THE QUEST TO SPOT A BABY PIGEON (Revised)
When I was around seven or eight years old, my family moved to Vancouver, Washington. One day, as I was walking home from school, a peculiar thought crossed my mind: I had never seen a baby pigeon before. I gazed up at the towering courthouse building, which had a ledge near its dome, and saw numerous pigeons perched there. Noticing a steel ladder leading to the rooftop, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to climb it.
The ascent was long and somewhat perilous. I dared not look down. Upon reaching the top, I had to summon all my courage to inch onto the narrow 6-inch ledge. A slip sent me crashing against the dome, and now, I was in quite a predicament.
Suddenly, I heard a woman scream, “There’s a boy on the courthouse roof! He’s going to fall!” Within minutes, sirens wailed as police cars and fire trucks swarmed the area. I watched as a fire engine extended a ladder toward me. Frozen in fear, I couldn’t move. Then, a brave firefighter began ascending the ladder to reach me.
He reassured me that everything would be alright and that he’d get me down safely. The firefighter took hold of me and started descending the ladder. As we neared the ground, I squirmed out of his grasp and bolted away like a frightened rabbit.
Later that evening, while watching the local news, the entire family tuned in. The news anchor began chuckling as he reported on a daring courthouse rescue earlier that day. They played footage of everyone looking up at the courthouse dome, where a young boy with blonde hair clung to the tiniest of ledges with his arms outstretched and pressed against the crown. The ladder made its way up slowly. The heroic firefighter calmly reached the boy, carefully descending the ladder together. Just as they were about to reach safety, the boy suddenly wriggled free, leaped to a nearby fire truck, and disappeared into the sunset. The newsman quipped that we’d probably never see that boy again, and my family burst into laughter. My mother playfully remarked that the boy resembled me, and we all shared a good laugh. (It was years later when I finally admitted it was indeed me; I don’t think my mother ever truly believed it at the time.)
richardwboyanton 