Tika sprinted through the high grass, chasing Lizard. It was another warm day, and the two decided to play outside on the lawn. Despite giving Lizard a head start, she caught up to him quickly.
Tika's eyes widened with excitement, and she sprinted faster. Her paws barely missed Lizard as she swung, trying to tag him. Finally, Tika's paw landed on Lizard's tail, and he collapsed flat on his stomach, gasping for air.
"Not fair, Tika. You always catch me in no time," he said, out of breath.
Tika looked down at Lizard, huffing and puffing. She hadn't felt tired in their game of tag. She was just warming up.
"You need to exercise more, Lizard. Then you'll be fast like me!" She shouted, jumping excitedly through the grass.
Near a large rock, Tika spotted a short red rope. It looked like the rope that made up some of her toys indoors. She could play with the rope while Lizard was resting.
Dropping as low as she could and peering wide-eyed through the grass, Tika slowly crept towards the rope. The rope moved, and Tika froze, waiting. One jump. No, two. Two jumps, and she'd be at the rope.
Tika coiled her muscles and bounded to the rope. One of her paws struck the rope, and it rapidly coiled with one end standing up. This frightened poor Tika, who began swatting at the rope as fast as she could.
The rope latched onto her paw. Terrified, Tika shook her paw, but the rope would not let go. Tika screamed and bolted back to Lizard. But when she got to him, the rope was gone.
"...It bit me and didn't let go."
"Silly Tika, that's not a rope; that's a snake."
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