Lion frolicked around on the beach, kicking the sand up with his paws and flinging chunks of earth into the air with his nose. Lion danced back and forth by the waves, pretending that the seas themselves nearly caught him every time they rose and ebbed. Lion stalked gulls, playing dead, and letting the sea birds alight on him. Suddenly, he would make a grab for one of them. He had not caught one yet.
Eventually, Lion grew bored of his play. The sun had risen to its zenith, and all the creatures had retreated into cooler places. The hot sand burned Lion's paws. He'd had enough.
Lion trotted away from the Beach, stopping at the door of the Beach House. Pumpkin lay there, lying on his side, sunning his belly. As Lion approached, Pumpkin waggled his legs in a greeting. Lion huffed. There was nothing to do, now that the temperature had risen. It was just too hot to be fun.
Pumpkin had to disagree, of course. From the Sun came Pumpkin's energy. The stronger the Sun was, the more energy Pumpkin could get, within a reasonable limit. The Sun right now was just right for Pumpkin.
Lion walked over, casting Pumpkin in his shadow. Pumpkin jumped up, barking at Lion. After a bit, Pumpkin ran down the steps, and sunned himself in a new position. Lion walked over, and disrupted Pumpkin's sunning again.
That was the second time, and Pumpkin was getting a little annoyed. Pumpkin voiced his displeasure with raucous barking. Lion placed his paw on Pumpkin's head, and rolled him down the steps of the Beach House. Pumpkin landed squarely in the sand. Lion pranced down, and continued to roll Pumpkin across the sand. Lion rolled Pumpkin faster and faster, and soon Pumpkin rolled quicker than Lion could walk. Lion did not pick up his pace-the sand would stop Pumpkin's movement.
Pumpkin continued to roll away from Lion, faster and faster. Surprised, Lion moved into a half-run. Pumpkin rolled even faster, away from the Beach House and down the roads snaking through the fields. Lion raced down the asphalt, increasing his speed as Pumpkin tried to increase the distance between the two.
Pumpkin rolled over a bump, arcing into the air. Midair, Pumpkin sprung out of a roll, and landed on the ground with all four feet. Throwing a glance behind him, Pumpkin realized Lion was gaining on him. Pumpkin veered off the asphalt, into the corn field.
Lion did not give chase immediately. He surveyed the situation a little. It seemed that Pumpkin now wanted to play. Lion, bored, was more than happy to oblige. He had never really gotten to know Pumpkin, anyway.
He eased into a stop, and walked back to where the corn was shaking from Pumpkin's entry. Lion watched the corn for movement, hoping to pinpoint Pumpkin's location. Inside the corn, Pumpkin slowly proceeded forward, trying not to touch the corn stalks.
Lion watched for a while, then decided to enter the corn. Lion was too big to conceal his movement in the corn, so he did not even try. Instead, he sniffed around for the scent of a pumpkin amongst all the corn. Lion tracked Pumpkin through the cool corn.
Pumpkin continued to slip in and out, progressing forward. He stopped, to listen to the rustling of the corn. He could hear another noise, a crunching noise. He realized the cause of the noise too late-Lion burst from the corn stalks!
Pumpkin squealed and rolled over onto his belly in his surprise. Flipping over, Pumpkin tried to flee, but Lion pounced, surrounding Pumpkin with his paws. After a bit, Lion let Pumpkin up.
Pumpkin barked happily and spun in circles. Lion may have won this game of tag, but he wouldn't win the next one! Pumpkin flicked his vine tail at Lion, motioning him to follow for the next game.
Lion stretched out in the corn, ripping through some corn stalks. Shaking his mane, Lion followed Pumpkin to a playground.
Pumpkin hopped onto one of the swing sets, and waited patiently for Lion to push him. Lion sat right behind Pumpkin, pawing aside the gravel to sit on the softer dirt. Lion obliged Pumpkin, and poked him in the butt, making the swing move just a bit.
Pumpkin barked twice: "Faster!" Lion placed his paw on Pumpkin and hit him harder, making the swing jerk back and forth. Pumpkin yelped and barked as the swing moved back and forth horizontally. Though it was a close call, Pumpkin managed to hang on.
Once the swing had come to a rest, Pumpkin glared at Lion, who scowled back. Lion had no hands to push Pumpkin! What did Pumpkin think would happen?
Pumpkin barked back. Lion had done that on purpose, trying to knock Pumpkin off the swing so Lion could sit in his place.
Lion rolled his eyes. First, there were other swings Lion could get at. Second, Lion couldn't even fit. Why would he try to knock his new friend off?
Pumpkin huffed and turned around. Lion thought about the swing for a moment. He could try swinging it with his nose, but that would probably hurt, and knock Pumpkin off. Lion thought about kicking the swing forward. An image of Pumpkin flying through the air and becoming Pumpkin splat on a rock flashed through his mind. So that wouldn't work.
Lion continued to think. Pumpkin came up with an idea first. He eagerly barked out a plan to Lion, who carried it out. Lion reared up onto his front paws, placing one in the swing, and the other on the chain. Lion circled around the swing, taking baby steps with his back paws. The swing's chain coiled around itself, tighter and tighter.
Stop! Pumpkin barked. Pumpkin thought the swing was ready. Excited, he leaped into the seat. Lion nodded as his eyes met Pumpkin's. Lion carefully removed his paws, holding the swing in place with his teeth clamped on the coiled chain. Upon the sound of Pumpkin's bark, Lion let go and sprung backwards.
The swing, propelled by the coiling of chains, uncoiled rapidly, rotating the swing seat slowly at first, then more rapidly. Pumpkin hang on as the rotation picked up speed. The coiling had raised the swing a bit, and as the swing uncoiled, the swing seat descended. At first, it did so smoothly, but as the seat descended, the rotation grew jerky, rocking back and forth. Excited, Lion roared, and pranced around the rotating swing.
Pumpkin yelped as the swing seat knocked back and forth, whacking him into the seats next to his. The coiling came undone completely. The momentum of the coils re-coiled the swing a bit in the opposite direction. As that coil came undone, that momentum re-coiled the swing, and so forth, with increasingly slowness.
Dizzy, Pumpkin let go, planting into the gravel face first. Lion padded over and nudged Pumpkin with his nose, to see if his playmate was all right. Pumpkin popped right back up, and the two chased each other for a little while.
When the sun began to go down, Lion decided they had time for one last ride before leaving the park. Pumpkin decided upon the see saw, and Lion sat down on one side. Pumpkin leaped onto the other end of the see saw. The see saw shuddered, but did not move. Lion weighed so much more than Pumpkin, the see saw did not move an inch.
The two dismounted the see saw. This time, Pumpkin got on first. Pumpkin wrapped his little legs around the metal bar, and barked as a signal. On the signal, Lion crouched and leaped onto the other end of the see saw. The see saw catapulted Pumpkin through the air.
Lion raced after the flying Pumpkin. As Pumpkin began his descent, Lion leaped up, opening his jaws to catch Pumpkin. Lion had misjudged Pumpkin's speed. When Lion closed his jaws around Pumpkin, instead of stopping Pumpkin in midair, Pumpkin kept falling, taking Lion with him.
Lion's head hit the ground, breaking Pumpkin's fall. Pumpkin squirmed out of Lion's grasp, and inspected his fallen friend. Groaning, Lion righted himself, moving his jaw around. A good jawful of Pumpkin had sapped Lion's desire to play.
By the time Lion had reached the Beach House, Lion's jaw didn't hurt anymore. Pumpkin, no worse for the wear, still wanted to play, and butted Lion's legs. Irritated, Lion waved his hind leg at Pumpkin. He was tired, and wanted to take a cat nap.
Lion settled down on Steven's bed. After a moment, Pumpkin jumped up as well. At first, Lion was irritated. Was Pumpkin going to keep annoying him? But no, Pumpkin just wanted to join Lion. Lion calmed down a bit. There was room enough for both. So Pumpkin snuggled close to Lion, and both drifted off to sleep, to dream of playing together again soon.