Skimbleshanks was just about to make his way to the junkyard. Tonite they were having a Jellicle Meeting and he was already late. He had just returned from an overnight ride on the train and he was worn out by the work and responsibility. As Skimble made his way past a bench, he smelled something. It smelled new and freash. Skimble turned around and began sniffing under the bench. There was something moving under the bench. Skimble at first thought it was a rat. He meowed at the creature; Skimble's meow would always send the rats running, but to the Railway Cat's surprise, something mewed at him. Skimble jumped back, surprised at the sound. Then from under the bench came a kitten. A small black kitten. Except for his snout which left a trail of white going all the way down its chest. It gleamed at Skimble with its yellow eyes.
" I'll be, a kitten," said Skimble under his breath. He looked left and right to see if its parents were nearby, but no one was in sight. "Hello?" shouted Skimble. " Did anyone here lose a kitten?" No one replied. Skimble looked back down at the kitten. " Well, if you stay put, I'm sure they'll come around and find you," said Skimbleshanks. The orange cat turned around and started off. As he continued to make his way, he heard mewing cries. Skimble turned back around. The kitten was trying to catch up with him. The kitten mewed at Skimble. Skimble had always wanted a kitten he could call his own, but could never bring himself to go that far in a relationship with his lover Jellylorum. Skimble returned to the kitten, picked it up in his mouth and hurried off to the junkyard. Skimbleshanks slowed down as he entered the junkyard. Soon he arrived in the center. All of the Jellicles were gathered around Munkustrap.
" And I feel that yesterday's caterwauling on Mr. Webber's fence was a huge success! Thank you all," stated Munkustrap.
" Except that Tugger was off key!" exclaimed Tumblebrutus.
" I was not off key! You guys just weren't working with me with the harmony!" snapped Rum Tum Tugger.
" Sure Tugger," sneered Electra. Munkustrap shook his head, then spotted Skimbleshanks.
" Ah Skimble! Welcome back! I trust it was a peaceful journey?" Skimbleshanks simply trotted over to the Jellicles. They all noticed the big wad of black fur in his mouth.
" Hey Skimble, what did you do? Catch a rat?" asked Alonzo. Skimble shook his head. He gentely placed the kitten on the ground. Its eyes darted from one Jellicle to another. A large smile formed on Demeter's face.
" Oh Skimble! He's so cute!" exclaimed Demeter. The small kitten darted under Skimbleshanks to hide from the cats.
" Hey now lad. There's no reason be afraid. Come on out," said Skimble. The small kitten poked out his head. It slowly crawled out and began to look at all the different colored cats. It paused when it saw Tumblebrutus. The kitten mewed and crawled over to the brown-patched cat. Tumble looked at the kitten in shock.
" What's he coming to me for?" asked Tumblebrutus.
" Must be because you pigged out on you tunafish dinner tonite," sneered Alonzo.
" Zebra!" snapped Tumblebrutus.
" Squirt!" growled Alonzo.
" Sqart!" exclaimed the kitten. Tumble stared at it. The kitten looked up at Tumble. " Sqart! Sqart!" Alonzo grinned.
" I think he means Squirt," laughed Alonzo. Tumble let out a low growl. The kitten heard the sound and quickly returned to Skimbleshanks. The Railway Cat gleamed at the kitten. Munkustrap made his way over.
" Where did you find him Skimble?" asked Munkustrap.
" At the station. There were no other cats on sight. I didn't see any, I didn't smell any and I didn't get a reply from any," said Skimble. Munkustrap looked down at the kitten.
" He must be an orphan. I think the most we can do is adopt the kitten into our tribe," said Munkustrap. Demeter spun to Munkustrap.
" Oh! Could we?!" exclaimed Demeter. Munkustrap smiled at her. Jellylorum made her way over to the kitten. She leaned down and sniffed at it.
" Mama!" the kitten squeaked. Jellylorum was taken aback. The kitten then looked up at Skimbleshanks. " Papa!" Skimble's green eyes gleamed with pride. He smiled at Jellylorum.
" Does that mean we're to become the kitten's parents?" asked Jellylorum.
" Your guess is as good as mine," said Skimbleshanks.
" Does that mean you're husband and wife?" jeered Plato. Tumblebrutus, Poucivil and Electra laughed and began to sing woth each other.
" Skimbleshanks and Jellylorum sitting in a tree! L-I-C-K..." Alonzo and Asparagus snarled at the cats and they were silent. Munkustrap shook his head. He then turned back to Skimble.
" Skimble, you found the kitten. You should name it," said Munkustrap. Skimble was surprised.
" I've never really named a cat before," said Skimble.
" There's a first-time for everything," said Mistoffelees. Skimble began circling around the kitten. The kitten gleamed at Skimble as the orange cat continued to circle the black kitten.
" A name, hmmm. He does sort of resemble Mistoffelees," said Skimble. Mistoffelees then leaned forward to see the comparison between him and the kitten. Skimble then stopped, his long brown tail swishing back and forth. The kitten eyed its every move. " He looks like he probably won't grow any bigger than Tumblebrutus. Tumblebrutus put his paws on his hips.
" And what's wrong with my size?" snapped Tumblebrutus.
" The only thing that's wrong is that you're a pygmy," sneered Alonzo.
" Oh go chase your tail!" snarled Tumblebrutus.
" Squirt!" hissed Alonzo.
" Zebra!" growled Tumblebrutus.
Skimbleshanks shook his head at the two. His tail now swished even faster.
" I just can't think of any..." The kitten then pounced onto Skimbleshank's tail. The Railway Cat let out a yelp. He spun around at the kitten. The orange feline then grinned. " Frisky." He turned to the others. " He shall be known as Frisky." Frisky let go of Skimble's tail and purred. Skimble purred back at Frisky. The cats could tell that things were going to become very different around the Junk Yard.
The next day, Skimble carried Frisky into the junkyard. The first cats that Skimble ran into were Tumblebrutus and Pouncivil. They were leaping back and forth from the junk that was piled up high. Frisky looked up at the cats with his mouth agape. Skimble set Frisky down and stared up at the cats.
" What the Heaviside are you doing?" shouted Skimble. Pouncivil and Tumblebrutus stopped so that they could answer Skimble's question.
" We're practicing!" explained Pouncivil.
" For what?" asked the Railway Cat.
" Our tournament! We've been practicing for the last two weeks!" Tumblebrutus called down to Skimbleshanks. The orange cat shook his head.
" You and your games! Don't you have any work to get done?" asked Skimble.
" What are you talking about Skimble? We're Jellicles! Our work is games!" laughed Pouncivil. The two young jellicles then began leaping back and forth again. Skimbleshanks picked up Frisky again and carried him farther into the junkyard. He came upon Coricopat and Tantomile. The two cats stalked forward. Moving together in perfect unison.
" Goodmorning Skimbleshanks. Good morning little one," said Tantomile and Coricopat at the same time. Skimble set Frisky down. The small kitten eyes moved back and forth from the twins. Coricopat grinned, amused at the kitten's confusion.
" He's a fine looking feline Skimble. I'm sure he'll grow up to be a loyal Jellicle Cat," said Coricopat.
" I would hope so," said Skimbleshanks.
" Jellygull!" mewed Frisky. Skimbleshanks chuckled. Tantomile and Coricopat smiled.
" He's very clever for a kitten of his age," said Tantomile.
" Aye! He's more like a parrot then a kitten," jeered Skimbleshanks. Frisky gleamed up at Skimble and rubbed against the feline's front leg. Mistoffelees soon appeared. Skimble smiled when he saw his friend appear from the shadows. " Misty! Goodmorning to you," said Skimble. Mistoffelees bowed his head.
" And the same to you Skimble," said Mistoffelees. The black cat kneeled down to see Frisky. Frisky leaned forward. Mistoffelees began to sniff the kitten. Then he received a quick lick on his nose by the kitten. It felt like Mistoffelees had a small piece of sandpaper crawl up his nose. The magical cat danced back and began rubbing his nose. Skimbleshanks laughed.,p> " Frisky seems to like you Mistoffelees!" chuckled the orange cat. Mistoffelees grinned.
" I can't wait until he's older. Then I can teach him all the tricks in the book," said Mistoffelees.
" You're going to teach the kitten?" asked Coricopat. Mistoffelees shrugged.
" Well, not just me. I think a few of us are going to be teaching Frisky," said Mistoffelees. Skimbleshanks looked down at Frisky.
" But that's quite a while from now. He's still very young. We'll have to wait until he's at least Victoria's age," said Skimble. Frisky reached up his paw and batted the bell that was attached to Skimble's collar. The kitten mewed at the sound of the bell. Once again, Skimble took Frisky in his mouth and continued along his way.
Skimbleshanks carried Frisky until he found Jellylorum. The female jellicle was have a pleasent chat with her friend Jennyanydots. Skimble carried to kitten over to her and placed him on the ground.
" Jelly, would you mind looking after him. I have to work at the train station and it's too dangerous for him," explained the Railway Cat. Jellylorum stared at Skimbleshanks.
" Oh I can't! I have to go visit Gus soon," said Jellylorum. Then from nowhere, Bombalurina and Demeter appeared.
" We'll look after him Skimble!" said Bombalurina. Skimble turned to them.
" You sure you can handel him?" asked Skimble. Demeter lowered her head and nuzzeled Frisky. The kitten licked Demeter's nose. She laughed and raised up her head.
" Of course! He's a littel angel!" insisted Demeter. Skimbleshanks shrugged his shoulders.
" Alright, be careful with him," said Skimble.
" Oh we will!" said Bombalurina. Demeter then took the kitten in her mouth and she and Bombalurina hurried off. The two female jellicles stopped when they reached a part of the junkyard that was surrounded by torn sheets, old clothes, pillows and other soft objects. Demeter cafefully placed Frisky on a pillow. The kitten enjoyed the feel of the soft cotton under his paws and began to kneed it.
" Have you ever seen a more darling kitten?" asked Demeter.
" He's cuter than Tugger," said Bombalurina. The two cats laughed.
" Tugga!" mewed Frisky. That caused the two cats to laugh even more. The kitten made his way over to Bombalurina and batted her tail. Demeter lifted the kitten up in her paw and nuzzeled Frisky again. The black kitten mewed and hopped off her paw. Cassandra then stalked in. She made her way to the pillow and gleamed at Frisky.
" So, this is Frisky?" asked Cassandra. Both Bombalurina and Demeter nodded enthousiastically.
" He's just a darling! He'll repeat anything you say!" purred Bombalurina.
" Oh really?" The siamese gleamed down at the kitten. " Can you say ' Cassandra is the best jellicle ever'" " Cassadwa est bet Jellygull!" mewed Frisky. Demeter snickered. Cassandra grinned in amusment.
" Hey Bom, why don't we try and teach Frisky a little bit about the Jellicle Ball?" said Demeter.
" Great! There's no suggested age to learn about the Jellicle Ball!" said Bombalurina. The three older Jellicles then for the rest of the day taught Frisky about the Jellicle Ball and the different steps of the Jellicle Dance. Frisky had paid attention the whole time.
