The night had been all one could wish for. The air was warm, with only the slightest hint of fog. Soft and balmy breezes blew gently on her cheeks. Something about tonight drove her over to the annual meeting place of her tribe, the Jellicles. They would take her back. She knew by instinct they would. In anticipation her green eyes went into slits as she saw the first cat come out of hiding. He was a tall cat, regal in appearance, with black and gray stripes, a tabby cat of sorts. She gasped when she saw him, for she realized that he was Munkustrap, Deuteronomy's grandson. The last time she had seen him was when he was just a kitten. Even back then he was precocious and self-confident, and she had no doubt in her mind that he would be Deuteronomy's right-hand cat, and that he would ascend the throne when Deuteronomy died.
Carefully, she hid herself on the balcony under some newspapers, lest he should see her. It wasn't the time to make herself known. Not yet.
Peering out from her hiding spot, she saw Munkustrap give the signal for all the Jellicles to come out of hiding and begin the annual Ball. Grizabella's green eyes widened as the junkyard burst into life with cats of all ages and types. She couldn't remember ever seeing so many cats, especially in the Jellicle tribe.
She smiled when she saw the obvious housekeepers of the tribe, Jennyanydots and Jellylorum come out trying to keep the hyper kittens under control. Grizzabella had known the two when they were kittens themselves. "Well, now you know how I felt!" thought Grizzabella, laughing ruefully. All of a sudden, she doubled over in pain as her back acted up yet again. So engrossed in watching the cats, she forgot that her back didn't fare too well when she stayed bent over for too long. Grimacing, she situated herself a little bit more comfortably.
As she situated herself, a new pain seared through her, like a knife to the heart. Only this was not a wound which she could lick away. The wound, though she did not like to say it, was loneliness. A lone tear streaked down her face. What did she do to deserve this treatment? To have to hide and watch her own tribe's Ball hidden from view? What made them think they could just abandon her like this?
"They didn't leave you, you left them."
The words rang incessantly back and forth in her head, and with a sinking feeling she knew they were true. She had left them, and to that close-knit clan, it was betrayal to everything the Jellicle tribe stood for!
Sighing heavily, she drifted into an uneasy sleep, and memories began stirring. Memories of a better life, and her stupidity for leaving that better life for a world as unpreditable as the weather.
To be continued....
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