Pest Control...

Text and Illustration - Dom Read   Photography - Flora Platt

​DREADFASHIONDEADFASHION - DREAMS COME TRUE!
Anyone who knows the Dread Decks studios well will know know the fire exist, which doubles as a smoking area. This spot is a little bit of a haven for our feathered friends. The enclosed area with a mesh ceiling is the perfect nesting ground for persistent pigeons seeking to hide from their predators. They build their homes safe in the knowledge that the gaps in the fences are too small for ferocious foxes, bigger birds or fearsome fiends.    

So anyway, we had grown accustomed to our pigeon neighbours. We watched as they made their nests and laid their eggs. We watched as they grew and flew and came back year on year.
​What we didn't realise was that they were watching us too...

We we didn't realise they were listening and learning. We didn't realise they were growing and gaining thoughts. We didn't notice as they developed limbs and lips. We never noticed the tongues that talked and eyes that observed.

That was all until, one fateful day, when there was a tap, tap, tapping at our studio door. Who could that be we wondered. The last thing we expected was our feathered friends looking to make an appointment. They laughed and leered as we looked into their eyes. It took us aback, it was like some nightmare, that we never new we feared. 

"Two tailored suits they cheered!!!" 

To our surprise they were more than polite, they were a delight. It was more than pleasant to meet them, they were most interested in where our ideas stem. They had a lot of opinions and a lot to say! They pulled up chairs amidst our stares. They offered their insights on our current plights.

"The world it's in a terrible state and you mate, you've put too much on you plate. These tasks you undertake, oh for heavens sake! So filled fears, it is no wonder you drown yourself in beers. Dry those tears, talk to your peers and get some help my dears."  

Freshly adorned our new friends gently warned "We will leave you with this and then we must go! Us Pigeons stick together you know... Take a trick from our book and know where to look. And most of all remember the sweetest of fruit is that which is tasted and when there is a pigeon involved THERE IS NOT A SINGLE SCRAP WASTED!!!"

And with that they picked up their last chips, they shook their hips, gathered their things, spread their wings, and took off into the set sun... Ever since we have wondered whether we will ever see them again as it seems this story has only just begun.