Miss Audrey sighed, dropping her head to rest between her front paws.  Her mother, Bounce, and Wally had gone hiking with the mistress, but Audrey had been left behind.  She had danced and wriggled, her small,  blue/tan body gyrating wildly, but in the end she had been picked up and placed firmly in the kitchen.  "You can go when you get bigger", the mistress had said.  Audrey had appealed, pouting, then pleading, then raging wildly at the puppy gate.  But she had been left anyway.  She had watched wistfully as Bounce and Wally disappeared down the driveway, chuffing with self-importance, their furry backsides wagging briskly.  She had surveyed the kitchen, but the bowl of puppy food held no appeal, and without someone to play with the toys were still and lifeless. Even the noisy macaws in the next room were quiet.  She decided a nap was in order.

What woke her she could not quite guess.  She lay still, eyes closed, listening.  She could hear no sound, but something in the room had changed.  Something was there!  Her eyes flicked open.  Her food was still there, and the toys with their missing eyes.  Then she saw it.  There in the laundry room, next to the dryer a tiny creature sat.  It had beady black eyes, and it's whiskers twitched as it scented the air.  The striped tail jerked quickly back and forth.  Audrey was instantly awake, flashing toward the little animal.  It disappeared behind the dryer in an instant, leaving behind a sunflower seed stolen from the macaws

Now, Audrey didn't particularly like the macaws.  They shrieked loudly, which hurt her ears.  And they threatened to pinch her nose if she came too close, a threat she took seriously.  Chili, in particular, was very cross and had no use for anyone but the mistress.  So Audrey mistrusted them.  Still, that was no reason why an intruder should make away with their leavings, or trespass as it had in Audrey's kitchen.

Bounce had endeavored to train Miss Audrey in the social graces. Meeting older dogs politely, and playing nicely without excessive roughness, were part of her instruction. Bounce would nip her sharply if she failed to follow the rules.  But Audrey learned the most when Bounce and Wally told her stories.  And her favorite stories were those of the hunt. She loved Wally's story of the mouse in the house, and how he had torn a vent from the wall in order to catch and kill it. Bounce, too, had exciting tales, of rats and tunnels and titles won.  Audrey saw her opportunity, a golden chance to experience a story of her own, one to pass on to her puppies.  To prove to the mistress (and Bounce and Wally) that she was big enough.  But first, she had to catch the chipmunk.

Audrey investigated the dropped sunflower seed.  She could smell the wild creature, and the faint scent trail it left behind the dryer where it still hid.  She stood with her nose pressed into the crevasse between the washer and dryer, waiting for it to emerge, but it wouldn't.  Perhaps it would come back for the seed.  She determined to wait, and settled herself against the washing machine.  She could hear faint scrabbling noises and froze in place, ears almost touching, stubby tail erect.  She could hear the little creature traversing the narrow crack, stopping to listen, then coming slowly closer.  Finally, she could see the tip of its tiny nose, whiskers twitching entrancingly.  It was all she could do to hold herself still.  Suddenly, the intruder bolted, making a dash for the seed.  Audrey was startled, caught off guard.  She truly hadn't expected it to come out so soon, if at all.  Here was her opportunity.  She launched herself after it, but she was a nanosecond slow.  Her teeth snapped shut on the tiny hairs on the tip of its tail, and the chase was on.

The chipmunk, frightened, ran for the kitchen, Miss Audrey in hot pursuit.   Audrey knew there was no escape from the kitchen.  She had tried often enough to free herself, testing every corner and cranny.  If she could keep the intruder from reaching the puppy gate, she might be able to catch it.  So she raced for the gate, hoping to flank the chipmunk and corner it.  She hit the bowl of puppy food in her mad scramble, sending pellets skittering across the floor.  This proved to be her big break.  The empty bowl rattled across the floor in front of her, startling the striper.  And in a flash she had it.

It felt warm and furry her mouth, and the musky scent of it filled her senses deliciously.  She'd never really imagined what this moment would be like -- how it would taste, or feel, or what she would do once she caught it.  If wriggled, and then it bit her.  Startled, she opened her mouth and spat it out.  Audrey had been bitten before.  In fact, her brother and sister had bitten her plenty.  She'd responded with a vengeance, trouncing them soundly to teach them some manners.  To be bitten by this intruder caused a black rage to rise up inside of her.

The chipmunk, frightened, dazed, was easier to catch the second time.  It scrambled to hide under her stuffed blue octopus, and in a second she'd caught it again. Audrey was determined not to let go this time. She could hear the garage door lifting downstairs. The mistress, Bounce and Wally were back from their hike.  Bounce and Wally were racing up the stairs.  "You who" the mistress called, whereupon the macaws began a raucous screeching.  "You who", Chili shrieked,  "you who".  Audrey's prey was still wriggling, though more feebly now.  What if they tried to take it away?  What if they didn't appreciate how hard she'd had to work to catch it?  Audrey slipped behind the base of the kitchen table and turned her face away, trying to look nonchalant.  But Bounce and Wally had both smelled wild things before.  "What have you got there?" they clamored at the puppy gate.  "Let us see!"  And in a moment the mistress was stepping over the puppy gate, peering underneath the kitchen table at Audrey.  Audrey curled herself into a C, tucking her nose behind her leg and trying to hide her treasure.  But the little striped tail protruding from her mouth gave her away.  “Oh my! Audrey what do you have there?” the Mistress asked.  “What has my fierce hunter caught?”  And with that, Audrey relinquished her prey.

Much fuss was made over Miss Audrey that afternoon.  She told the story of how she had stalked, chased and caught the striper to Bounce and Wally several times.  They listened intently, and even asked her to repeat several parts.  The Mistress told Audrey what a great deed she had done, and said that next time they went hiking Audrey might go.  Audrey even got to snuggle in the Mistress’ bed that night, dreaming of the hunt, and her right of passage into Bounce and Wally’s world.