It's funny sometimes what can catch our eye and totally amaze us. Sometimes
it's something as grand as a crystal waterfall with the sun shining through
it, making it sparkle like a million diamonds cascading throughout it.
Sometimes it's the stars over our heads at night. And sometimes it's
something much more simple then we could ever imagine.
For Kimi it has become the tiny pinpoint red beam of a keychain laser light.
It isn't even as if she is confused by this red shiny dot on the floor and has
no idea where it came from. She in all her infinite wisdom has long since
figured that out. All Kimi has to do is see the keychain to know the race,
and fun is about to commence.
I was laying on the sofa in our front room one afternoon and Jeff was standing
there playing around with his laser light. Kimi just happened to be walking
across the floor headed for only she knows what. Jeff flicked on the light.
The red dot bounced across the floor. Kimi spotted it. And stopped dead.
Her tiny ears perked, her eyes began to twinkle. And ever so slowly her look
of confusion began to spread into her always-present smile. As the red dot
skittered across the floor in front of her, Kimi reared up and pounced it. In
one mighty jump she held it down with her front feet. But somehow this tricky
little devil squeezed up between her toes and escaped! It took off across the
floor with Kimi in hot pursuit. Shouting out her mighty war cry "YIP!" she
was chasing after it fearlessly. Down the hallway they went, the red dot
moving silently, Kimi's tiny feet thundering behind it. Into one bedroom they
flew, with the red dot making a quick U-turn of escape. Kimi tried to follow
in a like manner and only managed to slide her rear end out from under her as
her eyes remained focused on her quarry. With her front feet scrambling for
control and her back feet grasping for carpeting, she looked much like a
cowboy's horse chasing a steer. With a desperate "YIP!" her eyes widened.
The dot was getting away!
By the time the dot moved off through the kitchen and past the dining table,
Kimi had managed to get her feet collected under her and was once again in
full command of her direction. Until she hit the kitchen floor anyway.
Forgetting how mommy can wax a mean floor, Kimi hit that slick surface full
speed. As she did so, her feet and brain went separate ways. She did a
perfect Bambi on Ice sort of thing. Front feet going north to east, back feet
going south to west, Kimi's behind stayed up and her chest went down. As she
spun wildly out of control, her teeth sparkled through her grin. Pink tongue
slipping out the corner of her tiny mouth she spun right past the dishwasher.
Gathering her feet under her she began to run for all she was worth, but for
the first few galloping steps her feet undertook, she went no where! Running
in place she was, and laughing every second. Finally her feet gained more
traction then air and with a mighty "YIP!" she was back in the game.
Rounding the corner to the dining area, her furry little behind slid, yawing
widely and bouncing off of the refrigerator. Giving off a fierce "RRRRR!" of
frustration, Kimi ducked her head low and headed right straight for mommy!
"Oh lord," mommy cried as the red dot slipped up over her and came to a stop
on the back of the sofa. Kimi's eyes focused only on the task at hand, and
gave no thought to mommy where she lay. Launching herself into the air with a
commanding RRRRRRRRRRRYIP!" mommy answered with a resounding "UUMMPPPP!". As
Kimi landed in her midsection and spring boarded off of her tummy, she made a
mad grab for the dot.
Just as she did, the dot took off again for the opposite end. Scrambling her
feet quickly, she tore down the length of my legs, jumped from the arm of one
sofa to the other and kept going. As the dot hit the floor, so did Kimi right
behind it. Her nose to the carpet, close enough for her eyes to be tightly
trained on this light, but not close enough to cause a rug burn, Kimi never
even blinked. Around the corner they went, and headed down the stairs. As
each step flew under her feet Kimi went "RRR RRR RRR RRR". They made it to
the first landing, rounded the corner and headed down the second set of
stairs. Half way down those steps, the red dot slipped UNDER Kimi and made a
beeline for the top floor again.
Somehow Kimi managed to turn tightly on the steps and head back up again
without going end over tea kettle. Her tiny feet pounded up the stairs like
stampeding buffalo and as she reached the top stair she gave a mighty push
with her back feet and flew thru the air. Tiny teeth snapping like an
alligators jaws, Kimi grabbed, grouped, and grasped at every particle floating
on by. She was trying desperately to catch that fleeting red dot! Her eyes
twinkled like shiny ebony, and her pink tongue draped from between her teeth
like a damp towel over the shower rod. As gravity would have it she soon had
her feet on the floor again, and as she did the dot disappeared! Kimi's ears
stood up, a look of happy confusion swamped her smile and she looked all
around for that dot. Up, down, left, right, behind her, under her, on the
ceiling......her tiny dark eyes skated every conceivable place it could be
hiding. Taking a few tentative steps forward, ever so cautiously placing her
feet in front of her, she would carefully avoid stepping on this new found
friend should it suddenly jump back out of hiding. Her eyes still alight with
wonder, she searched for her dot. Then suddenly....PRESTO! There it was
again!!
On the floor, in the front room, there it lay. Quietly. Unsuspectingly.
Blissfully unaware the dot had been spotted...again. Kimi dropped her head
lower to floor, she cautiously placed one tiny foot in front of the other as
her eyes squinted closed. Peeking out between her narrowed eye lids, her dark
beady eyes never wavered. Like an expert tracker she sidled up to her dot and
once she was within range......a bare step or two behind it, Kimi slowly
raised her body up and balanced on her back feet for the barest of seconds,
then dropped like a rock with a shouted "YYIPPP!" and tried to scoop up the
dot in her teeth.
But as quickly as she pounced the dot, it spun away from her pearly whites.
With Jeff setting the dot into a tightly spinning circle, Kimi tried her best
to follow it. Round and round and round spun, first to the left, then back to
the right to .........unwind her, least she become to dizzy to see straight.
Keeping one back foot locked to the ground, she wisely used her front feet to
propel herself round and round, thus allowing for more speed and grace. Still
she could not catch that tricky red dot! Suddenly it shot out in a straight
line........right UNDER the leather chair!
Kimi shifted in mid spin and dove under the chair, sliding deeper under on her
belly. With her back legs stretched out behind her, her front legs in front
of her, Kimi's tiny body went from back to front under that blasted chair but
the dot was already gone! Now the problem was, just how does one scramble
graceful yet with speed out from under the chair from whence they dove?
Wiggling her little behind backwards, accompanied by tiny sounds of "ggrr grr
grr" Kimi tried going out tail first. Which worked until her head went THUNK
on the underside of said chair.
Rethinking her position, she reversed her wiggle and began crawling forward.
Which worked until her tail end went THUNK on the underside of the chair.
Taking a second to rethink her situation, Kimi laid there under her chair,
with her chin on one front paw and thought. One could see the gears spinning
in her mind and once the idea was born her eyes lit up. Hanging a sharp left
she wiggle her little self out from under the chair by coming out on the side.
Once she was freed from her 4-legged tomb she shook herself briskly. Her
furry coat rippled in the sunlight and her feet danced madly under her as she
shook off her self-enforced imprisonment.
As she righted herself after shaking, Kimi looked around her for the dot.
What she spotted was Jeff. And his keychain. Then she saw a red light
flicker from the end of it. The red dot appeared once more on the floor.
Kimi's eyes went from the keychain to the floor and back again. As she
glanced from one to the other a few times, the dawning light of understanding
came over her face and her grin widened once more. She has just figured out
where her dotted friend came from! Looking up to Jeff with her grin shinning
brightly, she yipped. Jeff's ignoring her yips wasn't going to cut it for
Kimi so she tried it again. "YIP!" she shouted a bit more loudly to him.
"YIP!" Still no response from him so she bumped him with her nose and yipped
again. Like a child poking you with their finger to gain your attention.
When Jeff finally looked at her and asked "WHAT?", Kimi backed up a step or
two and said 'ggrrr'. Understanding her meaning, he flicked on the light and
the chase began anew.
Which wasn't so bad except Jeff decided to see if Kimi was a wall climber or
not and he ran the red dot up the wall. Kimi shouted out a mighty "GGRRUUFF!"
and off she went across the floor. Jumping onto the sofa, springing off
mommies tummy once more she jumped as high as she could. Up Up Up Kimi went
following the dot up the wall. Down down down came Kimi......right into the
middle of mommies tummy. OOOAAFF! Hearing this odd noise come from mommy in
a rush or air, Kimi stopped, turned to mommy and peered intently into her face
with a huge grin. Smiling into her face I blew a POOF of air onto her and
laughed with she threw back her head with her own breathy little laughing
sounds. As I chuckled Kimi poked me with her nose, her eyes scant inches from
my own. I kissed her nose and that was all it took for her to jump away from
me with a grinning "YIP!" that sounded much like "YUCK!"
With this, Jeff caught her attention with the red light again and with an
excited and happy "GRRUUFF!" our little girl was off chasing her red dotted
demon down the hallway once again.
Fun can often be found in the oddest places if only you learn to look at life
through the heart of the puppy in us all.
walk in beauty
Kristi
Kimi