Fame

I am getting up, a harmful shiny light enters the room through the big glass of the window that covers completely one of the room's walls. I think that I should stay in bed for a while yet, but that light does not allow me to sleep or even close my eyes. I cannot think and I try to stand up but I feel quite dizzy, and it seems that my head is about to explode. And that light, that light is really hurting me, it is burning my eyes and I cannot bear it. I try hard to reach the window and close the curtains but I trip over a chair and I fall on the floor. Now, I am feeling more dizziness and more pain and that damned light continues killing me. I crawl on the floor and I manage to close the curtains and I feel a bit better but I need some rest yet. I am thinking about going back to bed but I fall asleep again, this time on the floor.
I wake up again, I am still on the floor, and feeling a lot of pain. My head is like a volcano ready to erupt and I also have a stomach ache and some pain in my right leg. I am able to sit on the edge of the bed and try to remember something but it is difficult. I look around and I see that it is 7:36pm if the clock over my bedside table is correct. I do not know how long I have been sleeping for but It has to be more than twelve hours.
After half an hour under the shower I feel a bit better and even awake. I put some clothes on and head to the room's door. When I open the door I can see a guy, a big guy standing in front of me. He greets me and asks me if I am going to need a car or I am going to stay at the hotel. I am not really sure, I only want to have some breakfast or lunch or dinner whatever is appropiate at this time. I start walking towards the lift and the big guy follows me. I remember his name, he is David and is one of my bodyguards.
As I get off the lift (the doors open), I see a crowd of girls yelling and crying like they were mad and several people, big people, like David keep the crowd away from me while I continue walking to the restaurant. There are a young pretty blonde woman and a man in his fifties who ask me to sit with them. I agree, I sit down and ask something to eat while we chat. They tell me that I have to attend a party tonight in order to continue with my last album promotion and that tomorrow in the morning we are leaving the city, so I should not drink too much there. Now I remember why I have been in so bad condition during all day. Last night I attended another party and I drank a lot and I do not even remember how I got to my room. I suppose that this is part of the job too, or maybe it is a good way to keep me under control, manipulate me and do not let me thinking a lot about what I am doing (last part of the sentence is not there really, it is just what I should think about but I do not because they are doing their job very well).
After I finished my meal, I left the table and I head to the lift again, followed by David. Just before taking the corridor that would take me to the lift, a teenager loomed up out behind a corner. My bodyguard is a bit nervous and is going to hurt the boy but I tell him to release the teenager and he does that way. But, as soon as David releases him, he jumps over me and sticks a razor blade in my stomach and in my chest. I feel big pain and start to drown in my own blood. I barely see David grabbing the kid and calling for help. I ask to myself: is this the price of fame or just part of the job?

Brave pigeon

I always thought that the best members for a hypothetical bird's air force would be hawks and eagles but as we can see in this picture there are other kinds of birds really interested in serving their "country" or their race to fight against their enemies and show them that birds can defend themselves from any kind of threat.
This is the story about Nicky and his inborn desire to become a pilot and fly all over the world. In fact, Nicky would love to be a war pilot and defend everybody against their enemies during the World War II, that was taking place in that moment. This story happened in 1940's, and it started in a place called Middlesborough in the UK.
Let me introduce Nicky. It is a little pigeon that has a dream, probably since its birthday. The idea of becoming a war pilot is stronger than ever now because of the war that is coming about in Europe. Its parents keep telling it that should think about other things and forget that crazy thoughts but these advises always fall on deaf ears. Nicky gets crazy every time it hears stories about RAF pilots fighting against nazis and trying to keep people in the UK and other ally countries safe and out of German soldiers' reach. In this precise moment, our little pigeon is reading an article in a newspaper page that found on the ground about an English pilot who was brought down and is kept prisoner in German territory. While Nicky progress in its reading, it is getting more and more angry. After finishing with the article, it drops the page and starts to free its anger shouting and explaining in loud voice what should be done to rescue that brave pilot. This is nothing unusual for all Nicky's friends and acquaintances, it happens quite often but they do not care a lot about that.
One day, Nicky's life would change forever due to an advertisement that it read in the newspaper. "WE NEED PIGEONS TO HELP IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST GERMAN ARMY"; that was the main content of the advertisement and it turned that normal day for most people in the happiest day ever for Nicky. It almost forgot to take note of the address to apply and take advantage of that big opportunity to fulfill its dreams. Nevertheless, it took that blessed piece of paper and went home to tell its parents.
"I am going to be a real pilot and I am going to fight in war against those bloddy bastards", told Nicky to its mom as it entered their nest. Nancy was Nicky's mom and, at that time thought that Nicky had read another story on some newspaper and its imagination was working hard again. But, after the whole and detailed explanation that heard from its son, Nancy realized that this was serious and it could be a very dangerous experience for its son and a lot of suffer for them, their parents.
Four days later, Nicky was standing in line to apply to join air force. There was a lot of pigeons on that line, volunteering for going to war. Nicky had been waiting for five and a half hours but that worth it and it did not feel tired or sorry about being there. It was a bit weird that all the others pigeons were in the company of humans but that did not worry Nicky. Fifty minutes later, Nicky get to the front of the line it had been for the last six hours and could see an army officer taking the applications and giving some information to the appliers. Nicky did not have a human to introduce it, so it flied from the ground to the window where the officer was. The officer seemed a bit surprised for a while and then he took Nicky and give it to a soldier who was putting pigeons in cages. These cages were not very luxurious but they were going to fight for their country and that was enough for Nicky. That noble task could require some sacrifice but it would be rewarded widely if its dream could be become true. Taking into account that most people never see their dreams come true it is understandable the happiness that Nicky showed on its face.
After about another hour waiting inside the back side of a lorry, it looked that they were starting their way to the training camp. In fact, that was right but fate reserved a light disappointment and an important decision would have to be taken. Nicky started chatting with its cage partners and after a while it realized that they were heading a training camp for carrier pigeons. As you can imagine, Nicky was undone and it felt down and without any meaning for its life. It remained silent and thinking during the rest of the ride to the camp. Its first idea was to leave as soon as they arrive at their destination, but a the end of the journey it had made a very different decision. Nicky was going to train as hard as it could, become a good carrier pigeon and help its country the best it could delivering cyphered messages to the front and back avoiding to be captured or reached by fire. It soon realized that its mission was very important and those messages that they carried could change the future of war.
Nicky did not become a war pilot as it dreamed during its life but it delivered succesfully more than 500 top secret messages and retired after the end of WWII. Now it lives in a quite place in the north of France with its family. Sometimes it remembers some of its dangerous trips doing them again but in company of its children, its wife or some of its multiple friends.