'Where are the tranquilisers I take when I go to the dentist?' I asked Mr.A.
'Where d'you think,' he replied in an acid tone, 'they're in the medicine cupboard stored next to the toothpaste.'
Ignoring the sarcastic barb, I dashed to said cupboard, snatched up the pills, bashing one them into smithereens with the end of the lavatory brush (which was nearby), mixed the resultant powder with some honey which entailed a trip downstairs, went up again to find my old blow darts which haven't been used for a while, brushed the pointy ends with the tranquiliser mixture, ran into the garden, quickly taking aim at the peacefully sitting sweetly innocent collared doves, hitting the targets cleanly one after the other, almost at the speed of light.
I watched them, keeping a look-out for signs which I was familiar with from my visits to the dentist. And yes, in just the same way, their eyes started to swirl, their claws slowly relaxed, and one after the other they gently fell to the soft lawn below. Hastily, I got out my acrylic paints, large paintbrush, special acrylic palette and water pots, eagerly painting the slumbering birds a fetching orange and turquoise. I hope they like the effect and it won't psychologically upset them, I now ponder. But I must say the colourful display gives me a lot of pleasure. The dove grey was lovely and soft but these colours are zinging. They look quite like parrots.
