Chapter Text
Sammy was a lovable little Australian Kelpy. Well, he had his faults, as we all do; he was always afraid of the danger which was certainly lurking around every corner. Also, he sometimes had trouble with overeating (as I am sure we can all relate), but he was working to reconcile his faults. For the first, he was practicing being more confident in the face of danger every time the mailman arrived. Despite that fact, he still struggled with overeating; but this does mean that his owners all rub his tummy and affectionately call him “Chungus,” which may have been an insult (he couldn’t tell exactly), but it got him attention, so he didn’t really care. Ask any of these owners, they’ll tell you that Sammy was a lovable little Australian Kelpy.
But one day, Sammy heard some distressing news. His brother, Gus – who, although being his brother was somehow not an Australian Kelpy but a Basset Hound – found Sammy while the lovable little Australian Kelpy was having breakfast. Gus lumbered up in his usual lazy hound-dog way and started eating in his usual hungry hound-dog way, but not before he remarked in his usual careless hound-dog way,
“Our family brought home a couple cats.”
What! Cats? That was just like Gus to talk about something so scary as if it were as normal as the wind! Sammy froze.
“Cats…? Did you see them…?”
“Nope. I tried an’ chased one, but it got away and I got yelled at, so I cut it. Since then, I didn’t ever get a good look at one, except a few glances of some little lion-tiger thing livin’ in the barn.”
Sammy was too petrified to respond. In fact, it felt like he was going to be petrified for the rest of his life. Tigers and lions living in his very own yard! What could be more terrifying? He, Sammy Wammy, who had built up the heart to chase dear, finches, and chickens; he, Sammy Wammy, who had built up the smarts to wander fields, forests, and footpaths; he, Sammy Wammy, who had built up the courage to bark at bears, neighbors, and mailmen; he, Sammy Wammy, who had done all of these things, was now faced with his most terrifying trial yet: a tiger and a lion, living right in his very own yard! All his courage dissolved when he first got this news so that he rarely ever even stepped paw outside. If he ever needed to, he only ever did so briefly, with his shaking tail between his skittish legs and his watchful eyes towards the faraway barn.
But, despite all the attention and care he paid to that deadly home of these unseen beasts and all the petitions and groans he made to the supposed care of his unfeeling family, Sammy could never reverse the inevitable. The calls with these unseen beasts were becoming all the closer. He felt a day would certainly come when those beasts would find him with no place to run.
In this, he was correct.
It was after he had finished a short morning walk outside. He was stepping up onto the porch, anxious to trot his way past this short obstacle to the door. But the lovable little Australian Kelpy trotted only so quickly; and all of a sudden, from behind a few boxes besides the door, a grey beast leapt out! Sammy wasted no time in observing the creature. He leapt out of his skin and tried to turn and bolt in the other direction. But his efforts were suddenly cut off! For what was right there, but another beast, a small grey little lion! They had him cornered!
Sammy cowered, closing his eyes, assured any second he would feel that lion leaping over his face and tearing his skin from his skull. But that moment never came. Instead – to Sammy’s immediate shock and terror – a small warm body pressed itself against Sammy’s side. He was too scared to move, but he could open his eyes and turn his head. When he did so, what he saw amazed him; one of the two cats, the tiger, was affectionately rubbing his side and purring. The lion in front – rather than eyeing him menacingly – was giving him an inquisitive little gaze from two little green eyes surrounded by an unassuming fluffy little face. They were so much smaller and more friendly than he had first thought.
What a fool he was! All this time, he was thinking they were something to be ranked with a bear or the mailman, when they were actually some of the most friendly and affectionate creatures he had ever met. And so, it was on that very same porch would Sammy share many more a warm greeting with those two little kittens, who had together taught the lovable little Australian Kelpy his most powerful life lesson without even saying a word.