It was a cool fall evening, and everyone was in place. Mr. Wigelsworth, a silver tabby, found a perfect spot under a small bush, camouflaged like leaves, except for his two green eyes, poking out through a section of bare twigs. Princess Anne, a white Persian, found herself under a large plastic kid’s mini car that someone left out in the back yard. It hadn't been touched in weeks so no one would suspect a cat to be hiding under it and ready to pounce. Wigelsworth whistled the secret greeting, like a bird calling the flock. After a few minutes with no call back, he whistled again, this time much louder and more direct. Still, after no response call, he began to grow frustrated and he called out, "Princess Anne! Do you hear me?" He whistled again.
"Oh, that was you? sorry, I was wondering what kind of bird that was." she cluelessly responded.
In a quick, spy like move, Wigelsworth scuttled out of the bush and then under the discarded kid’s vehicle, sliding up to Anne in one swift move. "Are you okay? I thought we went over this before. I'll give you the raven call and you respond with a cardinal, remember?"
"Yeah, sorry. I got distracted. I was thinking about that lousy dinner we got last night. I mean, we've been with this family for two years now and all they can scrounge up is canned pate? It was in the shape of the can for Pete's sake."
Wigelsworth takes a big deep breath and exhales, then looks at her with all the patients he can muster.
"We are about to hunt the biggest rodent in town. I mean this rodent makes all other rodents look miniature. I've seen him scurrying about with his little family of rodents for the last three nights and I'm telling you, once we catch him and present it to the lady of the house, she will feed us like the king and queen we are." Wigelsworth had been running reconnaissance for a few days, hoping to see a small rat or two, then he fell off his chair looking out the window because of the size of rat that ran by. This rat made all the other rats look like dwarfs.
"Who's going to kill it? Because I must be honest, I've been so domesticated lately, I've kind of lost my hunter ability. I can chase down a treat or two, but I don't know about live vermin." Wiglesworth’s disappointment toward Princess Anne was palpable.
"Look, just be ready to cut him off before he makes the west side of the back yard, I will take care of the capture." and with this statement, Wigelsworth, stealthily, went back to his bush.
Not two-minutes later a loud screech penetrated the air, causing Wigelsworth to jump and hit his head on a naked twig. "Ahg! What was that? That was not a cardinal! I think I'm bleeding." And with this revelation, a great laugh bellowed out around the back yard. A laugh like Wigelsworth had never heard before. He narrowed his eyes, looking hard around the backyard and came to stop on a large Oak tree. Perched on a high branch was a snow white North American Barn owl. He was looking down upon the feline predators as if he were judging them, and, as a matter of fact he was judging them.
"What does a cardinal sound like? If I knew I would have made a cardinal sound." The owl surmised.
"Hey, Wigelsworth, I think that owl is talking to us." Princess Anne brilliantly pointed this out, causing Wigelsworth to exhale loudly again.
"Yes, I know Princess, will you please just let me handle this?" Wigelsworth stealthily made his way to the Oak Tree and held a large leaf in front of him, to not give his location away. When he got to the tree, he forcibly whispered up to the owl. "Uh, hello good sir. I do apologize but I was under the understanding that we were the only predators in this area. We have lived here for two years now and I must say, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting such a handsome creature as yourself."
"Who? me? Get it? I used the 'who' because I'm an owl." The owl thought he was funny. Wigelsworth faked laughed, probably a little too long.
When his laughter subsided, he kept on with the conversation, "What is your name, might I inquire?"
"I'm called, Magesto, the great. But my friends call me, Larry." cried the regal creature.
"Well, Larry, my friend and I are on a special hunting outing this evening and I'm afraid you are right in the middle of our hunting ground. So, if you wouldn't mind, can you clear out and give us room to work?" Wigelsworth implored.
Larry stepped off the tree and majestically flew around in a circle, finally coming down right on top of the plastic car, causing it to close completely on the Princess. He then began to bathe his wing, casually, with his open mouth, shaking the tuft of white hair on his head, as if he were in a shampoo commercial. "I said my friends call me Larry, you can call me, Magesto, the great. And is this your territory? I hadn't noticed. You see, I cover a lot of ground and this area just so happens to be part of MY territory." he arrogantly stated.
Wigelsworth dropped the leaf and walked closer to the Magesto as a muffled voice came out from under the kid’s car, "Hey, it's kind of dark in here."
"It's okay, Princess Anne, we are negotiating. I'll be right with you." he assured his partner. "Now then, I'm sure we can come to an agreement on sharing this back yard, I believe your goal is the same as ours, rid the area of the disgusting vermin. What say we alternate days?" Wigelsworth was used to negotiating and bartering as he had come from the streets before landing in this cushy house as a rescue.
"Okay, I'll take tonight." came Magesto’s first terms.
"Well, I don't think that's very fair, seeing how we're expecting the fat rodent this very evening, Larry. And I was the one who spotted him two nights ago." Wigelsworth was confident in his right place. He paced back and forth landing on the other side of the plastic car.
Meanwhile, behind the negotiating predators, a family of fat rats with luggage and a canoe were making their way across the yard. Having noticed the predators, they hide behind some tall grass, frozen for fear of being caught.
"If I let you hunt this evening, how do you plan of catching anything. I mean, no offense but you have a chubby little belly there, which will probably slow you down. It looks like you've been dipping in the treats a little too much." Magesto pointed out, with an arrogant tone.
"Ha! I'm all stealth I can assure you. I have the perfect spot right here under this bush." Wigelsworth displays his favorite spot. “But what about you? That screech is bound to alert them to your hiding spot, causing all prey to know where you are."
Magesto screeches, which is heard all around. As the family of rats now make their way through a hole in the fence. Just as they get everyone out of the backyard, they make a loud crashing sound from their canoe hitting the fence. Larry and Wigelsworth immediately see them leaving and they both rush to that side of the yard, putting on their brakes, right as the rats leave.
"Oh, come on! Are you kidding me?" Wigelsworth slams his paw against the fence.
"This was all your fault, tubby." Magesto said as he circled back around landing on the tree.
"Tubby? If it hadn't been for your ungodlily voice, we would still have a shot!"
Just then, Princess Anne makes her way out from under the now released plastic car and heads over to the pair. "What happened?"
Both Larry and Wigelsworth stare at each other.
"It's okay guys, there's always tomorrow."
Suddenly the back door opens, and a woman pokes her head out, "Princess! Mr. Wigelsworth! Time to come in!"
"Ha! Mr. Wigelsworth? Time to go get more fat!" Larry mockingly contributes, causing Wigelsworth to leap at him, as Larry flies higher into the tree.
Princess Anne scurries into the house, followed by a dejected Wigelsworth. As he enters, he yells behind him, "Don't get too comfortable 'Megesto the idiot!' We'll be back!" followed by another loud screech as Larry flies away.
Comments
Post a Comment