“You have a problem Tabby?”
“Mrs. Human, where are they, have we at last liquidated them? Each year they arrive to torment us until we kill them, only to return again.”
“What are you talking about Tabby?”
“The leaf soldiers of course. They hang on the trees waiting through the Summer. Then they are green but slowly turn brown and fall upon us, attacking where they can. Last year I managed to catch at least twenty. I jumped on them with all four paws, squashed them and they were dead, stopped moving, never to return. I am waiting Mrs. Human, but so far there have only been one or two, the advance troup.*
“Ah, Tabby, you mean Autumn.”
“That might be the human name, but in meow they are The Leaf Soldiers. They torment us, drawing us out, until we are ready to fight. “
“Sorry to disappoint you Tabby, but they only fall from the trees when they are dead. They lose their colour, the stalks break and the wind carries them until they reach the ground.”
“No, Mrs. Human, they are alive. They lay on the ground waiting to ambush us. Suddenly they rise up, make twirls in the air and they drop on your head. That is when it can become dangerous, but we felines are ready for their attack. We have a plan. As soon as they move we jump and clap our front paws together. Then they die in our paws. Some of them escape but we pounce with all four paws and they are crushed never to return again. So where are they? The weather is now right for their approach.”
“Just have some patience Tabby. Some have fallen but not so many. The weather has been very mild up to now, but they will fall. They fall every year sometimes earlier, sometimes later.”
“Look there is one approaching, I must go.*
And with that last comment Tabby was off to the attack and afterwards there were five dead leaf soldiers on the ground. They had drawn their last breath for this year.
“Did you see that Mrs. Human, I killed them. They will never return again until next year. I must now go and scratch five notches in the tree trunk to show I was the winner. I must tell my bossy sister Nera and our apprentice Fluffy. I cannot wait to see the jealousy in their eyes.”
“Mrs. Human, where are they, have we at last liquidated them? Each year they arrive to torment us until we kill them, only to return again.”
“What are you talking about Tabby?”
“The leaf soldiers of course. They hang on the trees waiting through the Summer. Then they are green but slowly turn brown and fall upon us, attacking where they can. Last year I managed to catch at least twenty. I jumped on them with all four paws, squashed them and they were dead, stopped moving, never to return. I am waiting Mrs. Human, but so far there have only been one or two, the advance troup.*
“Ah, Tabby, you mean Autumn.”
“That might be the human name, but in meow they are The Leaf Soldiers. They torment us, drawing us out, until we are ready to fight. “
“Sorry to disappoint you Tabby, but they only fall from the trees when they are dead. They lose their colour, the stalks break and the wind carries them until they reach the ground.”
“No, Mrs. Human, they are alive. They lay on the ground waiting to ambush us. Suddenly they rise up, make twirls in the air and they drop on your head. That is when it can become dangerous, but we felines are ready for their attack. We have a plan. As soon as they move we jump and clap our front paws together. Then they die in our paws. Some of them escape but we pounce with all four paws and they are crushed never to return again. So where are they? The weather is now right for their approach.”
“Just have some patience Tabby. Some have fallen but not so many. The weather has been very mild up to now, but they will fall. They fall every year sometimes earlier, sometimes later.”
“Look there is one approaching, I must go.*
And with that last comment Tabby was off to the attack and afterwards there were five dead leaf soldiers on the ground. They had drawn their last breath for this year.
“Did you see that Mrs. Human, I killed them. They will never return again until next year. I must now go and scratch five notches in the tree trunk to show I was the winner. I must tell my bossy sister Nera and our apprentice Fluffy. I cannot wait to see the jealousy in their eyes.”
My car was attacked my many leaf-soldiers today!!
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