Capture

This post relates to events that occured on January 26, despite the disillusionment created by my procrastination.

The ocelot paced around the base of the tree, twitching her tail. One of the creatures called at her to stay behind the trunk, but the cat shrugged off the comment. It wasn't as though the tree hid the small group of river folk. The self-assumed leader of the escapade didn't know the first thing about hiding and hunting in the woods. But then, what can one expect from a flamingo? Regardless of the bird's good intentions, if their quarry looked their way, they would be seen whether the ocelot stopped pacing or not.

The bobcat padded up to the clump of creatures and whispered to them. "Her mother says that she will be leaving their den in a bit. She has some musical gathering."

The ocelot smirked. She guessed that the musical gathering involved the malamute and the tomcat, among others that she knew. She decided that she didn't quite care.

The flamingo led the way to the opening of the den, doing her best to be inconspicuous. The ocelot rolled her eyes, but followed silently. The creatures split into two groups, one at one side of the den and one at the other.

"Goodbye, Mother!" their target called from the tunnel. The ocelot grinned. Perfect.

The small cat crouched low, and she saw the bobcat do the same across the way. They watched a black nose emerge from the den without moving. The flamingo twitched, but took her cues from the hunters. A long gray muzzle followed the nose. The bobcat and the ocelot waited for the greyhound's neck and shoulders to appear before the leapt. The bobcat bowled the dog over and the ocelot fell across the canine's eyes. The smaller cat held on tightly until the flamingo approached with a wide leaf to bind over the dog's eyes. Snickering silently, the group snatched the confused canine and dragged her away.

Remaining near to silence during the entire journey, the river folk carried the greyhound all the way to the flamingo's pond and tossed her in. The dog yelped in surprise, then caught her balance in the water and rubbed off the blindfold. She looked up to her friends. The ocelot, along with all the others, shouted, "Happy birthday!"

Hah, sorry about that mishap, tomcat. How were we to know you had planned a band practice at the exact same time that we planned the greyhound's birthday party?