That Spider Monkey

Our neighborhood had a yellow dog named Shane, a black lab pup named Eli, a big yellow tabby cat named Mr. Cat and this you will not believe, a spider monkey.   Yes indeed. An elderly man the same size around as he was up and down, with total absence of hair on his head, and a cigar in his mouth during waking hours, was in possession of a spider monkey. 

The monkey knew nothing at all about keeping the peace, obeying the rules, distinguishing between night and day, and minding his own business.  Nope.  That monkey just lived like he was the only creature on the earth that should be cared for at all times.  When he was ignored he produced screeching noises that he considered verbal communication, and these noises   kept every animal within ten miles in a stir when he proceeded to exercise this communique.

My small house with a large yard was very comfortable with only local traffic on the street where it was located.  The major streets were several blocks away and all of the animals roamed freely except when they were a problem.  The city wanted them all to be fenced but we were not used locking our pets away and they were careful about where they roamed.  Well, all of them except, you guessed it, the spider monkey.

That dog Shane loved to nap on the front porch and he preferred napping without being disturbed.  You see he was the eldest and all of the neighborhood pets respected his highness, the Golden Retriever.  All animals, except one, that is. You guessed it!  That spider monkey.

I brewed a fresh cup of coffee and decided to take my morning break in the den today where the coolness of the back door gave me fresh air as well as the sweet fragrance of the honey suckles.  I chose a notebook and pen for writing today rather than a laptop.  It just seemed like a great time to write while the neighborhood was quiet.

I could see Mr. Cat as he slithered and crept through the lawn grass believing he was being hidden.  He moved from one side of his defined circle to the other around a small bush housing a family of rats.  He had worked his way to the edge of the bush and was preparing to pounce when the spider monkey came from out of nowhere and pounced on the bush, coming up with a medium sized rat.  That monkey was screeching and jumping from bush to bush and across the lawn furniture holding the rat by the tail.  Mr. Cat was right behind him with a determination to claim his prey.  I was on the patio by this time and wanted to go and pick up Mr. Cat but he was not to be detained. The look in his eye gave me reason to think he was more interested in catching the monkey than retrieving his prey.

The spider monkey decided to climb higher so up into a tree he went but holding on to the rat was not part of his success. Mr. Cat did not slow down and up the tree he carefully made his way, ignoring the falling rat.  Eli the lab pup was at the base of the tree by this time and barking and jumping wildly.  When Shane reached the fracus the monkey was at the top of the tree and Mr. Cat was right behind him.  Shane rose up and barked.  He barked again. The fray ceased and they all stopped right where they were.  Well, all except that spider monkey.  He jumped and missed the tree in the yard next door so his landing was a long way down.  The fence between the yards hid the result of the landing.

I called them all to me and Shane and Eli came gingerly to receive my petting but Mr. Cat took his time cooling his anger as he made his way down the tree and across the lawn to where I had taken a seat beneath an apple tree.  He rubbed my legs and decided that was sufficient finding his quiet spot under an azalea bush. 

Things were quiet once again and we all managed to return to our original tasks.