Mungojerrie lies on the junkyard floor, sunbathing. He purrs as the sunlight floods his coat, toasting his fur. Rumpleteazer lies on top of her box, scratching the roof. She sighs. She is so bored! It is a dull, pointless, molasses in winter kind of day. She jumps off her box and walks around the junkyard, trying to avoid stepping on cracks. She looks up and sees Mungo peacefully lying on the ground. She smiles evilly. He looks a bit TOO peaceful. She crouches down and creeps up on him. He doesn’t suspect a thing. She creeps up on her pray like a lion stalking an antelope. She makes sure to stay up-wind so Mungo won’t sniff her. She is finally a few feet away from him and she carefully repositions her paws. She growls ever so softly, and pounces. She jumps on Mungo and pins him to the ground. Mungo doesn’t know what hits him, and he lies there shocked as he stares into Rumple’s gleaming eyes. He growls, not mad, just annoyed. “What are you doing?” She smiles and rolls off him. “Oh, just pouncing.” He rolls his eyes and gets up, shaking off the dust on his once clean fur. “I can see that. May I ask why?” She shrugs and stares down at her paws. “I was just playing. You know, I’m a bit bored.” He nods and sits down. “Yeah, today is a bit slow.” He ejects one of his claws and draws in the dirt. Subconsciously, he draws a house in the gravel. He stares at it, and draws a little door, then an open window. He grins as he draws two little cats approaching it, tiny bags on their backs. He smiles. That isn’t a bad idea. He looks up at Rumple and smiles. “I know what we can do. What is one thing we haven’t done in a while?” She thinks. “Take a walk in the park?” He shakes his head. “No…” She thinks some more. “Visited our humans?” He shakes his head. “No…” She keeps thinking. “Fought an alley cat?” He growls. “No! Anything around Victoria Grove we haven’t done in a while?” She thinks, and glances at the picture he made in the dirt. She smiles and looks at him. “You mean it?” He nods and smiles. “Yeah, I mean it! We haven’t done it in a while, and it may be fun.” She jumps up and down and hugs him. “Great! Let me go get my stuff…” She runs off to her box, and Mungo trots to his washer/dryer.
Rumpleteazer runs to her box and immediately digs throw her unorganized closet. She pulls out her bag and smiles. Good old trusty bag. She jumps up and runs to her dresser. She digs threw her drawer and pulls out a box with a lock. She quickly solves it and pops it open. In it is a string of pearls. Not just any pearls, but her lucky pearls. She wears them to every stealing job she does. She places them over her head and examines herself in the mirror. She’s missing something…she digs through another drawer and pulls out some paints. She dips her paw in the black paint and adds a line under each eye, making her look like those smelly guys that wear these bulky outfits and throw around a oval ball. She giggles and trots outside. Dusk is approaching…
Mungojerrie trots to his washer/dryer and goes to his bed. He crouches down and digs under it. He pulls out his stealing bag, and he dusts it off. He trots to his bedside stand and opens a drawer. He carefully opens a hidden door in the drawer and extracts his lock pick, Lucky. He smiles. “Trusty Lucky. You haven’t let me down yet.” He grabs his bag and trots outside.
He meets up with Rumple by the junkyard exit. He chuckles at Rumple’s “war paint” and smiles mischievously. “Are you ready?” She nods and smiles. “Ready as I can be!” He nods and takes her paw. “Let’s go!” He trots out of the junkyard with Rumple by his side. He smiles and nods. “The same as usual, right? I grab the priceless merchandise while you destroy the place like a hurricane.” She nods. “Yup, but I do get to raid the jewelry box so I can add to my pearl collection.” He nods and turns down an alley. They both know their way to Victoria Grove like the back of their paws. They have been their enough to know every shortcut, every side road, and every entry. They also know every poor victim that decided to live in Victoria Grove. “So, what house shall we hit tonight? The light blue house has some nice stuff…” She nods. “Yeah, but they have a pollicle too. What about the daisy house?” He thinks. “It is okay, but they are cheap. What about the yellow house?” She looks at him confused. “The yellow house?” He nods. “Yeah, the yellow house. You know, the one with the picket gate…” She nods. “Oohhh, the yellow house! I call it the picket house.” She thinks. “It is okay, but we have struck that house too much. I think the family put alarms on every inch of wall. What about the white house? I think a new family just moved in.” He nods. “Yeah, that could work.” He smiles evilly. “We have to make them feel welcome…” She nods and giggles. “Great! This will be the best!” She grabs his paw and runs the rest of the way there while he stumbles behind her.
The both stand in awe of the white mansion before them. The front yard just screams money, and little dollar bill signs appears in their eyes. “Wow, these people must be filthy rich! Do you see that marble angel statue in the front lawn? That must be worth a million dollars!” Mungo commented. It probably was too. Five marble angles stood atop a cloud, their wings encrusted with jewels and the cloud lined with silver. The angels had gold halos and the harps in their hands are diamond with platinum strings. Rumple drools as she can picture herself swimming in a pool of the jewels on that statue. Mungo has to yank her tail to keep her from jumping on the statue and try to desperately shove it in her little potato bag. She finally stops squirming and begins to look for an open window. This is one of the things she can do best, spotting a way to enter. She finally notices a window ajar in the basement and she motions Mungo to it. His job is to make sure the area is safe, and he creeps towards it. He sniffs, looks, and listens for alarms, which he doesn’t find any. He smiles and leaps inside the messy basement, a gold mine in his eyes. Rumple follows and begins to immediately stuff items in the bag and smash boxes and junk. Mungo trots around and stumbles across an awkward looking lamp. It is clear with this goo stuck to the bottom. He shrugs, finds the plug, and sticks it in an outlet. The lamp glows and the goo inside starts to float to the top, then the bottom. The goo, now that it is hot, looks a lot like lava. He stares at the lamp; he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from it. He just watches the goo go up…and down...and up…and down…up…down…up...down…up…down… Rumple walks over and stares at Mungo. She waves her paw up in front of his face. “Mungo? Hello! Earth to Mungo, we are loosing contact! Do you read?” He doesn’t move, and she shakes him. “Yo, Mungojerrie, snap out of it!” He blinks and returns to the real world. He looks around, and stares at Rumple. “Were you saying something?” She rolls her eyes and snickers. “Yes, but that doesn’t matter. Let’s grab some items before the humans come home.” She starts up a stair case that leads to the first floor. He nods, but before he goes, he unplugs the lava lamp and stuffs it in his bag. “I’m taking this.” He runs up the staircase and by passes Rumple. He sniffs the door before he enters the four star-restaurant kitchen. Maybe if he wasn’t so excited, then he would have sniffed out that distinctive smell…
Rumple trots into the kitchen and whistles. “Whoa! La di da!” She jumps onto a counter, pulls open a drawer, and starts to throw the silverware onto the floor. She giggles, and opens a cabinet. She smashes crystal glasses and china plates and bowls on the floor, and dumps out all the food in a closet. She plugs a sink, and turns on the water. She jumps off the counter and runs to a hallway. She spots a stair case and races up to the second floor. She looks around for the master bedroom, and she checks some rooms.
Mungojerrie walks into the living room, and spots a wallet. He opens it and yanks out bills, credit cards, and a driver’s license. He smiles and stuffs it in his bag. He walks around and spots some magazines. He flips through them, and spots one that is called Mall in Your Home: Mail in Catalog. He smiles and browses through it. He spots nifty things he can order through the mail using the man’s credit cards and driver’s license. He grins and stuffs it in his bag. He starts to trot upstairs.
After looking through about twenty rooms, Rumpleteazer finally enters the master bedroom. She grins and jumps onto a desk. She sees smelly perfumes, makeup, and a mirror hanging above the desk. She finds the jewelry box and opens it slowly, savoring the moment. She almost faints and she gazes upon necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Gleaming gold, shimmering silver, and priceless platinum reflects in her pupils, and she drools over the loot. She snaps the jewelry box shut and places the whole thing in her bag. She beams and trots out of the room, heading downstairs.
Mungojerrie walks into a little girl’s room and looks around.
He sneers. There is nothing good here. He does grab a stuffed animal and
exits the room. He trots back downstairs and walks into the entertainment
room. He flips on the huge flat screen television and sits down. He watches
a huge purple dinosaur dance on the screen. “What the hell is this?” The
dinosaur starts to sing, “I love you! You love me! We’re a happy family!
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. Won’t you say you love
me too?” Mungo screams and quickly flips off the T.V. “It is obviously
some torture device.” He walks around and spots a Rolex on a desk. He jumps
up and throws it in his bag. He grins and looks around.
Rumpleteazer trots downstairs and walks into the dining room.
She looks up at the crystal chandelier and steps on something. It makes
a high squeak, and she jumps back. It is a hamburger. “I didn’t know hamburgers
squeak…” She carefully touches it with her paw, and it squeaks again. She
jumps, but then giggles. “Oh, it is a plastic toy.” She picks it up and
squeezes it again and laughs. This is so fun! She looks around, and finds
a plastic bone. She picks it up and squeezes it; its squeak a bit lower.
She laughs and she juggles the two toys.
Nigel lifts his head and yawns. What is that sound? He cocks
his head and listens. It is a squeak. Not just any squeak, but his hamburger
and bone toys! He growls. His humans can’t be home yet, can they? He sniffs
the air, and snarls. It is a cat! Two cats! There are cats in the house!
His house! He stands up, his body reaching three feet into the air, the
size of a small child. He takes a quick drink from his water bowl but doesn’t
eat his food. He wants to save his appetite. He walks out of the laundry
room, passing the sign on his door reading “Beware of Great Dane”.
Using the two toys as castagnettes, (Those clam things Spanish
dancers use that make a click sound) Rumple performs a Flamingo Dance,
tapping her toes and shaking her bum. She finishes with, “Ta da!” and she
falls over laughing. She smiles at the toys in her paws and throws them
in her bag. “These are fun! I’m going to keep them.” She starts off to
find Mungo, and finally seems him in the entertainment room. She smiles.
“Hi Mungo! Did you get anything good?” He smiles down at her. “Yeah, I
got some cool stuff.” He jumps down and empties his bag. “I got that lamp
from the basement, a Rolex, a stuffed animal, some credit cards, some money,
a driver’s license, and a magazine. I also grabbed some knick-knacks.”
She smiles and pulls out the jewelry box. “I grabbed this jewelry box which
is full of priceless jewels!” She pulls out the toys. “I also took theses.”
Mungo’s eyes widen and he snatches the toys out of her hand. He gulps.
“Rumple, these are pollicle toys.” He looks at her sternly. “Where did
you find theses?” She shrugs. “In the dining room.” He mutters a curse
word and then gulps again. “I didn’t smell a pollicle when we first entered,
but now, I smell one. We have to go…now.” Behind them, Nigel creeps up,
drool dripping from his filthy dog mouth. He stands above Rumple, and she
notices that around her, a shadow has developed. She turns around and looks
up at the massive dog five times her size. She gulps and screams. “Ahhhhh!
Dogzilla!” Nigel growls and barks low and loud. Mungo gulps and whispers.
“I think it is time to…run!” He grabs Rumple’s paw and darts out of the
room with the dog on their heels. Rumple runs as fast as her little paws
can scurry. Cats are more graceful than dogs, so while Rumple and Mungo
are dodging tables and chairs, Nigel just runs them over. Mungo quickly
jumps up on a windowsill and tries to pry the window opened. A high screech
is heard throughout the house and he knows he just set off an alarm. He
jumps off the windowsill and catches up to Rumple. The dog follows their
every move as the alarm screams in their ears. Soon, Rumple can hear the
sound of sirens of police cars and she knows mean humans in blue with a
stick are here. She screams as the two cats jump onto a desk and Nigel
tries to yank them down.
Meanwhile…
The family of the house drives in their Lexus to their home. The man turns to his son. “William, you did wonderfully in the cricket game. I’m very proud of you.” He turns to his daughter. “And your violin solo was beautiful Emily. I’m very proud of you too.” The kids nod and smile. “Thank you father.” The man continues to drive and is flabbergasted when he finds some police cars parked in front of the house. He parks and jumps out of the car. “What the bloody hell is going on?” He storms up to the house, and carefully opens the door. The place is a disaster! Everything is either torn, broken, or mutilated. He hears Nigel bark and some hissing. Some police officers rush into the house. “What is going on? We came when we got word your alarms were going off.” The man shrugs. “I’m not sure. It sounds like a bloody zoo in my house!” Just then, realizing this may be their only chance to escape, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer rush towards the door. They jump over the puddle of water that was caused of Rumple plugging the sink, but the dog is too stupid to realize he should dodge it. He slips and slides and skids over the floor, knocking into the humans like a bowling ball into some pins. It is a human/canine jumble and Mungo and Rumple rush out the door. Mungo runs a bit away from the house, but Rumple has an idea. She jumps on top of the angel statue and yells out. “Hey stupid mutt! Your mom wears human underpants!” Nigel growls and kicks away from the humans and rushes after Rumple. He leaps at her on top of the statue, but Rumple jumps at the last minute. He clobbers into the statue, and the shear force of his speed and weight makes it wobble and crash to the ground. Marble, jewels, and metals rain over the grass and before running off, Rumple seizes all the jewels and metals in reaching distance, deposits them in her bag, and chases after Mungo. She is laughing the whole way to the junkyard with Mungo chuckling behind her.
Two days later…
Rumple finally organizes her jewelry box, adding her new jewels
and jewelry. She smiles as she throws the squeaky toys in her closet and
she strolls out of her box. She meets up with Mungo who is on the junkyard
floor, looking through the magazine he got. He smiles when he sees her.
“Hey Rumple. How are you doing?” She smiles and sits down next to him.
“I’m doing great.” She giggles. “That sure was exciting…” He chuckles and
nods. “Yeah, that was. I thought that huge dog was going to get us. And
I sure didn’t want to fight him. He would eat me in one bite.” She nods
and giggles. “He very well could. But I’m glad he didn’t.” He nods and
hugs her. “Yeah, I’m glad too.” She smiles and giggles. “Are you bored?”
