The Gift

         Blue eyes flashed from under the shrub full of pink roses, carefully tracking a small disturbance in the slightly overgrown grass about five leaps away. The movement wouldn't have been enough to catch the notice of any of his people that lived in the house at the end of the yard. The blue eyes noticed, however, and now tracked the motion relentlessly. No rustle of leaf or movement of thorny stem would give away more of the identity of the owner of the eyes until they were ready. Hopefully, Khoko thought to himself, it will be too late for that hopper when I do. The eyes continued to watch.

         A silent explosion of movement from the grass triggered the bunched muscles of Khoko. A flash of white burst out from the roses following the cricket that soared briefly. When the cricket landed it immediately leaped again in a different direction. That didn't bother Khoko one bit. He was targeted and locked on his prey.

         He bounded after the cricket matching it move for move, jump for jump. Stealth mode clicked back into his body and he let the cricket make one more jump without copying it. This time when the cricket landed, Khoko quietly sat upright, stone still. He craned his head and stretched his short neck, his blue eyes still locked on the place where he knew his prey to be.

         Slowly, Khoko lowered his body to the ground while never loosing sight of his target. When a blade of grass moved, he flew like a well aimed, fluffy, white arrow and landed directly behind the cricket except for his front paws which stretched in front of him perfectly placed on top of his prey.

         Snake-like, he moved his head back and forth watching the cricket kick. Khoko lunged forward every now and again to take a nip at the cricket between his paws. His tail combed through the grass as it twitched left and right menacingly behind him. Finally, the cricket stopped kicking and trying to escape and Khoko knew that he had won. The cricket was dead.

         He reached his head forward and delicately grasped the cricket in his mouth, sharp teeth puncturing the chitinous body but not ruining it. He stood up secure in his victory with his prize in his mouth and, with tail held high, crossed the yard to the front door of his home.

         Khoko pushed through the small flap door that had been installed especially for him and make his way into the kitchen where he heard and smelled his people's food being made. He stopped just inside the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. He carefully set the cricket down for a moment to quickly groom himself before making his presentation. He licked down his chest, his back - first one side, then the other - checked for any burrs in his tail, then washed his face with the paw not holding his gift.

         When he felt ready, he picked up the cricket again and made his way around the legs of the breakfast table to the island in the middle of the room. He smoothly jumped to the granite top of the island and sat down facing his person whom he loved more than anything in his small world.

         "Khoko, what are you doing up there? You know better." His person came over to where he was sitting while wiping her hands on a towel. "What have you got there?" she asked, noticing the odd shape in his mouth.

         Khoko placed the dead cricket on the granite and nosed it a little ahead of himself toward his person.

         His person smiled uneasily at it a moment then said, "A gift? For me? Really, Khoko, you shouldn't have." She reached out and picked him up, cradling him in her arm, and scratched his belly then reached up and gently stroked the brown patch of fur on his chest.

         I knew you'd like it, he purred back at her. Then he closed his eyes to enjoy the attention.



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