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Bob Boze, click here
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A trained dove leads to a chance meeting and a date
The Dove and the Balloon
Nina stepped out onto the balcony of her apartment and her face lit up with a smile. It was
another stunning San Diego day; clear, sunny, a perfect 75 degrees with barely a breeze. She
looked up and her smile grew even bigger as she took in the beauty of the Pacific Ocean, off in
the distance the Coronado Islands. To her left, she could see the hills in another country, Mexico. One island in particular, the one with the big hills, had become her favorite. She didn’t know its name but had dreamed of having a house on top of one of those hills and was sure it was the best place in the world to build a house.
To say Nina loved where she lived would be the understatement of the century. A short three
blocks north of the US Mexican border, her apartment faced west, toward the ocean. The
beautiful view aside, it also had some of the most spectacular sunsets anyone had ever seen.
Just as she took a sip of her coffee, Dove landed on the railing of her balcony. “Dove!” she cried
out. Dove let out a “coo, coo” and danced along the railing, sidestepping first to the right, then returning left to the same spot in front of her.
“You are such a hoot,” she told him. “Oops, sorry, owls hoot. You’re such a coo, Dove.” She
corrected. She had tried to think of a very cutesy name for him when he’d first landed on her railing, but nothing sounded right. Nothing she came up with was “him”. But, every time she used the word “dove”, she was sure he tilted his head, looked into her eyes and cooed. And so “Dove” it was. A name that was now special to both of them.
Dove and Nina were best friends. She had been training him (she thought he was a he) for
months. Each morning, she would start her day on the balcony with a cup of coffee, some bird
treats, a plate of the best bird food she could find and a trinket or two. Each morning she would
throw a trinket out into the air above the courtyard below her balcony and Dove would give
chase. It took a few weeks for him to figure out he was supposed to catch the trinket and bring it
back so, at first, most of them ended up in the courtyard below.
Finally though, he caught on and snagged whatever she threw in mid-air and brought it back to
her. That earned him a bird treat each time and a plate of gourmet bird food at the end of each
training session. Now, the two of them would start each day off on the balcony; Nina sipping her
coffee and throwing things for Dove to retrieve: Dove retrieving them, being hand-fed his treat and the two of them laughing and cooing until Nina had to shower then head off to work while Dove went wherever doves go.
Nina loved starting her day off with Dove, her only true friend here. Likely her only boyfriend
too, if she thought about it. Yeah, another Saturday morning with no one but Dove to share it,
and the weekend, with.
Her love life was a big fat zero. Deliberate at first but now, months after moving to San Diego,
she was sure she had a sign around her neck that read “Decent Men -- Danger -- Stay Clear.”
She’d gone to parties, even hung out with her fellow medical center workers at ‘after work get-
togethers’ but soon realized decent guys were almost extinct. Most of the men she’d met were no
better than the one she’d dumped and run here to get away from. Hum, wonder if Dove would
follow me to the convent if I became a nun? Got the celibate part down, and bringing my own dove might even earn me some kind of special prayer sessions or something.
“Time for another cup of coffee, Dove. Don’t go away. I’ll be right back,” she told him as she
headed back into the apartment. Dove cooed, as if to say, “Okay”.
***
Ben stood in line at the border crossing. “I can’t believe this line,” he mumbled to the stranger in
front of him. “Gets longer and longer every Saturday.”
“Si, you expect privileges, Gringo?” the guy said without turning around.
A slight breeze came up and the bright red heart-shaped helium filled balloon that Ben was
holding smacked the guy in the back of the head. “Lo siento … sorry,” Ben said.
“Si,” the guy snapped through gritted teeth, still not turning around.
Several seconds went by and the guy finally turned. The balloon caught his eye and he smiled.
“For you uh… novia?”
Ben chuckled. His Spanish sucked but at least he knew what novia meant. “No, no novia. No
girlfriend. For my hermana … my sister.” He wished he’d had a novia but living in Mexico and barely speaking Spanish had proved to be a major handicap when trying to date.
“Si.” The guy turned back around just as the line finally started to move.
For several months now, Ben had been working in Mexico, in a small medical clinic just across
the border. The clinic helped the homeless, those who had no insurance or very little money. He
had gone there when he found out more and more Americans were crossing the border for
medical services … services they couldn’t afford in the U.S. … services open to those of both
countries.
When he told her that he was moving across the border for a while, Ben’s girlfriend, now his
“ex-novia”, had pitched a major hissy fit and left him. No matter how hard he tried to explain
that more than half of his patients were Americans, she’d still called him a traitor to his country
and told him to stay on his side of the border, the south or Mexico side. And he’d pretty much
done that, until today, his sister’s birthday.
He reached the ID checkpoint and showed his U.S. passport to the border agent. The agent looked at the balloon and smiled. “Girlfriend?” he asked Ben. “
“Nope, sister’s birthday.”
“Tell her happy birthday from the border agents.”
“Thanks, I will,” Ben answered, returning the agent’s smile.
Ben crossed the border marker on the walkway, stepped aside, set his backpack down and bent
over to put his passport back in the backpack. With the balloon’s string in one hand and his
passport in the other, Ben tried to undo the flap on the backpack. But the balloon kept floating in
front of him and blocking his vision. Frustrated, he loosely wrapped the balloon’s string around
one of the backpack’s shoulder straps so he could see and unbuckle the flap.
As he pulled the flap open, the balloon’s string slipped from around the shoulder strap and gently
floated upward. By the time he saw the end of the string heading skyward, it was too late. The
balloon was now twenty feet off the ground and floating gently into the US.
Watching the balloon float away, Ben shook his head. “How could you be so stupid? Helium
balloons rise you dummy,” he mumbled to himself. As he watched it move further away, he
realized that the balloon seemed to be floating in the same direction he needed to go. Better yet,
it didn’t seem to be going any higher, just hovering about 20 feet off the ground and floating…
floating in the same direction as his sister’s apartment complex?
He started following the balloon at a quick pace and then started running. Just as he was almost
directly under it, a slight breeze came up and the balloon made a right turn, right where he would
have turned to get to his sister’s apartment! Weird!
***
Her refilled coffee cup in hand, Nina looked up, just in time to see Dove take off from the
railing. By the time she reached the door, Dove was back on the railing with a bright red, heart-
shaped balloon floating in slow circles about a foot above his head. Nina followed the string
from the balloon down to Dove’s beak. “Aw, Dove, you shouldn’t have!”
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“Be right back,” she said to Dove. I really need to get some friends, I’m talking to a dove, she
thought as she headed for the front door. Peering through the peep hole she saw a bright smile,
attached to what appeared to be a very handsome face.
Easing the door open a few inches, her eyes locked with the most beautiful, deep, sea-blue eyes she had ever seen. “Yes, can I help you?”
Through the door opening, Ben found one sparkling hazel eye peeking at him. “Um … I’m …
I’m sorry to bother you ma’am but a dove took my balloon and he landed on your patio,” he
stammered.
Ah, that’s where the balloon came from, Nina thought, as she opened the door wider and realized
he was even cuter than she’d first thought. “Are you accusing my dove of stealing your
balloon?” she asked, unable keep from teasing him … or staring at him.
“Uh, your dove? As in … your dove?”
Nina couldn’t help but snicker. “Yes, my dove. As in ‘I trained him.’ At least, I think it’s a him.”
The smile in her eyes clearly told Ben he was being teased. Ha, two can play at this game! “So,
you taught him to steal balloons, did you?”
“Not steal … catch. And yours is the first balloon he’s had a chance to steal … uh, catch.” She
didn’t know why but something told her to keep teasing him. “You should take better care of
your balloons. You need to keep them leashed and under your control at all times. We do have
balloon leash laws you know.”
He liked her, she was funny, spunky and mesmerizing. Her smile lit up her face and continued
into her eyes, where flakes of gold sparkled against the dark brown background.
Guilt began to sink in as Nina watched him stare at her. Returning his stare with a big smile she
felt compelled to confess, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tease you. When I saw Dove - that’s his
name, Dove – with the balloon, I thought he’d gone and ‘borrowed’ it for me. We were just
having a discussion about not liberating balloons when you knocked.”
“I uh …” Ben started but couldn’t think of what to say.
“Just a minute, I’ll go get your balloon,” Nina said. Walking out onto the balcony, she eased the
string from Dove’s beak and smiled at him. “You were a bad boy,” she whispered, then added,
“but thanks for bringing the hunky guy to my door.”
She brought the balloon to the door and handed it to him. “Here you go. I hope she loves it.” She
gently eased the door closed. Why did you send him away?
Ben stepped back as the door closed, then matched her thoughts. You fool, why didn’t you say
something?
He walked toward the stairs and dialed his sister. “Hi sis, I’m just about at your apartment and…
Oh, you’re where? I see. Jason and you will be gone for a week? … Uh, sure. Well, listen, just
wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Have a great time and see you when you get back.”
A giant smile flooded his face as he turned, marched back to Nina’s door and knocked.
The door opened to reveal a smile as bright as his.
“Seems Dove was right, this was meant to be yours’,” he said, handing her the balloon. “Can I
buy you a cup of coffee?”
“Uh … sure,” she answered, her smile growing even bigger. “Let me tell Dove he’s got guard
duty.”
Ben watched as she walked out to the balcony, tied the balloon to the railing and then said
something to Dove. “Thanks,” Nina whispered, then gently kissed the top of Dove’s head before turning back toward the door.
Dove let out a loud ‘Coo, coo.’
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well said
Never Stop Writing!!
m
We feed the birds and have mourning, white wing, and Inca doves in our small backyard. We haven't figured out how to train them yet. ;-)
Ron