Len dressed his new scarecrow in a coat and gave it a clipboard.
The pigeons carried on eating his peas. Len seemed pleased anyway.
A neighbour pointed at the birds and asked whether the scarecrow had frightened anything at all….
Len had a small allotment and a large supply of advice.
On Monday, a committee member told him his beans needed taller poles.
On Tuesday, another said the poles were too close together.
On Wednesday, the first man returned and asked why Len hadn’t planted more potatoes.
Len said he had been busy moving the beans.
Neither man brought a spade.
At the weekend, Len made a scarecrow. He stuffed an old coat with straw and pushed a stake into the ground beside his peas.
His neighbour, Mo, offered him a hat.
Len thanked her, but said he needed something more useful.
He came back with a clipboard. He clipped several sheets of paper to it and put a pencil through the scarecrow’s sleeve.
Mo said pigeons couldn’t read.
Len said he hoped they wouldn’t need to.
On Monday, the committee chairman reached the gate, saw the figure and stopped.
Who’s that?
Len said it was somebody taking notes.
The chairman remembered something urgent at the far end of the site.
On Tuesday, another member saw the clipboard and went round by the compost bins.
On Wednesday, Len finished planting his potatoes without a single visitor telling him how.
Mo watched three pigeons land beside the scarecrow. One sat on its shoulder.
You ought to move the arms, she said.
Len said he liked it just as it was.
But has it actually frightened anything?
Not a single pigeon. I’ve had no advice all week.
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