There are eleven pigeons on Budget Bend. The same eleven, every day, standing about outside the bakery like they are waiting for a bus.

Eleven pigeons on Budget Bend, and Ava has named nine of them. I am not going to list the names. We have not got the time and two of them are quite long.

Ava: “Nine. And then the grey one. And then the other grey one.”
Louis: “So, eleven.”
Ava: “Ten. The last two are the same pigeon. He is just FAST.”

Ava has decided the last two are one pigeon going very quickly. This is Silverton, where tigers wear rocket skates and pigs can fly, so that is not even close to the maddest thing I have heard today.

It had been a long week. Ava had done a spelling test, a haircut she did not order, and three entire days of rain. One coin left on her band. One.

The bakery puts two things on a little shelf by the door. A bag of proper bird seed, one coin. And right beside it, a bag of shiny wrapped sweets. Also one coin. So here is the whole problem in four words.

One coin. Two bags.

The seed comes in a paper bag with a bird printed on it. The sweets come in a see-through bag, so you can see precisely what you are missing. Somebody decided that on purpose.

Mum: “Take your time, love. They will both still be there in a minute.”
Ava: “If I get the seed they all come. On my ARM, Louis. Even the fast one.”
Louis: “You could do the seed next week.”
Ava: “Pigeons have not GOT a next week. Pigeons have got a now.”

And the sweets are the twisty ones with the shiny bits, and a bag holds enough for one now and one after tea, and it has been a very long week.

Ava's trunk curled up tight at the end, which is the thing it does when she is deciding. Yours will do something else. Mine makes a noise like a fridge.

It has not changed while we were talking. Say it again.

One coin. Two bags.

Now. I am going to be straight with you, and I would like you to notice, because I am not straight with you very often.

Both bags are good. That is the whole problem. Nobody in this story is going to tell Ava which one, and that includes me, and I am the narrator.

Your go. The bakery does not shut for ages.

Tap. Tap. Pause.