She stayed back, way up on the deck. Looking over the yard she walked slowly and quietly down the steps. She paused as she listened and watched her prey. Almost to the bottom of the steps she watched the little one stop in it's tracks. They both looked at each other. The little one knew what would happen next, it was the same every day.
Each day the hunter seemed to out think the little one. With their hearts beating hard, they ran, the hunter following close behind the little one. Running and jumping into the trees, away from the hunter the little one flew. Barking up at the tree, "I almost got you today, I will return!"
The little one, out of breath, squealed down at the hunter watching and laughing at the hunter far below. The hunter could not climb trees.
The little one watched as the hunter left up the stairs and into the big tree with windows. They would begin the ritual again in the morning, until then, the hunter would watch from a perch on the sofa which looked out of the big picture window where she could watch her front yard and the big tree. The same tree where the little one would sit and watch the hunter, waiting for their next encounter.
