There was a tower made out of stone, with 12 windows, that housed 12 pigeons.
That was the tower of my town. Me and every generation of kids used to aim at the pigeons with slingshots, throwing small stones or grains. It was fun to see them fly around only to return to their window.
My father, just like any other, would say that it was good fortune to hit a pigeon from that tower, it could make you rich and have a very fortunate life, he said.
I believed, and kept aiming at the pigeons until I was 16, not a little girl anymore. I was very good at aiming at them, but I never had anything special or a life of fortune. I didn't even have my first kiss. The boy I liked was in love with someone else, and my best friend had moved to the big city with her soon-to-be husband. I felt like the truth of the fathers of my town was starting to be questionable. How come I was so good at aiming at the pigeons, and my life was stuck in a normality? It's not bad, but I had better things to do than to throw things at birds and expect to have a good life, that's what my 17 year old self thought.
It was when I turned 18 that I finally left my town to find my good fortune. My sister was young and strong, she could help at home. I went to visit my friend, the one that got married at 17. I was off to the big city.
She received me with open arms, screaming from the massive entrance of her manor, which also had a farm. She was pregnant. Now that was a big fortune.
She was so kind to lend me a room at her place, for free. I didn't want to just stay there and be treated like royalty, so I helped on the farm. I met all kinds of ducks, big animals and types of flowers. I helped most with guiding the cattle, in the way I was used to back home, with the goats and donkeys.
It was one day at tea time that me, my friend and her husband, had a conversation about the pigeons of good fortune. He laughed, hard. He called them the unfortunate princes. Me and my friend asked, intrigued. The story went like this.
- Those are the 12 lost princes, from the late king that loved to hunt in the woods, for fun. It is said that the king was once warned - hunt to feed your family, nothing more. If he continued to hunt for fun, a curse would knock on his door. Once the first prince was lost in the woods, the king went looking for answers. He did so for each of his sons, only when the 12th son disappeared, the woods answered, guiding him to the tower of the pigeons. The king laughed and said that those weren't his sons, throwing rocks at the pigeons, in rage for how the woods had tricked him. The people of the village saw the king laughing and throwing rocks, so that became the legend - aim for the pigeons for good fortune. Those are in fact his sons, the woods told him so. When the king was near his death, he went to the woods, desperately searching for help to recover his sons. The woods told him that to save his sons he ought to stand guard over the tower, and transform the belief that the pigeons needed to be aimed at. He had to defend the birds, hit and get hit if necessary, but the belief needed change. The king died, and now it is said that anyone who takes this burden to defend the pigeons will receive a royal title, as well as the good fortune all the citizens in that village always wished for by aiming at the birds. No one ever dared, who would want to risk to be hit? Or hit seemingly innocent people?
Was this the answer for my life of good fortune? Was I going to risk my life for this? I mean, I wasn't miserable, but I did want a family, some rest for my hard work, some life of happiness. I debated on the idea for a while, still at my friend's manor, going on balls and events, trying to improve my position in society. But it felt like I was cursed, no man would look my way, no one would sell me their land, I couldn't even get some animals to bring home, not even a small horse or a cow. It went as far as the embarrassment of being the first to talk to any man at a ball. The unthinkable for an honorable woman to take the first step could be forgiven if a man would reciprocate the attention. It couldn't have gone worse. One man faced the other way. The other sat on a chair at a table full of ladies. I thought the next would take me in... But when I noticed, every man forced his company to a bigger group or to another woman. The next ball, the same face turning the other way, the gathering with the ladies, choosing bigger groups. I stopped counting the way you stop when the number of attempts makes you more embarrassed than proud. I wasn't the fearless woman at the balls, I was the needy one, the cursed one.
My situation was getting embarrassing and I feared to end up alone. I had spent 3 years with my friend. My sister was being courted by a young man, and was about to move out. My parents were old. I wasn't getting younger either. I ought to turn my fate around.
Every time I chose to believe the pigeons were the reason for a fortunate life, I had nothing. Every time I tried to take that life with my own hands, it was denied me. As if destiny were asking something else of me. The more I looked at the pigeons as something to protect, the more I felt drawn to them.
I decided to take my leave, thanked my friend and went directly to the tower of my town. I didn't stop at home. I didn't go to see my sister or my parents. I was too ashamed. How can a grown woman like me still be single, with no relevant assets?
I kept asking myself, why wasn't I deserving of a decent life? I don't even ask for a good fortune life anymore, just something that wouldn't lead me to misery.
I ran around the tower, trying to look for an entrance. I couldn't find any. Then a group of children approached, and the aiming started. I tried to scare them away. They were just children, it was easy. But I knew that in that village everyone would know that the unmarried daughter of the family was giving troubles to an old tradition. I had to do something. The goal was to shift the belief and protect the pigeons.
For many days I went to the centre of the village, trying to speak with the neighbours, children, anyone, to stop the tradition. But my curse had gotten worse, people were mad at me for even existing. I hadn't done anything. It didn't take too long for them to start throwing tomatoes and other condiments at me. It didn't stop them from aiming at the pigeons, it just made me one of them.
My curse had become so bad that even my family didn't want me inside the house or being connected with me anymore. I didn't have anywhere to sleep. My village was throwing harder and sharper things at me each day. If I had learned something in my time at the manor, it was carving wood, endurance running around, and walking slowly to not be heard by animals. Therefore not be heard by people.
Sneaking to steal food became a habit. That, or risk being aimed at. I had to gain strength to carve my weapons. An arrow and bow were the most similar thing I could create to a slingshot. My aim was still quite good. And my only salvation. I was going to save the pigeons from their curse, it was the only thing I believed to be true by then, nothing else was worth it. But a blind shot to hope, that's all I needed.
I climbed to the top of the pigeons tower, there I found the entrance. I had a roof over my head and a place where I could put the food I had stolen. Now, I needed to defend the poor princes, maybe that would change the people's beliefs. I didn't know what else to do.
The first days I aimed at the kids, not to hurt them, just to scare them. At some point the parents would join their kids, to see the freak on top of the tower, defending the birds. I aimed at the parents, trying to scare them. They came back the next days, aiming at me with blades and knives. I had to attack... I did... I killed... I survived.
One night inside the tower, when the whole village was asleep, the pigeons spoke to me. I couldn't understand what they said, only that they now slept close to me and made a lot of noise, a happy noise.
My life had been like this for 2 years now. My first wrinkles made my beautiful youth look more mature. I didn't mind it, but I knew my time was running out.
The saying in the village now was, the freak that believes pigeons are royalty, if you aim at the pigeons, you will be rich like a royal king, if you hit the woman you'll be blessed with a healthy life and dreams to come true. I didn't understand why, until my father screamed to the top of the tower:
"- They think you're a freak to believe in such things, they think you have been cursed with a delusional dream. They think you will never die, because you have been claimed by the royal pigeons. You were my first child. Now I want to forget I ever had you in my house... Look what you have turned yourself into."
That night I heard the pigeons and understood them, they said: "Even as a child, when you aimed at us, we knew you were going to be our savior. All the kids would aim to hurt, you would choose the tiniest of rocks, aiming to touch not to hurt. We didn't choose to curse you, nature chose you to save us. That's why you're here. But these villagers can't be helped... You'll die." I answered: "I have nothing else to lose, if I die, I will be by your side, you have treated me with more care than any other human. That's luxury, that's royalty to me at this point."
Years had passed. I was an old lady now, I wasn't strong enough to go outside, climb up and down the tower for food. It had been 2 days without going to the village.
On the third night, I heard a voice coming, a little girl... She said "Pigeon lady, aren't you hungry?". I was scared, how could a person be inside my tower? I wasn't strong enough to throw an arrow. Was this it? The day I would die? But this little girl had food, she even helped me eat it.
She came every night, the pigeons were already fond of her, so was I. It felt like my little family at this stage.
One day my curiosity hit and I asked. "Why do you come to help me? Why do you care for me?" The girl answered "When I was old enough to hold a slingshot in my hand, I didn't want to aim at birds and I was afraid of you. My parents insisted I was required to, because my brothers did, so I had to. The day my parents came with me to make sure I'd do it, you killed them. I felt that was a blessing, I couldn't understand how aiming to harm was something that would give me back good things." I was so embarrassed, I just cried and she continued "My brothers take care of me now, they don't insist for me to come and hit you, in fact they don't come here anymore. So, when you stopped stealing food, I decided to come and check on you. I had to... to know what happened to the woman who blessed me and my brothers. After all, we are all less violent, we care for each other more than we ever did as children. That's because of you."
The next day, I woke up alone, I searched my tower for my pigeons, called for them, nothing... My old body was too tired to climb the stairs all the way to the top, but I did it anyways, 1 step at a time. Took me the whole day to reach the top. It was night, time for the little girl to appear, I was at the top of the tower, and I almost cried, when instead of my pigeons, I saw 12 beautiful young boys smiling at me. That's when I realized, my arms were now white wings, my legs were tiny as a white dove's.
The boys thanked me and waited with me for the little girl. As she arrived, she understood that she wouldn't see an old lady anymore, nor the 12 pigeons. Then the oldest prince explained, "You helped lift our father's curse, from the moment you had the power to decide, you chose not to harm us, that's when our curse began to shift. When you understood what goal nature had designated for you, you stayed by our side. You changed the belief of a family. Thank you for giving us our life back." Then the little girl asked "Then why is she cursed again to live a life as a dove now?" The prince answered "Violence. Nature rewarded her with a second life in a second body, but the previous one had to be punished. Nature always finds its ways to bring balance to the world."
The little girl took me with her. She and her brothers went on to live in the palace with the 12 princes, the lost royal princes. She married one of them and became the princess soon to be queen. I lived my life in the royal castle, until my time was over. I died happy, the 12 pigeons were now free and I gained a new fortunate life, with a family that understood me, that cared for me.