Pigeon's egg

It was the year 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic had come to an end. The masks were slipping. The life was coming back to normalcy. I had still been working from home.

One afternoon, dad rushed to my room. He looked worried. I got worried to by seeing him worried. He said, "Mrs Sawant just called. She said she needs your help and has asked you to visit her house".

I checked my calendar. I did not have any planned meetings. I decided to go to Mrs Sawant's home right away. I told my dad, "let me go first and see what has happened. If there is a health emergency I will call you. But don't come unless I call. If I call you, wear a mask and come," I instructed my dad like a school teacher. The danger of contracting an infection was still lingering around and I had to keep my family safe.

Arned with gloves and mask, I left my home. Thousands of thoughts crowded ny mind. My downstairs neighbor Mrs Sawant was with her 90 year old mother in law who was unwell. Mr Sawant had gone to his native place to attend to another family emergency. My first thought was that the elderly lady must have been severly unwell and Mrs Sawant needed help for arranging medical care.

I rang the doorbell of Mrs Sawant's home. She opened the door within seconds. She smiled at me. "Who smiles during an emergency?" I thought to myself. Maybe it was her coping mechanism, who knew.

I asked her, "dad said you needed my help".

She smiled again, "yes come in. To the kitchen", she gestured with the hand to go to the kitchen.

While entering her home, I saw that her mother in law watching TV, so I knew there was not a health emergency. I got relieved. I entered the kitchen and looked around.

Mrs Sawant was behind me and she said, "open the window and see outside".

I opened the window and peered outside. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. I heard cooing, so I looked down. I was being stared by reddish orange curious eyes. It was a pigeon. I saw that it was sitting in an empty pot. On a closer inspection, I realised it was hatching an egg.

"I see a pigeon. Is that what you wanted me to see?" I asked Mrs Sawant and my sarcasm slipped out of my mouth.

"Yes, will you remove it?" She asked me while smiling.

During this time, I heard a flutter. Anothe pigeon had flown and cane by the window. Looking at the feathers, I knew it was a male and probably the partner of the pigeon hatching the egg. Now two pairs of eyes were staring at me while bobbing their heads.

Mrs Sawant filled in the silence, "I cannot remove it. My hands don't reach the pot, that is why I called you. You will be able to catch it and remove the egg". She said as if it was not a big deal.

But to me it was a big deal. I love pigeons and this was a destruction of family. I could not think of doing that. Pigeons are emotionally intelligent creatures and they have feelings, I was aware of that. I did not wish to induce a trauma to them. I was not going to do that. I was not going to destroy life of these innocent creatures because they caused inconvenience to someone.

"No Mrs Sawant I will not remove the egg. I just cannot do that. I agree pigeons are messy but I cannot cause any harm to them. If you want I will tell the housekeeper to help you, but I won't do this bad deed," I said and I left from there.

I felt angry, sad, upset, all at once. At the same time I felt a deep sense of relief that I was not going to be the person to destroy a family.