From a Shore Thing
“Come on, let’s do some more exploring,” Cookie enthused, trotting off smarty towards the rockpools. She began sniffing around, when she felt a sudden little pinch on the tip of her nose!
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there!” squealed a little voice and looking closer, Cookie spotted a small, red crab. It was holding its claws aloft, waving them from one side to the other, whilst its feet scurried back and forth. Cookie watched the crab in fascination.
“Hi there!” greeted Cookie, rubbing her nose with her paw.
“Good morning. Sorry about that, I was just practicing my routine,” the crab explained, whirling herself around in a little circle.
“That’s OK,” replied Cookie. “You’re very elegant and graceful. I’m Cookie by the way,” she added.
“Thank you very much, it’s always good to get some positive feedback on the dancing. I’m Clawdia,” replied the crab, swivelling her eye sticks around as she addressed Cookie.
“You’re a dancing crab?” asked Cookie.
“Yep, that’s right – me and my fellow troupe to be precise. We like to perform our sequences at low tide,” Clawdia informed her.
From A Winter’s Tail
“Hey man, how you doing?” uttered a voice from behind him. Puzzled, he turned around to see a black and white woodpecker with a bemused expression on its face. It had a sturdy, pointed beak and round black eyes. Its feathers were decorated with black and white dashes and it had a bright orange flash on its head feathers, which stood up on end, making it look like it had a crazy hairstyle. It was lounging on the branch, grinning at him.
Cordia ambled over to the branch joint and began to peck at it with his beak. An amazing noise filled the air – it sounded like a roll of little drum beats. Cordia skilfully varied the beats in length and speed to make them into a musical rhythm.
The catchy beat soon had Chumleigh tapping his little paws against the tree and he could see Cookie prancing up and down, her tail wagging in synchronised time to the tempo. Cordia was really getting into his stride, lifting his head this way and that, eyes closed, immersed in his musical performance.
Finally, there was a little creaking sound and the branch gave way and fell down to earth. Cookie quickly jumped out of the way, as it flew past her nose.
“That’s a great talent you have there – it was awesome!” congratulated Chumleigh.
Cordia grinned again, “hey thanks, man, glad you dig,” he replied, pleased to have an appreciative audience.
From Close Encounters of the Not So Friendly Kind
Cookie trotted happily alongside Chloe. She always enjoyed a trip to the local pet store. She often went there with Connie, her adoring neighbour, who regularly took her along to buy her doggie treats, which was usually followed by a pleasant stroll around the park.
Today, however, it was Chloe, who was accompanying her – still Cookie was hoping for a treat or two, or at the very least, some of that exclusive doggie food – Pampered Pooch Pouches – they were yummy.
They arrived at the store; Cookie sniffed the air, which smelled like a mixture of hay, dog biscuits and seed. Chloe looked around at the selection of leads and collars and quickly selected her purchase and headed towards the check outs – no treats then, thought Cookie disappointedly.
Chloe was chatting to the lad on the till, “well I thought I’d better get one for her, because I’m worried, what with all these dogs going missing recently. I thought it would be good to know where she is all the time,” she was saying.
“Yes, it’s a bit of a mystery – the dogs seem to be disappearing at night – so far they haven’t been able to trace any kind of vehicle and no one seems to have spotted anyone loitering around – it’s rather odd,” agreed the lad….
Candy Hunter 