A loud thud shook his cozy little home, making the vines hanging over his doorway sway back and forth. Then came giggles. High pitched uncontrollable giggles. Followed by rapid hoofsteps stomping around outside like a stampede of very tiny, very energetic kin.
Grained Melon groaned, his ears twitching as another loud crash echoed through the air. His eyes fluttered open, still half asleep in the watermelon dreamland he had just left. For a moment, he wondered if the melons in his dream had started rolling on their own. But no, this was real.
He rolled onto his side and sighed dramatically. “Why.. why in the world is it so loud?”
Then came the unmistakable sound of something.. no, someone, climbing up the side of his home.
“Oh no!” He whispered more to hinmself. “They are evolving.”
Before he could react, a tiny face popped through his window. It was a little kin, their eyes wide with mischief.
“Grained Melon! You are awake, get up!”
“No, I am still sleeping”, he mumbled, pulling a watermelon rind over his face like a blanket for his head.
The little kin gasped. “Are you.. are you dreaming about melons?”
“Of course!”
Another voice came from outside. “Does he ever dream about anything else?” More giggles. More stomping. More chaos!
"What the hell are they doing out there?", he thought.
He will not be able to sleep longer, if they keep being so loud.. so Grained Melon finally sat up, his fur a mess, looking very confused and grumpy. He peeked outside his home. There they were. A small herd of young kin, running around, kicking leaves, and toppling over each other like they had just discovered that they have legs.
“What are you all diong here?” he asked, squinting at them like an elder kin who had lived through a hundred sunrises, still sleepy.
“We are playing a game!” one of them announced proudly.
“What kind of game requires you to be this loud at this hour in front of my home?”
One of the kin bounced excitedly. “It is called make as much noise as possible until Grained Melon wakes up!”
Grained Melon gasped. “You mean to tell me.. I was the goal of this game?”
They where grinning from one ear to the other and nodding.
“I am honored”, he said flatly and then he sighed. “Well I mean since I am awake now, I might as well make myself useful.. what should we do.. ?”
The young kin cheered, assuming this meant he was going to play with them, like he did normaly.
Instead Grained Melon disappeared back into his home for a moment, rummaging through his secret watermelon stash. When he returned, he was carrying watermelons, one on his back, and somehow balancing another on his head and rolling another with his front hoves.
The little kin gasped in awe. “Ohhh that is.. that are a lot of melons!”
“I know”, Grained Melon said proudly. “I am a professional with watermelons.”
The kin stared at him with wide eyes.
Then one of them whispered, “Are you.. are you going to eat all of them alone?”
Grained Melon looked offended. “Of course not! I am going to share them with you little chaotics.” Then he smiled at them. The cheers that erupted were somehow even louder than their earlier stomping. Within seconds the little kin were bouncing around, taking turns nibbling at the sweet, juicy melons, their faces covered in pink and red melon juice.
One kin sat beside Grained Melon, munching happily. “You know Grained Melon.. you are kinda like a watermelon yourself.”
Grained Melon raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“You are round..”
“I AM NOT ROUND!,” his eyes wide.
“..and you are sweet!”
Grained Melon blinked. Then looked away, pretending to focus on his melon. “I mean.. I guess that is acceptable.” His was feeling hot.
The smal kin giggled and continued eating.
Grained Melon sighed, taking a big juicy bite of his own watermelon slice. Maybe getting woken up so early wasnt the worst thing. As long as there were melons involved, he could handle a little chaos.. probably..