It was a beautiful day for a bath. Laying right in sun he stretched out as much as he could, his feet quivering slightly, and let out a yawn as wide as his mouth would let him. He sat up; his tail cloaked around his paws, and began the grueling process of self-grooming. He paused in a moment of exhaustion, and examined the outside world from the safety of his window, which was not to say that he couldn’t tough it with the other Wilds - referring to the cats who stayed outdoors all the time - but he simply chose the indoor life. And the Large Wilds rewarded him for it. They rubbed his belly and hid snacks around the house for him to hunt. He like the Large Wilds, even if they didn’t have any fur. They always let him sleep on their soft spot at night, when he wasn’t out night hunting behind the glass, and tossed him objects that made his senses light up and eyes open wide.

They deserved a reward too, he thought as he resumed his bath. He would must get them one. They didn’t understand his voice, but his purrs weren’t enough to convey the gratitude and love he felt. By the time he completed his bath, he had a plan.

When the time came and the sun began to set, he cried his way outside, the Large Wilds let him go when he wanted. He set off immediately to hide behind the nearby bushes. He dug a little and laid in the unearthed ground, his recently cleaned fur now riddled with dirt and leaves. He waited, and waited, and waited, until the sun had finally set in full. And then he spotted it: movement and a swift tail. He began to prowl without a thought or hesitation. His body simply new what to do and did it. The small creature drifted through the grass, stopping abruptly to chew a little and glance nervously. He paused his hunt when something better caught his eye in the air.

What was this flying creature doing out after dark? He never saw them out this late. He abandoned the small tailed creature and follow the flight path from below to a nearby tree. This would be a perfect gift for the Large Wilds, but how to get it? He flattened his body in the grass underneath, waiting out the creature, but after many blinks (and even a quick nap), it did not leave its place in the tree.

He rose and wandered again, searching for movement and sniffing for scents. He saw another small tailed creature, only this didn’t have the same tail as the first one. He followed to investigate, and the sun was rising back, signaling that his time was running out. Feeling desperate, he began the prowl again for this new strange tailed creature. He watched it travel behind bushes, keeping a distance until his body alerted him to the proper moment. It ventured behind a tree, and suddenly he had the creature trapped between himself and some barriers. He was indeed a good hunter.

His fur stood on edge, tail poofing up to match his competitor’s. He hissed his meanest hiss and meant to show him who was boss. His Large Wilds deserved this prize and he would win it for them. He lunged at the creature, and - oh no what was that? The smell was awful. He could taste it. He gagged and vomited as the strange tailed creature ran away. He could barely keep his eyes open they burned, and his nose filled with a putrid scent. How would he find his way home?

But he heard them, they called his name. His ears unaffected by the mysterious attack, he followed their sounds all the way home.

“Copper, there you are! Why are you making that face? Oh gross, you stink. DAD! The cat got skunked!!”