moderator comes along. You are doing your extracts more harm than good. I know you want to get feedback on yojr work who amongst us here doesn't but commenting with a full stop on your own work is not the way to go about it. Trust me as Iwant this to be the last time I have to repeat this advice to you.
> 
> We have a lot of writers here that all visit at different times of the day two hours is not enough time for everyone to see your post. When I havr time I add my critique but when I see members bump their threads this much it puts me off.



Sorry, I put a full stop because I wanted to delete a post.


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## Darkkin (May 22, 2017)

w.riter said:


> Sorry, I put a full stop because I wanted to delete a post.



There is an edit button in the lower right hand corner of the reply box...If you need to add content, use the button instead of starting a new reply.  This simple action will remedy the simultaneous posting which is against forum rules.


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## w.riter (May 22, 2017)

Darkkin said:


> There is an edit button in the lower right hand corner of the reply box...If you need to add content, use the button instead of starting a new reply.  This simple action will remedey the simultaneous posting which is against forum rules.



Should I write something like ''blank post'' when editing like that?


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## Darkkin (May 22, 2017)

Something like double post or ignore works just as well...


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## w.riter (May 23, 2017)

Continuance:

''I am a connoisseour when it comes to matters of the heart'' assured the old vendor Anne. 

''Is your girlfriend's name Joanne, perhaps?'' asked the old vendor with another spark in his eyes. Alice remembered the spark from his eyes the first time she and Josh saw him. Her wool fell on the ground.

''Why are you all shaken up like that, my child? Don't you believe me?'' asked the strange old man.

''Believe you ... Believe you what exactly?!'' asked Anne, unconscously reaching for the wool on the ground.

''Leave it, leave it...! I'll get you another one...'' The vendor was a compassioned man, Anne could tell.

''I'm call it the night in five minutes, and am taking you both to my place.'' 

''Why?'' asked Josh.

''I have some potions to offer you. I'm not just an old cotton wool vendor, you know. I'm a potion maker as well. These potions are for people like you. I love people like you, they help me grow.''

''Just how old are you, old man?'' asked Josh impatiently. ''Do you think you could drag us from here to there and enjoy your insanity?''

''Don't act like that Josh!'' uttered both Anne and the old man at the same time. Josh turned to Anne, and saw just how puzzled she was.

''Wait, wait...'' uttered Josh. ''How do you know my name? Neither of us mentioned it to you.''

''Are you sure? Or, I may be able to read people's minds ... or I may be a wizzard or something.''

''OK, old man. Your five minutes are up,'' said Josh scratching himself behind his ear. He looked at Anne and saw her looking at him beggingly.

''Just what I wouldn't do for you, Anne.'' he put his arm around her waste, leaving her to do the talking.

''Take us to your place, old wizzard!'' Anne found herself begging the man. ''I haven't slept properly for weeks!''

Josh knew that. He should have known better. He should not have given the old man such a hard time. After all, the man is obviously a bit insane. Yet, he must be a faith healer as well. The proof of that was the hope Anne found in him.

''Very well.'' said the wizzard, ''Follow me.'' 

Anne and Josh waited for him to properly close the sugar wool machine, and take a good sip of water.

''A man gets pretty thursty making this wool, you know...''

The three of them passed onto the other side of the street. It was a busy downtown Saturday night. All around them the busy car and the motorcycle drivers witnessed this Saturday night. Each of them with their own destiny. Each of them with their sleepless night or two, thought Anne.

The old man's legs were fast. His long beard was swaying in the wind, as it began to blow again. 
Anne and Josh remembered the flock of pigeons back on the park bench, and looked at each other in amazement. Their hands got colder.

Anne and Josh could hardly follow the old man. His had long strides, and he seemed to know the small allies of the neighbourhood as the back of his hand.

He stopped. He opened a door. He waited for them to catch up with him. His eyes spakled in the night again; Anne and Josh were able to spot him.

To Be Continued


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## w.riter (May 25, 2017)

I would like to transfer this thread to the Fantasy forum. How do I do that?


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## Ariel (May 25, 2017)

PM a friendly neighborhood moderator and ask one of us to move it for you.


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## w.riter (May 25, 2017)

Ariel said:


> PM a friendly neighborhood moderator and ask one of us to move it for you.



Would you be so kind to move it from romance to fantasy?


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## w.riter (May 27, 2017)

*The Pigeons*

The flying wind took Josh and Anne by surprise as their lips were engaged in a French kiss: over them pigeons were engaged in a flight.

Their lips parted, and they left the park bench. The fair couple knew that the spirit of a bench exercised special powers; many couples found their loved ones while sitting on a bench, they were told. And now they knew it was true, first hand.

''How about we went for a movie.'' asked Anne, while caressing Josh's chest under his shirt. The bench on the outskirts of the park was being veiled by the darkness. The night was creaping in, and both of them were on the look out for some lights.

Other lovers were left behind, and Josh and Anne headed for downtown. The windy street they choose to follow was wet from the rain that had arrived from the heavens above a few hours before. It was a hot season of the year. It was summer. No one complained about the rain's freshness. And this was true for Josh and Anne as well.

''I wanted to ask you something, Josh...'' asked Anne. ''Do you like the humidity of the rain?''

Josh's eyebrows were lifted by surprise. ''Humidity of the rain''? What was she talking about?'' 

''I'm not sure what you're asking me, dear.'' answered Josh, pretty sure that this might as well be some kind of a trick question; The tricky questions were what drew him to her in the first place. The tricky questions were the chemistry, the alchemy of their relationship.

''Never...the...less; I like your questions... Very, very, very much...!'' They stopped, he drew her strength even nearer to him, and they performed the French kiss all over again. They remembered the love for the bench. 

Their steps were taking them nearer to the part of the town where voices could be heard: there were more people. 

''Tell me, what did you mean by asking me what I thought about the humidity of the rain?''

''Well, I don't know, it reminded me of a humid feeling I got while we were there on the bench. No one around, just us and other kissers, you know...'' Anne felt giddy and cuddled nearer to Josh's broad shoulders. 

Another flock of pigeons performed their dance, causing them to feel like they were something special. 

''Are we something special, Josh?''

''Sure we are, we are in love, aren't we?'', another flock of pigeons danced for a moment over their blissful minds.

Their feelings grew less intense. Anne uncontrollably removed her hand from Josh's and placed it in her right pocket.

''Come on, Anne! You know what it meant, don't you?'' begged Josh. ''That meant nothing to me. Just a passing farse, just a meaningless ... affair!'' ''Affair'' was the word he avoided like the plague, as it had a bad influence on Anne.

''I knew her, I knew how good a friend she was to me. But, I hadn't met you yet then. You see, Anne, dear, _she was before you were. _Don't be silly suggesting that she could have been that a good friend of yours and still take your man''

Anne stopped, and looked into the shop window. She tried to imagine her girlfriend Joanne beside her. What would she have said now? It was Joanne who tried to steal her boyfriend. She tried to charm and take Josh for herself. 

The shop window was silent. Joanne didn't show up in it. ''Is something wrong with me?'' asked Anne half loudly.

''What was that, Anne?'' Josh asked jumping into her thoughts. ''What are you asking yourself?'' 

''Am I beautiful?'', answered Alice. 

''If that's your question, I'd have to say – Yes, you are.''

''You'd have to say? Is Joanne beautiful? What would you have to say about that?''

''Anne, our connection, our ... relationship isn't based on how beautiful we are!'' exclaimed Josh considerately. ''We mortals are more than our ckeekbones and our curvaceuosness!'' continued Josh in order to talk some sense into her. He's heart was set on talking sense to her.

Josh was not a man who would pay much attention to the outside looks of a girl or a woman. The person's soul, the persons inside world was the thing that would lift him to the heights he wanted to reach. And now he was able to see a person's soul in anguish. He cautiously took Anne's hand from within her pocket, and placed it back into his warm hand. 

''Anne, look at me...!'' said Josh. ''Look at the lights. The beautiful lights in front of us. Downtown, Anne. The downtown cinema, Anne. Don't cry, please.''

A keen eye could see the small tears rolling down her face. She was facing Josh. Josh saw the tears and kissed them away. Anne took a look at him, filled with thankfulness. 

''I believe you, Josh.''

Another flock of pigeons flew over their heads, heading for downtown.

The city lights were attractive like Christmas light bulbs, thought Anne. ''How strange. I'm thinking of Christmas in summer time...'' she tried to pull herself together. Still, her inability to see just how sentient and lucid she were had nothing to do with the fact that the lights were indeed ornamenting the view of the city. 

Anne felt most insecure. Josh could feel her hand shake in his hand. Despite of that he chose not to say anything. Anne was still looking at the shop windows, Josh noticed.

''If only I could help her.''

''Hey, Josh!''exclamed Anne in an attempt to help herself. ''Let's go and get ourselves some sugar cotton wool!'' 

''She is better.'' thought Josh before asking her where she spotted the wool's vendor. 

''There he is, Josh!'' pointed Anne toward the edge of the street, just under a modern artistic statue.

Josh could spot the wool vendor. He was an elderly man, his eyes were sparkling in the night resembling the rest of the lights around them. The wool was fresh as could be, and they bought two pieces. 

''Are you feeling better?'' asked Josh. 

''You know, actually I do ... I can hardly wait for the movie...'' said Anne thoughtfully chewing small pieces of the wool.

''You know, you look funny.'' laughed Josh a bit. Anne finally smiled. The sugar in her cold blood did its thing.

''Thank you, sir!'' Josh payed the old vendor. 

''Ahem ... wait a little, my children'', mumbled the vendor and cleared his thought. ''I've been told that I have special powers ... not that I hadn't known that before'' smiled he gently. ''What seems to be the problem, young lady?'' he turned his look towards Anne who was staring at him dazzled, her wool in her mouth.

''Do you have any partnership problems?'' asked the man, looking somehow older now. His smile disappeared, and his voice became serious.

''In fact, yes.'' answered Josh. ''My girlfriend holds a grudge at me for having an affair with her best girlfriend.'' Anne got impatient and turned he rlook away from both Josh and the vendor.

''Well that's nothing I haven't heard before, my dear'' stretched the vendor his compassionate hand to Anne. ''You know who I am?'' asked the vendor. Anne turned her view back at him, now more interested.

''I am a connoisseour when it comes to matters of the heart'' assured the old vendor Anne. 

''Is your girlfriend's name Joanne, perhaps?'' asked the old vendor with another spark in his eyes. Alice remembered the spark from his eyes the first time she and Josh saw him. Her wool fell on the ground.

''Why are you all shaken up like that, my child? Don't you believe me?'' asked the strange old man.

''Believe you ... Believe you what exactly?!'' asked Anne, unconscously reaching for the wool on the ground.

''Leave it, leave it...! I'll get you another one...'' The vendor was a compassioned man, Anne could tell.

''I'm call it the night in five minutes, and am taking you both to my place.'' 

''Why?'' asked Josh.

''I have some potions to offer you. I'm not just an old cotton wool vendor, you know. I'm a potion maker as well. These potions are for people like you. I love people like you, they help me grow.''

''Just how old are you, old man?'' asked Josh impatiently. ''Do you think you could drag us from here to there and enjoy your insanity?''

''Don't act like that Josh!'' uttered both Anne and the old man at the same time. Josh turned to Anne, and saw just how puzzled she was.

''Wait, wait...'' uttered Josh. ''How do you know my name? Neither of us mentioned it to you.''

''Are you sure? Or, I may be able to read people's minds ... or I may be a wizzard or something.''

''OK, old man. Your five minutes are up,'' said Josh scratching himself behind his ear. He looked at Anne and saw her looking at him beggingly.

''Just what I wouldn't do for you, Anne.'' he put his arm around her waste, leaving her to do the talking.

''Take us to your place, old wizzard!'' Anne found herself begging the man. ''I haven't slept properly for weeks!''

Josh knew that. He should have known better. He should not have given the old man such a hard time. After all, the man is obviously a bit insane. Yet, he must be a faith healer as well. The proof of that was the hope Anne found in him.

''Very well.'' said the wizzard, ''Follow me.'' 

Anne and Josh waited for him to properly close the sugar wool machine, and take a good sip of water.

''A man gets pretty thursty making this wool, you know...''

The three of them passed onto the other side of the street. It was a busy downtown Saturday night. All around them the busy car and the motorcycle drivers witnessed this Saturday night. Each of them with their own destiny. Each of them with their sleepless night or two, thought Anne.

The old man's legs were fast. His long beard was swaying in the wind, as it began to blow again. 
Anne and Josh remembered the flock of pigeons back on the park bench, and looked at each other in amazement. Their hands got colder.

Anne and Josh could hardly follow the old man. His had long strides, and he seemed to know the small allies of the neighbourhood as the back of his hand.

He stopped. He opened a door. He waited for them to catch up with him. His eyes spakled in the night again; Anne and Josh were able to spot him.

To be continued...


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