The Parable of Prinny the Pigeon

By Matthew Delooze

A good hearted young boy, Edwin, used to always ask his mother for bread so he could go and feed the chickens, ducks, geese and birds on the Allotments that were located down the road to where he lived.  There were many different people working many different allotments, but they all seemed to cultivate the same crops and raise the same small livestock.

Edwin loved to stand throwing bits of bread over the fences that segregated the allotments, he didn’t have a particular favourite allotment and he tried to scatter bread and other crumbs, evenly and fairly, so every creature had a nibble.

One day the son and namesake of an allotment owner, Chad Chadwick (Chaddy), was working on his father’s allotment, which was probably the best looking allotment of all.  It had the strongest fencing and the nicest painted huts on it. Chaddy did everything on the allotment his father told him too.

Most people were attracted to Chaddy’s fathers allotment therefore his chickens, ducks and geese got the most food because of that.

Chaddy and his father had seen Edwin feeding their chickens many times before and they knew he was feeding other livestock on other allotments too.

One day, out of the blue, Chaddy asked Edwin if he’d like to see the inside the pigeon loft, which was located high at the back of the allotment.

Chaddy showed off all his prize winning pigeons and said his father had shown him how to train them and taught him how to raise them.

Edwin had never really seen inside a pigeon loft before and although he was initially amazed at the sight, he soon realised that Chaddy’s father was really mistreating the birds. The loft looked smart and nice on the outside but was just filthy and nasty hovel on the inside.

Edwin was attracted to one particular pigeon that seemed to stand out to him. Chaddy let him hold the bird in his lap and stroke it and as he did so the bird cooed and cooed.  Edwin instantly became a pigeon fancier and he adored the pigeon with all his heart, so much so immediately named the pigeon ‘Princess’. ‘Prinny’ for short.

Chaddy then told Edwin that his father sells the pigeons and chickens from his allotment and told him could actually buy Prinny for just half a crown, and an extra tuppence for food of course. Chaddy suggested to Edwin that he could perhaps start to build his own pigeon loft in his own back yard and have it just as he wanted, both inside and out, and even make Prinny have little baby birds too.

Edwin didn’t even have to think about it, he immediately went running back up the road as fast as his little legs could carry him, to his mother, to ask if he could buy Prinny and keep her in their back yard, in a hutch, until he could start to build the bestest and nicest pigeon loft ever.

His mother, who was very poor but wise, saw how smitten her son was and she smiled at him and said “half a crown is a lot to give for a pigeon and I know chaddy’s father well, but here is half a crown and an extra tuppence for food, so go, follow your heart, go buy Prinny and we will build a good loft in our back yard for Prinny.”

Edwin rushed back down the road to the allotment’. Chaddy and Prinny were waiting for him. Chaddy informed Edwin how to look after Prinny and handed him the bird food.‘That will last a week’ he said. “It will also take a week for Prinny to get used to you, so keep her in your loft until all the food is eaten up” he stressed.  “Once all the food is gone and Prinny knows you well enough, it will be time open your loft and let Prinny exercise her wings”. “That’s what you have to do” he insisted.

Edwin agreed to follow Chaddy’s instructions and after handing over half a crown and an extra tuppance to him, he took Prinny to his own back yard, smiling all the way, and placed her in a makeshift hutch. He loved her and fed her and she loved him back. He stroked her and cooed at her and she cooed back.  He started to build the nicest and bestest Pigeon loft ever, through some help from his father and neighbours, and a couple of days later the loft was finished. It was a glorious palace inside and out.

Edwin then placed Prinny in the new, nice clean Pigeon loft and he was glad.

The next few days he fed and loved the bird and the bird loved him back. Prinny looked so at home.

Edwin realised the food was running low and he remembered Chaddy’s words that he had to let Prinny out of the loft to exercise after she was used to him and the weeks supply of food was all eaten up. Edwin remembered his promises and he opened up the loft and Prinny took off into the distance.

Over the next few hours Edwin waited for Prinny to come back to his back yard but she never returned and Edwin was heartbroken.

He simply never realised when he went to the allotment that Prinny was a homing pigeon and he never realised Chaddy Chadwick knew all this all along.

Edwin’s mother also later explained that Chaddy and his Father took a lot of half a crowns from people and all the pigeons on Chaddy Chadwick’s allotment would always return to it.

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