Welcome to The Adventures of Captain EJ.
Today in the Honeybee Neighborhood,
You will join me for your first night shift of the Neighborhood Watch.
When the neighbors go to sleep,
We make sure they get to sleep soundly.
We never know what or who we will encounter.
All you have to do is close your eyes,
Get cozy,
And listen to the sound of my voice.
Captain EJ will lead the way.
You are here,
On your rooftop,
Enjoying the sunset.
Just about every night,
You climb up to the roof and watch the sun sink into the horizon.
Just before it disappears,
Captain EJ usually appears,
Climbing up the ladder to join you on his rooftop next door.
Tonight is no different.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air streaming in through your nose as a pervasive sense of peace that washes over you.
And slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And look over to Captain EJ as he climbs the last rung of the ladder.
Hey there,
Hero.
I almost didn't make it tonight.
Lots of stuff going on at work.
But then I remembered that your first shift of Neighborhood Watch is tonight.
I couldn't miss it.
I wouldn't miss it for the world.
I know you'll do great.
You always do.
You and Captain EJ wait out the sunset together,
Laughing and chatting about your days.
He loves listening to you talk about what you're passionate about,
And your conversations always seem to lead to your next big idea,
Which Captain EJ is anxious to hear about.
When you find yourselves pointing out the stars and their constellations,
You realize how much time has passed and hop into action.
Night has fallen and the heroes of the Honeybee Neighborhood need to begin their careful watch.
You are a bit nervous to begin and wonder what awaits you tonight.
But standing beside Captain EJ,
The nerves melt away and excitement replaces them.
Tonight's Neighborhood Watch begins like any other,
An easy stroll around the neighborhood,
Noticing the details,
Logging any disturbances or potential disturbances,
And checking on the neighbors as they go about their nightly routines.
Captain EJ gives you the lay of the land as you walk.
After a few days of Neighborhood Watch,
You quickly learn who does what,
Like Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee who live here,
Around the corner from us.
They take their little dog Harold for a walk every single night.
Then their friend Melody Bee joins them,
And sometimes their robot friend Roger rolls along too.
Harold used to be kind of hostile to the squirrels,
But he's gotten so much better.
Now they stop and visit with the squirrels in each tree.
Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee stop to visit with you on their walk.
Lucky for you,
Mrs.
Honeybee just finished a batch of snickerdoodle cookies and has two for each of us.
You and Captain EJ gobble up the first and tuck away the second in your pocket.
It's going to be a long night.
Oh,
And Yuma the chef lives over here.
She's a night owl,
And if you're lucky,
She'll bring out whatever she's preparing for tomorrow's menu while you're on watch.
The neighbors really take care of us out here.
She has a restaurant nearby,
And you have to try one of everything.
Captain EJ continues to point out where the night owls live,
And who can you expect to be bumbling around in the late evening hours.
You make a note of everything you're learning,
Which feels like a lot,
But you know that overall the Honeybee neighborhood is a peaceful,
Safe place.
A loud noise coming from up ahead gets your attention.
You and Captain EJ locate the source of the sound and run to it immediately.
At this moment,
You realize you don't have your battle bus helmet,
So hopefully this disturbance won't warrant it.
When you get to the tree where you heard the meow,
You hear the sounds of a kerfuffle unfolding in the treetop.
Like Captain EJ taught you,
At the first sign of a disturbance,
It is crucial to quiet yourself so you,
As the hero,
Do not add to the commotion.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Bring your awareness to the tip of your nose as cool,
Refreshing air pours in.
Leave your attention there for a moment,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and come back to your senses to assess the situation.
There seems to be an angry cat in the tree,
Which doesn't seem like much trouble until you start to ask questions about the situation.
Why is it angry?
Is it being taunted by someone or something?
No matter who we are,
When we're wrapped up and wound up tight in our anger,
We stand to harm ourselves and others,
So we know we'll need to calm this furry fellow as quickly as possible.
Captain EJ begins to climb the tree,
While you scan the perimeter for threats.
You don't see anything that would anger the animal,
So you wonder if there's something you cannot see.
You wish more than anything you brought your battle bus helmet with you.
Before you let that thought settle in your mind,
You work with what you have and jump into the tree after Captain.
Right hand,
Left hand,
Right hand,
Left hand.
Hey there little guy,
I know you,
What has you so upset?
When you get up to the tree,
You see that the cat is hissing and backing up away from what he sees as two giant threats.
Looking from his perspective as well as from your own,
You can see he's about to step right into a nest occupied by a territorial mama bird.
You and Captain EJ duck as the cat leaps up higher into the tree,
Angrier and more scared than ever.
Captain EJ explains that this is Yuma,
The chef's cat.
She is probably worried sick about him because he's not supposed to be outside.
He's a chubby little inside cat that loves to sit on the windowsill and secretly taste test Yuma's creations when she's not looking.
That's how he got so chubby.
He is anything but happy right now,
But hearing that his favorite thing is to taste test people food,
You remember that you have a treat in your pocket.
You unwrap it and offer up the sweet snickerdoodle smell in hopes of softening his defenses.
The cookie gets his attention and turns the tides of his mood.
He now emerges into a sort of sweet spot for you and Captain EJ to remedy the situation.
Thinking quickly,
With a tentatively happy kitty walking toward the cookie in your outstretched hand,
You know not to make direct eye contact.
Instead,
You speak to him in a way that will make sense to him with a cat kiss.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Blink your eyes very slowly as you inhale and keep them close tight for a moment.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and slowly open them back up.
That's how cats tell each other that they don't mean any harm.
Now having been cat kissed and offered a cookie,
You bring your first mission to a close by slowly backing up,
Climbing backwards down the tree.
The chubby little kitty follows you,
The cookie,
And Captain EJ all the way back to Yuma's house.
She darts out of her front yard where she was panicking,
Looking for her best friend.
Just as we arrive at Yuma's front yard,
We see what made the little kitty so terrified and defensive.
Yuma runs inside with her beloved cat in her arms,
Trusting you and Captain EJ to handle the situation swiftly.
You both know not to confront the angry pup,
So you stand still and decide what to do.
I think I see a collar on her neck.
She has to have a home.
Maybe we walk away slowly,
Pretending we're going to leave her to her space.
She's probably scared and territorial.
I think those are usually the reasons dogs growl.
She doesn't look to be in any kind of pain.
We slowly back away from the dark grey,
Growling dog,
Who kinda looks like a wolf.
She's clearly wearing a collar,
But her fur is dirty and matted like she's been outside in the wild for a long time.
She does the same as we do,
Slowly receding into the shadows from where she came.
Being as sly as we can,
We get to a place where we can see her,
But she can't see us.
Hopefully we can somehow figure out where she lives.
We're sure her people are missing her and are so worried about her.
Maybe if we follow her for a bit,
She will eventually go back home.
Together we hang back behind the mysterious wolf dog,
So she doesn't know we're on her tail.
At one point,
We hang back a little too far and seem to have lost her to the shadows.
We pick up the pace a bit and search the bushes,
And end up down the quiet streets of the honeybee neighborhood.
When we finally see her again from across the street,
We realize she's been keeping a much better track of us than we have of her.
She's quite the watchful pup,
This one.
Instead of growling,
Though,
Now she seems frightened and maybe even a little sad.
When we take a step forward,
So does she.
We take another step,
And so does she.
From across the street,
We now walk along the sidewalk keeping pace with each other.
A little puppy's smile comes across her withered face and she quickens her pace to a trot.
After some trotting,
She starts to run and then bark.
Not wanting to spook her,
We slow back down to a stroll and keep watch.
When she turns around to realize we're not following her anymore,
She whimpers and dares to cross the street.
Come here,
Girl.
Are you hungry?
I got a little cookie left.
She smells the snickerdoodle in my outstretched hand and slowly approaches.
You make sure you're still and quiet,
Both inside and out,
So you don't frighten her by accident.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the sensation of your heart beating once,
Twice,
Three times,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and kneel down so you don't appear so daunting to her.
The skinny,
Gray-matted dog gingerly takes a piece of snickerdoodle from Captain EJ's hand and gobbles it up.
She sniffs his hand and then yours for any traces of more delicious treats.
When she finds your snickerdoodle cookie in your pocket,
She sniffs and digs and playfully jumps around you trying to get it out.
You laugh and give up a piece of your cookie for this now playful pup.
As you hold it for her to eat,
You can see that she has a name on her collar.
Her name is Cadet.
Cadet,
What are you doing out here at night?
You should be home.
Show us where you live and we can walk you home.
Go on.
We follow where Cadet leads,
Having so much fun with our new friend while still keeping a watchful eye out.
She leads us all the way to the other edge of the neighborhood where she takes a quick right and leads us to an old abandoned lot where the remnants of a house still stand,
But barely.
She happily trots up the cracked walkway that's overgrown and up onto a porch that has been taken over by moths.
The porch and the half-torn down house look so old that we're unsure if the porch can hold us.
Cadet prances happily up the rickety steps under the little bit of roof left and curls up in a makeshift bed of whatever she could find.
Happy as can be,
Cadet rolls over her belly rumps and we finally get the closest we have to this sweet mysterious pup.
That's a good girl,
Cadet.
You're such a good dog and so cute.
You live out here all by your lonesome?
As I pet Cadet asking her questions that she can't answer,
You see the address on the other side of her collar tag.
You look back to a broken mailbox post in the front yard and see the same address staring back at you.
This is certainly where Cadet lives,
But what happened to her family?
Did they forget her?
Leave her behind?
You pet her soft fur and resolve to not leave her out here alone in the dark.
Our great minds again thought just alike,
And I look to you just as you look to me.
Cadet,
I know this is your home,
But I'd love it if you came to stay with me.
I have a huge backyard and Hero and I can build you a doghouse that isn't falling apart.
What do you say,
Cadet?
Come on,
Girl.
Let's finish up this night's shift,
Then we'll get your doghouse made.
Cadet happily accepts Captain's invitation and bolts from the shoddy porch for the last time.
She stays close by his side,
Sniffing out potential disruptions before they can even begin to disrupt.
For the rest of the night shift,
She is the protector of the protectors,
And when we come back home after a long,
Productive night,
We get right to work on her doghouse.
Now not only does she have two new best friends,
But she also has a home and a job in the Honeybee Neighborhood Watch.
All it took was a little patience,
A couple questions,
And a snickerdoodle cookie.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
