The First Ice Pigeon of London

On a cold winters night, in the middle of London a pigeon was born.  He like his father was given the name Frank.  However unlike his father he would grow up to do something that no other pigeon in London had ever done before – here is his story.

Like most pigeons Frank grew up and lived with his parents; Frank senior and Sally his mother.  They all lived around ‘Nelsons Column’; this monument was not only one of the prides of London for the people who lived there but also the pigeon folk.  Why is that you ask?  Well from a pigeon’s point of view its Heaven!  First of all some of the smartest and most friendly pigeons of London flock there everyday.  The second reason is that there are many people who pass through there everyday, some to stare in awe at the monument, others casually passing by and some to have their lunch. 

Some of these people leave gifts for the pigeon folk, which often have shiny wrappers on them.  Inside these glorious packages are burgers, chicken pieces, sandwiches and sometimes if one is really lucky – hotdogs!  Not for the meat you understand but for the roll itself. Although pigeons are not picky eaters they have their vices like any other creature, for pigeons its hotdog rolls.  To them it is both fluffier and sweeter then any other food, the roll is just part of it.  Contained inside these heavenly rolls can be ketchup, mustard and of course the hotdog itself (they are not too keen on onions though!).  However because of this when a roll is discovered it tends to cause fights to break out among the pigeons. The fight usually consists of a number of pigeons tugging at the roll and then usually breaks down to a fight between two of the strongest pigeons.  Now how can this be sorted out fairly?  Some might say just let them fight it out they will get tired eventually but this is not the way of the pigeon so how can the dispute be settled?  Uncle Norris the wisest (and sometimes most absent minded) pigeon in all of London held the answer.  His answer came in the form of a contest, each pigeon that desired the roll would stand at the base of ‘Nelsons Column’ and on the dropping of a ‘fair’ pigeons wing would race upwards towards the top.  Whichever pigeon made it there back first would win the roll.  However it was not that simple and here was Uncle Norris’s genius if you will; to fly to the top and back down was a simple task in itself but to do it with speed was another thing.  Speeding to the top was not easy but in comparison to flying down it was simple enough. You see pigeons can fly up to fifty miles an hour and when flying downward (or rather gliding downward) the speed can increase quite dramatically which means the smallest miscalculation or gust of wind can knock you straight off course and plummeting back to earth.  That meant brains and skill were required above greed (which can be difficult when your hungry). The winner would then claim their prize and perform the ‘Pigeon Wing’, which was the traditional victory dance.

“I am the champion, I told you I would win again!” with this ‘Big’ Pete smiled smugly and dragged his prize away.  Some people may say how can a pigeon smile with only a beak and no mouth? Well when a pigeon is happy enough a muscle contracts around the beak, which makes it look like a smile.

While this was going on Frank and his two best friends were watching in disappointment as the roll was being dragged away by ‘Big’ Pete.

“That’s what I want, my little dream, to have one of those heavenly rolls,” said Frank smiling

“Yeah yours and everyone else’s,” said One

“Well it’s not mine I want to be like Uncle Norris,” said Two

“What crazy?” chuckled One

“He is not crazy, a little silly maybe,” replied Two.  The three of them went quiet looked at one another and began laughing.

In case you were wondering the reason why Frank’s friends are called One and Two it is because of their parents, let me explain.  On average pigeons lay about twelve to eighteen eggs, Mary and Paul (One and Twos parents) exceeded that and had twenty-two eggs! Lacking imagination and unable to think of names for so many decided to call them after a number in order of their hatching. That is how they got their names. 

“I meant be like him in the way everyone looks up to him and listens to him,” said Two

“Look,