Hidden amongst the tall grasses of the jungle, the fierce hunter tracks her prey. She waits and watches, silent and hidden, until the right moment to strike.
Melon crouches down, and wiggles her behind, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting butterfly she’s had her eye on. Just as Melon is finally ready to snag her target, Ellie bounds over, scaring the butterfly off. Unaware of the plans she’s just foiled, Ellie rushes up to Melon and knocks her off balance with an overzealous lick and a rough cuddle.
Melon shakes off the dog slobber and gives Ellie her best green-eyed-cat glare. But she isn’t mad. It’s almost impossible to be mad at her canine friend.
Ellie and Melon are out exploring their backyard. While Melon spends her time hunting insects and basking in the warm sunlight, Ellie frolics through the fresh greenery, frequently disrupting Melon’s quiet endeavors. The yard is large and well maintained. Full of plants, and paths, and plenty of sun. There is even a small pond with a waterfall. No fish in the pond, though, much to Melon’s dismay. What is water without fish?, Melon always says to herself.
Despite the lack of fish, Melon greatly enjoys her time outside. As does Ellie. What dog doesn’t enjoy a day outside with her best friend?
They say “dog is a man’s best friend”. Which is true. Ellie desperately loves and adores her human, however her true best friend, and partner in crime, is her feline sister, Melon.
Technically, sister is the correct term for their relationship, as Melon always says, since they were both adopted by the same human. Their relationship is more than that, though. Melon is a little bit of everything to Ellie. Best friend and sister, of course. Also, mother and caregiver; as Melon helped raise her, and still teaches her things from time to time. Even though Ellie has far surpassed Melon in size, Melon still feels she has to watch out for Ellie. They protect each other, and share everything. Except food. Melon has very picky eating habits, and does not enjoy dog drool in her breakfast.
With Melon’s hunting foray over, she sets her sights on a new adventure. Teaching Ellie to climb a tree. It has been one of Melon’s long term goals to get Ellie up a tree, and it has been anything but easy. Climbing trees, really climbing anything, is second nature to Melon. It’s in her DNA. She is a born climber. She just can’t understand why it is so hard for Ellie.
Obviously, Melon knows Ellie is a dog. She is different, and they sometimes do things differently. But how hard can it be to climb a tree?
It doesn’t help matters that Ellie is stubborn and easily distracted. The first time Melon tried to show her how to climb, Ellie just circled the tree, sniffed it, then peed on it and ran off. Not really a promising start to the lesson.
After several failed attempts, Melon realized she needed to start smaller. First, she got Ellie to climb up onto a small tree stump. That wasn’t so bad. All Melon really had to do was curl up on the stump, prepare herself for a quick nap in the sun, and Ellie came over to join her. Okay, maybe it had not been Melon’s plan for Ellie to ruin her nap and knock her off the stump, but it had given Melon an idea.
After mastering the stump a few more times, Ellie was ready to move on to something bigger. The picnic table. There was a wooden picnic table in the yard, where their human liked to sit sometimes when they were outside. It wasn’t a tree, but it was climbable, and a good stepping stone for Ellie. It was actually rather easy getting Ellie up there the first time. Their human had gone inside for a moment and had left a sandwich on the table. Melon had no interest in that vile concoction, but she knew Ellie would love it. So, Melon hopped up on the table and got Ellie’s attention. Ellie quickly caught the scent of the sandwich and climbed up there with her, not quite as gracefully as Melon had; but it was a start.
As soon as Ellie was on the table, though, their human quickly rushed over and shooed both her and Melon off. Melon was afraid that would deter Ellie from trying again, but her fears were unnecessary. Ellie had either forgotten about the incident, or was too stubborn to care, because the next day Melon had her up there again. She didn’t even have to bribe her with food.
Now that Ellie had conquered the stump and the picnic table, Melon felt she was ready to try the real thing. And she had the perfect tree in mind. Near one side of the yard, there was a large tree that had grown sideways. It wasn’t completely horizontal, but Melon could make it most of the way without even breaking out her claws. It was the perfect next step for Ellie.
So, stretching herself out after Ellie’s tackle in the grass, Melon licks her fur straight and heads over to the tree. Ellie follows, just as Melon had hoped. As Melon approaches the tree, she slows, flicking her tail around to get Ellie’s attention. Ellie stretches out her front legs, raises her backside, with her tail wagging fiercely, and lets out a bark. This is Ellie’s playful stance; she’s ready for some fun.
Melon looks back at Ellie, only slightly startled by the noise coming from her friend. Melon does a quick zig zag on the ground, then bounds halfway up the tree. Ellie jumps up and follows Melon, too excited to really think about what she’s doing. Before she knows it, Ellie is on the tree. But, she quickly realizes she is no longer on the ground. Ellie looks around, a little scared, her feet scramble unsteadily. Ellie rights herself by crouching down, and she lets out a whimper, looking up at Melon, who is still ahead of her.
Seeing and hearing Ellie’s reaction makes Melon feel a little bad about what she’s done, but she is sure Ellie can do it if she just tries. Melon walks down the tree to Ellie, she turns on her purr and rubs her shoulder along Ellie’s chest and leg. This calms Ellie, and she follows Melon up the trunk, slowly finding her footing.
They get to the part in the ascent where Melon has to use her claws. Ellie can’t find a place to put her paw where she can get enough leverage to make it any further, so she stops. Melon is proud of her progress, and she comes back down to Ellie. She gives her a quick “mew” and lays down beside Ellie. Ellie manages to get somewhat comfortable on the wide trunk and snuggles with Melon.
However, Ellie is too nervous to stay on the tree, she keeps looking down and isn’t sure what to do. She starts whining again, and suddenly their human is there. She laughs lightly and pats Ellie. Melon senses her experiment is over, so she plops down to the ground, showing Ellie how it’s down.
There is no way Ellie is going to do that. Luckily their human picks Ellie up, who is scrambling to gain purchase on the trunk. Ellie is soon set back on the ground, and happy for it. She immediately forgets her recent fears and runs around the yard, happy as ever.
Melon watches Ellie from the ground, next to her human.
“You know, Melon,” her human says to her, “you are one strange cat. And you are raising one strange dog.”
Melon doesn’t know if she likes this, but she rubs on her human’s legs and accepts a petting. Only moments later she is pounced on and again covered by dog tongue. It’s a messy, chaotic existence, but Melon wouldn’t have it any other way.
