Today is Hinato’s school festival.
Of course, our whole family is participating.
To our surprise, the prizes are a pigeon apron, feed, and cookies.
Everyone keeps pigeons as pets, it turns out.
Why? Well, who knows why.
Apparently, there is a rumor about a “pigeon cafe” where people talk about their hobbies, brag about their families, and predict their compatibility with other animals.
If a place that convenient exists, I wish someone had introduced it to me. We are fellow moms, after all, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t look at me with a special kind of judgment.
Ah, by the way, we unified our family name to “Harui.”
Because if we are all scattered with names like Nanatsuno or Minakawa, no one would know who is who when names are called at the school festival, right? So, I used my surname. If I just explain the situation that a veterinarian at an animal hospital engaged a corporate office worker and adopted a child, surely someone will understand.
Oh? There is a pigeon in a place like this.
I spotted six of them near the school flower bed.
They keep looking at me and making cooing sounds against their cheeks.
What on earth did you come here for?
Could it be to play with me?
Ah, I see—you want a prize!
Before I knew it, I had a pigeon resting on my head and was assigned to start the footrace.
Other moms are participating too, and some men are mixed in as well, holding pigeons to their chests.
I’m the only one standing out, though… Hinato, Karen… Don’t stare at me so hard—!
“Kanade Mom—do your best—”
“Win the apron prize—”
Taking my mark…？
Ready, set, go!
Bang!
We run together across the athletic field outlined with lime in a circle.
Mothers in their twenties to forties and substitute fathers pass me by.
And so, everyone lined up in random places, and I ran, weaving through the gaps.
Hah—hah—
A 500-meter lap is pretty long.
Hold down the pigeon on my head with both hands—there!
“Kanadeee—you’re just one person away from top three!”
Sweating at my sides, groin, and back, I passed one person and somehow placed third.
For some reason, the prize was a baby pacifier.
Is the pigeon supposed to hold this in its beak? Or should I have Hinato use it in the middle of the night?
“Kanade Mom, next is the pigeon bowl-rolling race!”
The pigeon bowl-rolling race is an event where you put a pigeon inside a one-meter cage and roll it toward the finish line. The tool to roll it is an 80-centimeter red stick, and since centrifugal force applies to both the stick and the cage, arm strength seemed necessary.
By the way, the prize for this one is a tin of 39 cookies.
Since I am a veterinarian who also performs surgeries, I am confident in my arm strength.
—Or rather, Karen would have been better at a footrace, wouldn’t she…?
“Kanade”
Perhaps sensing that, Karen came close to me and whispered something in my ear.
“I’ll give you a reward when we get home.”
Good grief… To think that she, who is so good at cross-dressing, would tempt me of all times.
I reluctantly put the pigeon into the cage, held the stick in one hand, and got ready for the bowl-rolling.
Then, at the signal to start, I concentrated my nerves on the tin of cookies right in front of me.
The pigeon bowl-rolling started on “Ready” and “Go.”
I spun the cage using the technique of a ballerina spinning a bowl.
Hee—hoo—
It’s fine. I’ve assisted in horse births too.
Hah—hee—
I’ve even rotated the bodies of cows…
Hah—hah—
I’ve even handled alligators, for goodness’ sake!
But—I learned my lesson.
There is always someone better, and there was even an arm-wrestling champion there—!?
To top it all off, a marathon runner? A sumo wrestler??
Over a short distance of 300 meters, men and women jostled and scrambled as we shouted “Hrrrggh!” and spun the cages containing the pigeons.
And then—
“Kanade!”
I somehow managed to secure 2nd place!
The prize was a box of 12 cookies, so Karen’s reward might have to wait…
“What a fool. I am a gentleman-lady who keeps her promises.”
It looks like she won’t let me sleep tonight, then.
I took the pigeon out of the cage, and now all that’s left is to cheer for Hinato’s bread-eating race.
“Hinato, your bento has meatballs, sweet rolled omelet, and rice balls.”
“Eh… really?”
We also have Vienna sausages and sandwiches prepared, so this should make her want to run her best. The Popporo family is temporarily staying at the animal hospital, so when we get home, the three of us will go shopping and spend a wonderful, fulfilling time together.
“Take your marks… Ready, set, go!”
Hinato ran as hard as she could while wearing her class’s pink bib.
Though her ranking was right around the middle, the sight of her running with all her might was already that of a girl turning 11 soon. Back then, she came to our home in a daze, yet in just one year, she accepted us—such a strong child.
She bit into the bread, and what she brought back was a pigeon-shaped sweet bean bun.
For her, this was the greatest harvest possible.
Hinato, you did a great job.
“Yeah!”
Sometimes, we must not forget to give thanks to the pigeon.
Since we couldn’t bring the mother Popporo to today’s school festival, I want you to accept this thanks on her behalf.
Coo-coo-coo—
“Kanade Mom, she says she wants a kiss?”
Oh, is that all? Easy enough.
If my kiss is all it takes, I will offer at least that much gratitude to her beak—
“Chu”