once upon a time, a man was climbing a steep cliff face when, in the distance, he spotted a pigeon. this surprised him. he was so high that a pigeon was the last bird he expected to see. an eagle seemed possible, or maybe a falcon, but definitely not a pigeon.

the pigeon came closer and closer and closer. when it reached the man, it paused in the air and said, “you’re going the wrong way.”

this so startled the man that he almost lost his grip. it was the first time a pigeon had ever spoken to him. (or so he thought. a pigeon had actually said hello to him years ago on a pier on santa monica, but he assumed it was a passerby.)

the man decided to ignore the pigeon and kept on climbing.

“you’re going the wrong way!” the pigeon repeated, this time in a very aggrieved manner. “you need to go into the mountain, not up the mountain.”

the man was sure he was imagining things. he was pretty sure pigeons couldn’t talk. he was even more sure that he wasn’t supposed to go into the mountain, especially since he didn’t know how.

but just for laughs, he said, “open sesame”.

imagine his surprise when, with a groan, the mountain opened its mouth and he found himself staring into the blackness.

the pigeon patted him on the back with its wing and said, “there you go, mate. now you’re thinking” and then it flew off.

{to be continued in the story club}