Talking to Pelicans

Scene. The young man sits on a park bench by the river watching the sun set slowly behind the treeline and beside him sits a large pelican. They are talking.

Me: So I feel like I've been demoted.

Bird, lighting cigarette: Demoted how?

Me: I don't know. It's hard to explain.

Bird, blowing out smoke: Try me.

Me: You wouldn't understand, you're just a bird.

Sudden movement, flapping of feathers.

Me: Ow! What the fuck was that for? You pecked me!

Bird: I just felt like it. I'm just a bird, you know.

Me: Okay, I didn't mean it that way.
Rubbing arm.
Me: That hurt.

Bird: So what's your problem?

Me: This new job. I wear ear plugs all day and everything I hear is numbed out, like I'm under water for eight hours a day.

Bird doesn't respond. Puffs cigarette.

Me: Back at home too, you know.

Bird: There is nothing one can do while in purgatory besides wait it out.

Me: Or hope somebody will pay my indulgences.

Bird: Do you really want to rely on someone else to fix this?

Me: No.

Bird: So wait. This is only temporary, this underwater purgatorial state of demotion.

Me, scratching head: I guess.
Stops scratching, sniffing.
Me: Did you just shit?

Bird, staring forward: Yup.

Me: I thought birds only shit when they were flying.

Bird, flicks cigarette: I don't fly much any more.

Me: Why not?

Bird: You wouldn't understand, you're just a human.

Me: How do get around then?

Bird: Usually just take a cab.

Me: Oh.

Bird, hopping off bench: Let's go.

Me: Go where?

Bird: Let's get loaded.
Waddles away, doesn't look back.
Bird: I haven't had a good drunk in months.

Me: Where we going to go? It's a Monday night.

Bird, waddling off screen: I know a dozen places.

Dusk settles as the young man and the pelican exit the park and the scene.