This reminds me of Scrungy and his freinds as kittens.The following is an excerpt from Scrungy: Abandoned
Scrungy had never been allowed to be out of Deedum or Zera's sight; likewise, the king's kittens were also not allowed to leave the tower, unless escorted by their father or receiving their instructions from the guards. As restless and curious as kittens were, the four males were not content to spend every day of the summer scooting around the rocks and crevices of the tower. One August morning after Scrungy, Sarlin, Diesel, and Mott had finished their lessons with Asanka and Arjuna, the four-month-old kittens decided to sneak off and go to the edge of the forest. Scrungy had been telling them about how he had crossed the abandoned field and about the huge tree where he spent the first two nights after he had been dumped. They had decided that they were now old enough to do what they wanted and they tracked off through the forest to the edge of the abandoned field.
"This is the tree that I slept in," Scrungy exclaimed. "See, here is the cavity that the squirrel had her nuts in."
Looking up into the branches of the tree, Mott cried, "Wow, this is a giant oak. Look how far up the branches go. We can race each other up to the top!"
"Yes, let's go," Scrungy shouted.
Diesel and Sarlin hung back as Mott and Scrungy scooted up the trunk and out onto a low-hanging branch.
"What are you afraid of, Sarlin?" Mott cried. "Look how much fun we can have. These branches are wide and the bark is thick. It's easy to grasp with our claws. Come on! Don't be a scaredy-cat!"
"Father will be very angry with us for even being here," Sarlin pouted. He peered through the high grass and weeds that shielded them from the field. "We better go back home."
"Nonsense, Sarlin!" Scrungy cried. "We're old enough to be out here, aren't we? Your father always said that cats in the wild grow up much faster than domestic cats do. So we gotta be at least six or seven months old compared to a house cat."
Diesel was torn between wanting to be sensible like his older brother Sarlin, or go up into the giant tree and have fun with Mott and Scrungy. Finally, his urge to scurry up into the tree overwhelmed his desire to stay on the ground with Sarlin. He bounded up the massive trunk and joined his brothers on the lowest limb. "Race you to the top!" Mott shouted and all three scampered up through the branches to the top of the tree.
The old oak that stood as a sentinel to the cat's kingdom was home to other creatures as well, creatures that the kittens had not yet had the opportunity to experience. Very near the top of the tree was a hollow filled with sleeping raccoons, a mother and three babies. So far the kittens knew how to climb up and had just reached the top when the mother raccoon left her hollow and climbed up after them. Scrungy had gone out on one limb, Mott on another, and Diesel was still clinging to the main part of the trunk when the mother raccoon surprised them. Her hissing and snarling, the baring of her very sharp teeth, narrowed eyes, and flattened ears frightened the kittens. Diesel was the closest to the raccoon and began to climb faster until he managed to reach the limb that Mott was clinging to. The mother raccoon was wise enough to know that she was too large for the branches that held the kittens, so she held her position between the two branches. Sooner or later the kittens would have to start down, and then she would make a meal of at least one of them.
Sarlin, still on the ground below, became terrified for his brothers and started to cry. "You're going to die! All of you are going to die! If that creature doesn't get you, you will fall and then you will die!"
To Scrungy, clinging to the highest branch in the tree, Sarlin looked like a large white mushroom growing out of the tree roots below. He could barely hear Sarlin's cries. He could see Mott and Diesel across from him, crying and clinging to end of their branch together with all their might. He knew he had to do something to distract the large beast from her position so they could get past her.
Bravely, Scrungy had started to inch his way towards the center of the tree and main part of the trunk leading down when a large brown and black, tiger-striped tabby bolted up the trunk and lit into the mother raccoon from behind. The two animals, locked in a fierce grip, tumbled over branches as they fell to the ground. As soon as they landed, the raccoon took off running and disappeared into the thick underbrush.
The large, unknown cat lay lifeless at the base of the tree. Sarlin cautiously approached the injured cat as Scrungy backed down the trunk and joined him beside the tom.
"Who is he?" Scrungy whispered. "Is he dead?"
"I think he is still alive," Sarlin whined, "and we are in so much trouble." He looked up into the tree at his brother's still clinging to their branch. "Scrungy, they're still up there. What are we going to do?"
"Don't panic, Sarlin," Scrungy cried. "First we have to get some help. This guy is injured, and one of us needs to go get Deedum and Zera."
"Not me!" Sarlin shouted. "I'll never find my way to your place. I've never been there before—remember?"
"We've got to do something, Sarlin. That beast could come back at any minute, then what?"
A deep, but weak, voice startled them as the creature they were standing over groaned. Instinctively their fur stood on end, their ears went flat against their head as they barred their teeth and hissed. "Calm down, boys," the voice said. "I'm not dead, I've just had the wind knocked out of me."
Scrungy and Sarlin relaxed. "Who are you? What—where did you come from? I've never seen you in the kingdom before," Scrungy said.
The large stripped tabby got up off the ground and shook his body to remove the bits of grass and leaf litter that clung to his fur. "That's because I am not from around here. I was just coming into the forest from that road out there, and I saw your dilemma. You boys don't know how to climb a tree very well, do you?" He glanced up at Diesel and Mott, still clinging for life at the top of the tree. "My name is Wahdee. What's yours?"
Scrungy blurted out their names. "I'm Scrungy, this is Sarlin, and his brothers who are still up in the tree are Diesel and Mott. Can you help them get down?"
Wahdee's booming laugh nearly toppled the pair. "I'm not going after them. I've already fallen once today. Besides, you seem to have made it down all right, Scrungy. Last I saw before I hit the ground, you were just as far out on your limb as they are on theirs. Why don't you go back up and show them how it's done?" Wahdee continued to laugh.
Scrungy frowned at the large cat that had just saved them from certain death. "I—I don't remember how I did it. I was just so scared that you were dead, and the next thing I remember I was on the ground beside you."
Wahdee laughed even harder. "Well, you best be remembering soon because that mother raccoon is bound to come back and seek out her youngins. Go on," he urged, "you did it once, you can do it again. Besides, how good of a tom are you going to make if you can't climb a tree proper?"
"I'm going to be a big strong cat," Scrungy insisted. "I've been taking lessons." Scrungy streaked up the tree trunk to a safe place in the crook of a branch nearest Diesel and Mott.
"You've seen me do this once already," he shouted out to them. "Just watch me do it again. That cat who saved our lives down there, said that the mother raccoon will be coming back looking for her babies soon. So you better learn real quick how to back down out of a tree. Besides, what good are all our lessons if we don't know how to get in and out of a dumb old tree?"
Scrungy slowly backed down a few feet and waited for Diesel and Mott to follow his example. Soon, shaky and scared stiff, Diesel turned his tail towards the trunk and carefully backed off the branch that he'd been clinging to until he got to the main trunk then scrambled down it to the ground and safety. "Come on, Mott, you can do it, too." Scrungy called to him. "It won't look good for Asanka and Arjuna if we can't get ourselves out of a tree. You've seen us do it, now I'm going down to the ground and wait for you."
Mott shut his eyes and timidly backed down the tree the way that Diesel had just done. When he hit the ground he turned to his brothers and Scrungy and groaned. "I'm too young for this."
"This is the tree that I slept in," Scrungy exclaimed. "See, here is the cavity that the squirrel had her nuts in."
Looking up into the branches of the tree, Mott cried, "Wow, this is a giant oak. Look how far up the branches go. We can race each other up to the top!"
"Yes, let's go," Scrungy shouted.
Diesel and Sarlin hung back as Mott and Scrungy scooted up the trunk and out onto a low-hanging branch.
"What are you afraid of, Sarlin?" Mott cried. "Look how much fun we can have. These branches are wide and the bark is thick. It's easy to grasp with our claws. Come on! Don't be a scaredy-cat!"
"Father will be very angry with us for even being here," Sarlin pouted. He peered through the high grass and weeds that shielded them from the field. "We better go back home."
"Nonsense, Sarlin!" Scrungy cried. "We're old enough to be out here, aren't we? Your father always said that cats in the wild grow up much faster than domestic cats do. So we gotta be at least six or seven months old compared to a house cat."
Diesel was torn between wanting to be sensible like his older brother Sarlin, or go up into the giant tree and have fun with Mott and Scrungy. Finally, his urge to scurry up into the tree overwhelmed his desire to stay on the ground with Sarlin. He bounded up the massive trunk and joined his brothers on the lowest limb. "Race you to the top!" Mott shouted and all three scampered up through the branches to the top of the tree.
The old oak that stood as a sentinel to the cat's kingdom was home to other creatures as well, creatures that the kittens had not yet had the opportunity to experience. Very near the top of the tree was a hollow filled with sleeping raccoons, a mother and three babies. So far the kittens knew how to climb up and had just reached the top when the mother raccoon left her hollow and climbed up after them. Scrungy had gone out on one limb, Mott on another, and Diesel was still clinging to the main part of the trunk when the mother raccoon surprised them. Her hissing and snarling, the baring of her very sharp teeth, narrowed eyes, and flattened ears frightened the kittens. Diesel was the closest to the raccoon and began to climb faster until he managed to reach the limb that Mott was clinging to. The mother raccoon was wise enough to know that she was too large for the branches that held the kittens, so she held her position between the two branches. Sooner or later the kittens would have to start down, and then she would make a meal of at least one of them.
Sarlin, still on the ground below, became terrified for his brothers and started to cry. "You're going to die! All of you are going to die! If that creature doesn't get you, you will fall and then you will die!"
To Scrungy, clinging to the highest branch in the tree, Sarlin looked like a large white mushroom growing out of the tree roots below. He could barely hear Sarlin's cries. He could see Mott and Diesel across from him, crying and clinging to end of their branch together with all their might. He knew he had to do something to distract the large beast from her position so they could get past her.
Bravely, Scrungy had started to inch his way towards the center of the tree and main part of the trunk leading down when a large brown and black, tiger-striped tabby bolted up the trunk and lit into the mother raccoon from behind. The two animals, locked in a fierce grip, tumbled over branches as they fell to the ground. As soon as they landed, the raccoon took off running and disappeared into the thick underbrush.
The large, unknown cat lay lifeless at the base of the tree. Sarlin cautiously approached the injured cat as Scrungy backed down the trunk and joined him beside the tom.
"Who is he?" Scrungy whispered. "Is he dead?"
"I think he is still alive," Sarlin whined, "and we are in so much trouble." He looked up into the tree at his brother's still clinging to their branch. "Scrungy, they're still up there. What are we going to do?"
"Don't panic, Sarlin," Scrungy cried. "First we have to get some help. This guy is injured, and one of us needs to go get Deedum and Zera."
"Not me!" Sarlin shouted. "I'll never find my way to your place. I've never been there before—remember?"
"We've got to do something, Sarlin. That beast could come back at any minute, then what?"
A deep, but weak, voice startled them as the creature they were standing over groaned. Instinctively their fur stood on end, their ears went flat against their head as they barred their teeth and hissed. "Calm down, boys," the voice said. "I'm not dead, I've just had the wind knocked out of me."
Scrungy and Sarlin relaxed. "Who are you? What—where did you come from? I've never seen you in the kingdom before," Scrungy said.
The large stripped tabby got up off the ground and shook his body to remove the bits of grass and leaf litter that clung to his fur. "That's because I am not from around here. I was just coming into the forest from that road out there, and I saw your dilemma. You boys don't know how to climb a tree very well, do you?" He glanced up at Diesel and Mott, still clinging for life at the top of the tree. "My name is Wahdee. What's yours?"
Scrungy blurted out their names. "I'm Scrungy, this is Sarlin, and his brothers who are still up in the tree are Diesel and Mott. Can you help them get down?"
Wahdee's booming laugh nearly toppled the pair. "I'm not going after them. I've already fallen once today. Besides, you seem to have made it down all right, Scrungy. Last I saw before I hit the ground, you were just as far out on your limb as they are on theirs. Why don't you go back up and show them how it's done?" Wahdee continued to laugh.
Scrungy frowned at the large cat that had just saved them from certain death. "I—I don't remember how I did it. I was just so scared that you were dead, and the next thing I remember I was on the ground beside you."
Wahdee laughed even harder. "Well, you best be remembering soon because that mother raccoon is bound to come back and seek out her youngins. Go on," he urged, "you did it once, you can do it again. Besides, how good of a tom are you going to make if you can't climb a tree proper?"
"I'm going to be a big strong cat," Scrungy insisted. "I've been taking lessons." Scrungy streaked up the tree trunk to a safe place in the crook of a branch nearest Diesel and Mott.
"You've seen me do this once already," he shouted out to them. "Just watch me do it again. That cat who saved our lives down there, said that the mother raccoon will be coming back looking for her babies soon. So you better learn real quick how to back down out of a tree. Besides, what good are all our lessons if we don't know how to get in and out of a dumb old tree?"
Scrungy slowly backed down a few feet and waited for Diesel and Mott to follow his example. Soon, shaky and scared stiff, Diesel turned his tail towards the trunk and carefully backed off the branch that he'd been clinging to until he got to the main trunk then scrambled down it to the ground and safety. "Come on, Mott, you can do it, too." Scrungy called to him. "It won't look good for Asanka and Arjuna if we can't get ourselves out of a tree. You've seen us do it, now I'm going down to the ground and wait for you."
Mott shut his eyes and timidly backed down the tree the way that Diesel had just done. When he hit the ground he turned to his brothers and Scrungy and groaned. "I'm too young for this."
This is copyrighted material and only for the purpose of this blog, please respect it as so and just enjoy reading it here. DBB
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar