Poor Pedro...

This school year started off with a new friend around campus - a rather plump pigeon. Never before had we seen a pigeon around the school campus, so he created a bit of a stir. Each morning "Pedro" (I chose the name because we were studying the Hispanic-American population in Sociology the day I decided he needed a name) would sit on my window and wait for me to go around and throw wheat crackers out the door for him. Each morning my tenth grade class would comment on Pedro's visit.
On a chaotic Friday morning before Thanksgiving holiday, my tenth graders entered my class and quickly began moving about and talking. They could see that I was very preoccupied for the moment with some paper work that had to be done ASAP, and like any highschool student they took advantage of the time they had to wait. As I worked I overheard a couple of students ask where Pedro was and noticed them approaching the window to look out. Suddenly there was a loud gasp, followed by a comment from one of the other students (who by the way tends to process things rather slowly), "What are all of those feathers doing there?" Like a flash I dashed to the window, where by now the entire class had congregated, and looked out in disbelief to find the largest pile of pigeon feathers I had ever seen in any one location. "Oh Pedro, what happened to you?!"
I know it's sick but my first thought was of the movie Shrek - you know the part where the princess sings such a high note that the bird explodes? Yea, all that was left of poor Pedro was feathers and what may have been a beak. There were no bones, just feathers. I couldn't help but laugh and tell my class that I hoped all of those wheat crackers didn't cause him to swell up and burst.
Needless to say, not much was accomplished in class that first hour. We all had to go out and look at Pedro's feathery remains and discuss the possibilites of how his life may have ended. We all mourned the loss and then moved on.
Poor Pedro....