Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Edward And the Leopard


Edward And The Leopard

Yet another steamy evening was setting up camp outside the cottage windows, unpacking its fetid array of clamminess, swelter and heat.  Edward stood on his furry hind legs and stared out into the oncoming night, his almond eyes watching as the last light of day turned to orange, casting an unearthly phosphorescence on the whole of the garden.  He thought it looked rather worrying, but as Edward never takes time for worry, he merely hopped down and sauntered away.  
What sort of night would it be, he wondered.  Are the man and the lady going out?  He stopped to observe them with a quizzical gaze.  No, the lady has her yarn in her lap.  Good sign.  He trotted over to stand in front of her.  He sat down.  He stared.  After a minute, she looked up and smiled at him, patting the cushion beside her enthusiastically.  He hopped up and snuggled down in the pillows.  He knew he was always welcome, still he felt it only polite to ask first.  The lady began absentmindedly scratching him behind the ears. 
This was shaping up to be his kind of night.  
The man switched on the big picture box, but Edward hardly noticed.  There was rarely anything in that thing to interest him.  Sometimes he saw other dogs, but by the time he made it across the room, they were usually gone. He settled in for a nap. 
 Faintly he heard the lady say, “Oh good!  Bringing Up Baby, I love that movie.  Let’s watch that!”.   Lazily, he opened one eye to see.
  Both brown eyes immediately flew open wide and his head jerked up with a snap.  There, right in front of him, right in his own home, inside that funny box, was the biggest cat he had ever seen in his life.  Paws the size of saucers!  A head as big as a pie plate!   The cat was covered in spots and walking along on a leash! 
The horror of it flew over Edward like a fever. With a growl that began in the depths of his soul and exploded into the room like a cannon, he leapt up from his spot and sprang into the air, covering the ground betwixt himself and the cat in one blazing blur of white fur.  Barking ferociously, he stared down the intruder. 
Apple, who prefers to go to bed early, had, as usual, already retired to the bedroom windowseat, but now came hurtling into the room, slipping and sliding round corners like a drunken man, ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Edward in protection of her household. 
Knitting flew to the floor, yarn rolled across the room.  Somewhere in the background, Edward heard the lady saying.. “Turn it off!  Turn it off! Change the channel!  Quick!” And suddenly, just like that, the big cat was gone.  The picture box was blank, and empty. 
Ha! He had done his job once again. 
 Shaking off furiously, he gave the cat once last look over his shoulder, one last growl for good measure, and then, head high, he trotted back to his comfortable spot on the sofa.
  The lady fished her yarn out from under a chair, the man held his head in his hands and sighed. 
Apple yawned and headed back to bed, slightly disgruntled.
But Edward smiled to himself and thought, once again... “Whatever would they all do without me?”



37 comments:

  1. Oh what a cutie Edward is, Crusoe does not respond to images on the TV but sounds are a completely different thing,if he hears dogs, his ears prick up and he cocks his head from side to side, if he hears cats he growls! He loathes cats.

    So lovely that Edward asks permission to come up on the sofa Crusoe knows he is not normally allowed on the furniture, he likes to be invited..every so often,he is allowed, however when he does not think we are looking.....

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  2. Oh...that is so funny. Occasionally my dogs take interest in what is on. But you never know what it will be. Harvey was fascinated by R2D2 one night when the first Star Wars was on. Who would have thought that would catch his attention.

    For some reason Violet likes old black and white movies...they attract her attention. I saw that Brining up Baby was going to be on and was going to watch but then watched something else instead. I wish I had now to see what their reaction would have been.

    Edward is amazing.

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  3. How adorable! I had a cat that would watch anything on bears. She would jump down from my lap and sit herself on the floor in front of the TV, watching avidly. Nothing else though...just bears. So glad Edward saved you all!

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  4. Dear Pamela, Oh how wonderful to have such a fearless knight in shining white armour! Edward is indeed a treasure.

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  5. hehe...sooo cute!!! edward is adorable!!! i want a dog soo soo bad... noone will let me get one... my ex-collegues gave me a plant and put a pic of a dog on it which said" my name is chuck. feed me!!" .. they said if the plant survives i can get a dog.. its my 4th attemtp at the plant right now :( ..but i swear, i would take care of my dog!!! plants dont talk!! how am i supposed to remember to feed them!!!

    if u like fashion, so check out my blog

    http://donotshoeme.blogspot.com/

    follow if u like what u see?

    xoxo

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  6. EDWARD IS BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HIM! the more I learn about him the more adorable he gets..Apple is a sweetie also, but Edward is the main man.

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  7. Oh, Edward is SOOOOO brave! Give him a pat on the head for me and thank him (from me) for the live entertainment!

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  8. That is hilarious!
    So what movie did you end up watching instead?

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  9. Lovely story! Although what a shame you had to stop watching Bringing Up Baby - one of my top movies too.

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  10. Just lovely, as ever, I am just off to bed with a smile now.
    My collie is a big TV watcher and so is my cat but our lurcher is not interested at all.

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  11. Hillarious! I had a skype conference recently with folks in Colorado, my town here and India. Kitty Pasha was completely dumbfounded when the dogs in Inida started barking. He thought they were in the house and was slinking around, head down trying to get away from them, very confused. We all had quite a laugh, poor Pasha!

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  12. So nice to be protected by animals. I had a cat who growled and alerted me to a peeping tom just in the nick of time. Good work, Edward!

    Catherine

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  13. My cousins used to put on animal planet to watch their dogs run up to the TV and start barking! My dogs never took a bit of notice. Edward is a smart, big guy!

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  14. Oh, brave, brave Edward the protector. Where would you be without him?

    Pity though, I like that movie too.

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  15. Such a wonderful story! I think that I am in love with your Edward. I have two little sister shih tzu fur babies. Once in a blue moon if a T.V. dog barks, they, too will bark.

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  16. Oh I can just see it! LOL! Over the years, most of our dogs ignored TV entirely. Except for Alistair (dog #2). He was a lot more laid back about it and not very protective. If he caught sight of a large animal, or a dog on TV he would walk over, stand right in front of the set, sit down, and his head would tilt from side to side trying to figure out what was going on, then he would walk right up to the screen, and sniff all around it. At that point he accepted it was not real and what no longer of interest and would go back and lay down. He did it for years!

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  17. I chuckled away on Sunday evening as I watched Bringing Up Baby on PBS and I chuckled again as I watched Edward (well, I watched in my mind) as he defended his house and all those who reside within in.

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  18. Way to protect your family Edward...and Apple, way to come to the rescue too!!! You can't have big dangerous cats wandering around your house now can you?!?

    (smiling ear to ear) :D

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  19. Reading this has had the two of us in fits of laughter. Edward and Wilf really could be interchangeable! I bet he went to bed happy that he, alone, had had the wherewithal to guard his house and his family. 'What would they do without me?' - the PON motto.

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  20. The little terrier barks a lot in that movie. What did Edward do?

    Have watched this movie too many times & like it more & laugh more each time.

    Your description of the evening doesn't seem to include the heat & humidity around Stone Mtn. !!

    Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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  21. love this post! what would we ever do without our "furry family"? thanks for such a great one!

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  22. Hi Pam,
    I recognize this story! Unbelievable that our dogs can see the cats on TV isn't it! Sometimes you would swear that they smell them! I so love the way you are writing things down! Gorgeous!
    xx
    Greet
    PS Thank you so much for your nice comment on my post about Belgian kitchens!

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  23. Cholo barks at the animals he sees on the TV, but only if he hears them first. He also barks when a doorbell rings on TV.
    Great post, and Bringing Up Baby is one of my faves too!
    xo xo

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  24. Dear Pamela and Edward...this is the funniest, cutiest thing I have read all morning! Thanks for making my day sunnier than the weather outside:)

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  25. What a lovely photograph at the end of your highly amusing post! I used to have a black pug called Algy and if anything with four legs appeared on the television screen he would fly at it barking his head off and then fly round the back of the set to see where it was - horses drove him crazy! Tess takes absolutely no notice, even if a wolf howls.

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  26. What a great story Pamela. Edward is so clever! Tika has no interest in the tv...only on everything else that moves. I love that movie. We watched 'Evelyn Prentiss' last night with Mryna Loy and William Powell. I think it is time to watch The Thin Man series all over again:)
    Stay cool!

    Jeanne :)

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  27. Awww. I love Edward. I love your blog. It's so unique and you are very, very talented!

    :)

    ~Zabrinah

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  28. Edward what a champion! Smart, beautiful, brave! And he looks like he has a sense of humor, as well.
    Cute story...thanks for sharing and pats for your pups!

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  29. Love it, my three react in separate ways to animals on tv, but they are allways amusing. I have The Protector Indy the Dalmation, The I want to Hide Roxy the Border Terrier, and The can I play too? Judge Bull Mastiff. It can be bedlam when all three react

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  30. Edward the great protector!
    Bravo :)

    xo
    Brooke

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  31. How cute!!! I love that movie.. but now love this story just as much... Edward must be such a wonderful companion and protector... Have a lovely week Pamela.. xxx Julie

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  32. I'll watch anything with Katherine Hepburn in it she's my hero....along with your hero too of course..dear Edward!! What a star protector he is,and handsome with it too. I wonder what they really think about this box we have in the corners of our rooms with disappearing cats! ;))

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  33. I thinks that's adorable, Pamela. :)

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!