Dark an' Stormy......

It was a dark an' stormy nite....not so much outside, 'cause the sky was clear an' that moon was shin'in' brite.  But inside the house....after midnite....that was mom's demeanor...not to mention dad's. Again...not our fault...AHS is on call 24/7, ready for action when any kind of threat or breach occurs.  We do NOT set the timeline.  I've told mom time after time.  Ne'er do wells, transients, furry criminals...don't  have a 9-5 schedule...so, we have to adapt to that.  Don't know why she don't understand.  Anyway, about 1am, Lexie an' I had a situation....a breach of security in the back yard.   Mom had let us out w/her usual "come RIGHT back"....it's not our fault that there was an intruder.  We did get a lil' loud for a bit, but as soon as I apprehended the critter, I came "right back" inside, to assure mom that everything was once again safe an' secure.  I left the criminal w/Lexie.  (Don't know why, but she likes to watch 'em for awhile to make sure they aren't gonna  jump up an' create more havoc.) Me?  I'm not interested in 'em at all after I've got 'em.  ("Do it right the first time" is my motto...no "do overs").
So, mom goes to the door an' calls Lexie.  She sees her run toward the path to the door...but then take off toward the fig tree.   Mom goes out a lil' further an' calls her, again.  Nope, Lexie's not comin'.  Mom got a lil' suspicious an' got a closer look...sure 'nuff...Lexie is walkin' around w/that possum hangin' outa her mouth.  It's kinda funny...'cause that possum has a really long tail an' Lexie's kinda short, so she's havin' to hold her head way back to keep from trippin' on him.  After a couple of circles tryin' to get close to Lexie to tell her to "drop it"...mom comes back inside to get her lite.  I got bored watchin' this action...seen it before an' know how it's gonna turn out...so, I went up to my tower to see if there was any breaches in the front yard.
Mom finally just stopped on the deck an' waited by the backdoor.  Lexie did, too, w/her possum.  Mom talked to her an' told her that cookies would taste a lot better then that nasty possum.  Lexie was thinkin' it over...lookin' at mom...lookin' at the back door...lookin' at her lil' door...all the while still holdin' that possum.  Mom was gettin' a lil' nervous..an' finally told Lexie not to even think about takin' that possum in the house an' to "leave it".  Lexie put that possum down an' then laid down by it to think it over...."cookies"..or "possum"..."cookies" or "possum"....it was a big decision for her.  Mom was a lil' afraid to move...she could just imagine Lexie decidin' to take her possum an' go ask dad (who was asleep in bed) if she could have both.
Finally....Lexie left her possum w/one last look an' went inside to the kitchen w/mom close behind her.  Mom gave her big praises an' put cookies in both of our food bowls.  Lexie was happy w/her decision an' started gobblin' up her cookies.  In the meantime...mom goes an' closes Lexie's lil' door, grabs her lite...an goes back outside closin' the big door behind her.  There's no way she's gonna leave that possum on the patio right by the back door.
Mom gets her pitchfork, the possum an' heads for the back fence w/her lite.  Now, she likes her tall fence...but it sure makes it hard to throw possums over it w/a short pitch fork an' one handed in the dark w/out that possum rollin' or crawlin' back up toward her hand (it didn't but that's been known to happen).  Thankfully, her mission was a success.
All the time she's traipsin' across the yard an' back...Lexie has finished her cookies an' figured out what mom was about, an' she wasn't happy.  She for some reason, thought mom would leave her possum, an' she could continue her "watch".  As you know...Lexie can get quite vocal...we're talkin' LOUD when she's not happy.  Mom could hear her clear across the yard...I even came downstairs to see what was what.  Worse yet....dad even got up to see what was goin' on.  He opened the door for mom an' asked why she was out there an' we were in the house makin' all that racket when he had to get up in just a couple of hours.  All mom said was, "I thought you might sleep better w/out a possum in bed w/you...I know I will".  After that, all lites were turned out...an' everyone went to bed.  Lexie was still a lil' miffed, but mom told her to go to bed an' "outside was closed".  I went up to my tower.  About 10 minutes later...I couldn't believe it...there were cats!  In my yard...an' in the yard across the street.  I was livid!...an' loud!  Mom didn't take me seriously at all....she got up...an' closed her bedroom door an' went back to sleep.  I don't think that was appropriate at all....what if it had been a real burgler?  She needs to come up to my tower an' see for herself.....all I can do is send out warnings.  It's not like I can jump outa a second story window an' apprehend 'em.  Anyway....Lexie an' I are takin' a lil' extra time to rest up this mornin'...we gotta be fresh...who knows what's gonna happen tonite...  :)