The Treadmill and the Cheese

It all started with cheese. Let me explain.

Mrs Noah had had enough of all the rainy, windy weather that we had been having lately. It meant that she could not get out and do her running. You see, Mrs Noah is training to run a marathon and has to run around Pearly Beach, several times every week. Everyone knows Mrs Noah as she pounds the roads around the Ark, and they all wave and shout encouragement to her! However, all this bad weather meant she could not get out as often as she needed to. Luckily, Mr Noah had a bright idea…

“Why not get a treadmill?” he said. “That way you can run inside when it’s rainy and windy outside.”

“Yes,” said Mrs Noah. “What a good idea. We could also use it for the dogs to exercise on when they can’t get out as well.”

So it was that Mr and Mrs Noah set out one day to buy a treadmill.

After a successful visit to the big shops in Cape Town they arrived back at the Ark with a shiny, brand new treadmill. Mrs Noah was eager to try it out, so they set it up right away and Mrs Noah tested the new 'road'. “It’s brilliant,” she puffed, sweating profusely. “It’s just what I need. Shall we try the dogs on it now? Alfie first.”

Up stepped Alfie who, after the obligatory sniff and lick of the machine, took his first tentative steps on the treadmill - followed quickly by his first expulsion from it, straight off the back! And again! And again! No matter how much Mr Noah explained it to Alfie, he didn’t understand that he needed to actually walk along the belt and not stand still. It was Mrs Noah who had the bright idea of using cheese. “Cheese!” she said. “It’s one of Alfie’s favourite foods. Mr Noah, you stand in front of the treadmill and hold out some cheese pieces. I am sure he will start walking towards them.”

Mr Noah stood in front of the treadmill tempting Alfie with little pieces of cheese. It worked a treat. Alfie had really got the hang of it, and started to walk, then trot, then run along the belt, and was rewarded with little pieces of cheese. However, Alfie didn’t always manage to grab the cheese and some of it dropped on to the belt, and was propelled straight off the back and on to the floor. What happened to these pieces of cheese?

Chilli, the kitten (with a tail) had been watching all this from a comfortable spot on the nearby sofa. She had spotted what was going on, so she positioned herself at the back of the treadmill and was feasting on all the little cheesy bits that were flying off the end! Ten minutes later, at the end of the treadmill session, Alfie had had some exercise and Chilli had had a feast. Success all round!

As Alfie went to tell Mango all about it, Chilli found another use for the treadmill – well, she was rather full of cheese! (Picture above)