Wringer

Palmer wakes up one morning to a blizzard. That night, he hears a tapping noise coming from his window. He goes to the window to see a pigeon staring in at him.

Palmer is in shock to a see a pigeon outside his window. He’s excited to see one in the wild, but he’s scared that Beans and the other boys might see. He shuts his window shade and heads to school. He meets up with Beans and the other boys, and they throw snowballs at Dorothy. Palmer only feels a little bad. He had begun to realize that “there just wasn’t room in his life for both Dorothy and the guys” (73). He views Dorothy as a downer because that’s the way the other boys see her.

All day long he can’t stop thinking about the pigeon by his window. When he goes home that night, he’s relieved to see that the pigeon is no longer there.

The next morning, the pigeon is back at his window. He yells at the pigeon to leave, telling it “[t]his town kills pigeons” (76), but the bird doesn’t leave. After breakfast, Palmer feeds the pigeon some cereal. After school, he runs home and ditches Beans and the other boys so he can check on the pigeon.