Living among humans by Dale McMurray (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

My Name is Poppitt. And this is my life among Humans

My First Lesson

They say we live in the moment. But what I can tell you is that we have a long memory. Our history is passed down from generation to generation just like humans except that it is spoken We have no way of recording things. Mother told us many tales of how we came to be .
On our first night in this world after Mother had cleaned us and made sure we were perfect We had our first lesson.

" Long ago we ran with Wolves. There were other creatures that roamed the earth with us They were what the Humans called Dinosaurs. Some wanted to eat us and Others we wanted to eat. They came in may sizes ,shapes and abilities. The world was warm and full of sounds and amazing sites back then. Things flew, walked, swam and crawled. Their way of existance was as varied as they were. The grass was long and the trees were so tall we could not see the tops. AS we traveled over this earth the colors of the land was amazing. There were no metal boxes with wheels or cement trees with out leaves spewing black clouds. Every thing was brand new and waiting to be explored.
We traveled far through dense jungles and swamps filled with insects that made us Ill many did not survive. There were black waters teeming with creatures that could swallow one of us with one bite,slimy things that stuck to our legs and bellies and drank our blood. Those who did not succum to illness became stronger and helped create our begining. We ventured far across endless sands that were so hot our pads became thicker to withstand the heat. Over mountians that were so cold that our hair became thick to protect from the cold snow. Along the way we encoutered other Packs. They had longer hair, more muscled,the hair became more textured. Some were even smaller than we were. Some of our pack stayed behind . They were tired of moving. And as they mingled with the new pack they created genetic changes that would help make them different from any other pack..

Time
Time kept moving and as the world changed so did we. The time of the huge lumbering creatures came to a shocking end. The land became fractured and we no longer could reach other packs in far off places. The lush land had changed now where the giant tree once stood above all there was only brush.Thousands of years after the Dinosaur Our life had become a struggle food was no longer abundant. We learned to act as one in order to feed ourselves. There were many days we went hungry.As the times changed the Earth so we changed to stay alive. We learned to use our hearing and our noses to hunt for food that would have to sustain us for days as finding our next meal was hard and keeping it was harder. There were others similar to us that took the opportunity to take our meals if we could not defend it. we learned to hunt,find shelter and we learned that only the strong survive and because of that we created a society that only the strongest male and female mate. pups born of these were cared for by all . This way the best of our kind's genetic feaures were saved and made stronger.

HUmans
We roamed the earth along side greatuers great and small. We saw the first steps of the Humans as they raised off their front paws and stood up right.
They were naked at first then learned to cloth themselves in skins from other creatures When the dark came they huddled together at first then later they learned caves gave better protections from predators and nature. By day they hunted first with rocks then with sticks that they had sharpened . We watched them from the shadows as they became more self aware. They became a pack caring for each other. The males learned to organize for the safety of the pack. The females worked together to provide food stuffs from the earth. They also helped with the kills,cleaning and turning the skins into coverings for the pack to keep warm when the cold and white flakes came. White Flakes Covered the ground along with bitter cold times making travel hard and dangerous. These new creatures we know now as Humans spent time in caves just as we did for warmth. one day after the season of cold was gone There had been a furious storm with wild rain and lighting. one struck a tree and it started to glow and was so hot that things put in it also began to burn. The humans learned that this is good and it kept them warm at night and they learned that the meat from their kills tasted better burned in the hot light that they named fire. For a while they carried the embers with them until they learned to make their own. During the cold season the Humans would mate . They would have pups they called children who were hairless and weak. They took many seasons to become old enough to do their part in the pack. Unlike our pups who were strong enough by the time their First season ended.
The Cousins
Some of us were interested in the Humans . Others wanted nothing to do with them.Those who feared them started to wander farther from the pack. And as they looked away from us they found others that felt the same. They banded together and called themselves coyotes.Hyennas,and Wild Dogs. Their hunting was more vicious and the kills seemed more cruel. Opportunity was their main method of survival. We saw these cousins less and less. They created their own pack life and we no longer hunted with them. The few times we crossed paths there was a tension and we became wary of them as they chose to hunt those who could not defend themselves or to steal others kills. We even caught them trying to steal our young ones. We noticed that they were also changing. Their bodies were longer and their fur was more earth toned and thick so that they could travel through thick brush. Their legs were thinner and longer than ours and it made them quicker in rough lands. But still they were good parents to their pups.

My HUMANS

The fire is warm aginst my back. The smell of baking bread fills my nose. I close my eyes and I am as I was when I first came to live here,among humans. She humms a tune when she is happy and that will always be in my head.
She is called Maura and she is the first human I ever was touched by . My mother never allowed that other human to pick up my brothers and sisters for long. My human picked me up and kept me safe cradled in her paws, like Mom. But She put me down and went away for a while.
As my brothers and sisters got bigger we were moved to the backyard with more room to live in. While we were eating or settling down for a snooze Mother told us stories that her mother had passed down to her.
"Poppit, time for dinner". As I rolled over I could see Maura had set a bowl with leftovers down by my blanket. I always ate well. I have never wanted for much and these humans have given with out thought of any return. Her mate Shane ruffled my ears as he read the paper from his favorite chair.


THE RIDE HOME
There were only a few of my litter mates left when my human came back. She picked me up and placed a blanket around me as it was raining . We got into a thing she called a car. Sitting there on her lap I watched the only home I had known fade away.
The ride was long and somewhere along the way we came on a accident. A car had hit a strange pack member and it laid on the side of the road.
"Stop!" she yelled.
The male made the car stop. They got out to see if they could help. I could see water from her eyes. I knew then it was to late. They got another blanket and wrapped it up then dug a hole well off the road, covered it with dirt and bowed their heads.The rest of the way home They sat quietly.
I had fallen asleep and dreamed of my brother "Digger." He was best bud and we were always into something usually trouble. He always wanted to find out was was beyond the bushes. A place were we heard noises and smells of things that caught ourimagination.He was always tossing up dirt to get out of our pen. One day he finally tunneled enough and was out in a flash. I followed close behind. He headed towards the bushes. A human who lived there saw him and gave chase. But he was to late. Digger dashed out into the road and a metal box ran over him. There was nothing anyone could do. I ran to him and saw the blood. I began to cry and put my head on his chest. I Felt the last breathe leave him and I howled for him to come back. The human picked me up and put me in the pen . The next time I sawthe humanbhe had a metal object that dug a small hole and he put a small plastic item about the size of Digger in it. Then he covered it and put some stones on top. I cried again mom tried to comfort me.
I hadn't thought of Digger for a while and I started to cry. My new human picked me up and hugged me to try and sooth my fright. Her smell was warm and gentle soon I slept again. I guess she thought I was scared. I was.
It had stopped raining and