Mungojerrie sighs as he pats a pebble across
the junkyard floor. He is lying on top of some junk, and he can feel the
jagged edge of a can poking him in his side. He sighs, and ignores it.
He has bigger problems then just a little can. Him and Rumpelteazer have
been fighting again. He feels that is the only thing they do now days.
He growls, and smacks the pebble he was playing with all his might, and
he hears a soft tinkle in the distance. What happened to the good old days
when they would go stealing together? Well, now they just argue about the
best location, or what to steal, or who is responsible for getting caught.
Well, what about those talks they use to have? Now, they are contests to
see who can scream the loudest. How about their walks in the park? If they
go to the park together, they complain about their allergies, and soon
they get into a discussion about their parents, which leads them to him
taking care of her, and soon, they begin to yell again, and finally, one
storms away from the other person, swearing that they will never learn.
Oh, these are the days. The once happy moments of him tickling her, or
Rumple telling him her thoughts, or just laughing together are over. He
sighs, and stares at the sky. He tilts his head at a slight angle as he
watches billowing white clouds, some seeming to reach the Heaviside layer,
roll into the junkyard airspace. His whiskers quiver ever so slightly as
his ears twitch to an unheard rhythm. He can tell, by the humidity compressing
his body, the cold wind ruffling his fur, and the summer temperature making
tiny sweat drops form on his brow that a storm is coming. He moans. A big
storm is coming. His feline instincts are telling him that when afternoon
comes, all chaos will break out. The innocent blue skies hide their secrets
of the approaching storm, and any amateur would think that the day would
end as nicely as it began. He jumps off junk, the jagged can, and stretches.
He better enjoy the nice weather while it lasts. He cricks his neck, and
heads off to think.
Rumpelteazer lies on her bed, a pillow covering
her face. She moans. What a horrible day! Bad things just keep on coming,
one after the other. First, a piece of scrap metal landed on her tail.
Then, she didn’t see that paint puddle in the shadows, and now her backside
is blue. Finally, Chandler, her pollicle buddy, accidentally threw a ball
at her, sure she was going to catch it. She never saw it coming, and she
lasts remembers Chandler frantically shaking her, and trying to find one
of her teeth. Oh well. At least her and Mungo haven’t been fighting. Her
day is immediately ruined as soon as they start to fight. She hates to
yell at him, and she hates being yelled at. It is just some times, he drives
her up a wall! With his constant “good” advice, and him always watching
over her, and his Mr. Responsible attitude that makes her want to scream
in frustration and yank out all her fur. She sighs. Just let it be, Rumple.
She hasn’t seen Mungo all day, a good thing to her. She scoots a little
off her bed, trying to peek out of her door to see the outside. What a
beautiful day! The sun is shining, and the sky is a crisp blue. She scoots
a bit farther out, and sees a butterfly flutter over a flowerbed. She smiles,
but soon, her sense of balance leaves her, and she tumbles head over heels
off her bed, and lands with a loud thud on the floor. She moans, and stumbles
to her feet. She rubs her sore head, and closes her eyes. She can’t wait
for this day to end. Bored out of her mind, she trots out of her box and
into the sun. She spots the colorful butterfly. “Do you know what you made
me do? You made me fall off my bed! You’ll pay for that…” She can’t help
but giggle, and her inner kitten takes over. She laughs and chases after
the colorful butterfly under the bright summer sun.
***
Mungojerrie slowly trots back into the yard, a smile on his face. Walking always makes him feel better. It gives him time to think. He looks around, and quickly frowns as he sees Rumpelteazer play in a flowerbed. He gulps, and looks down. As long as he doesn’t make eye contact, he should be okay. Rumpelteazer plays with the butterfly, but soon her gaze focuses on the entering Mungo. She gulps. He better not have some “advice” for her today. Her day has been so crappy, she just might explode. Mungo’s glance slowly turns to Rumple. He has to be nicer to her. They have to stop fighting. If he just makes some friendly chitchat, that is one step closer to them becoming good friends again. He clears his throat. “It looks like bad weather is coming. This afternoon and evening, you better stay indoors.” He smiles. That wasn’t too bad. Rumple’s eyes slowly begin to grow red. He is giving her advice! Besides, what makes him think he is right? She responds coldly. “We are not going to have bad weather. The day is going to be fine. I know.” She begins to search for the butterfly as Mungo growls. She is being stubborn again. He responds. “I said, we are going to get bad weather. I know, I have been watching the weather since I was a little kitten.” Rumple growls back. “I have been watching the weather since I was a kitten too, and I say, the weather is going to be fine!” She sticks her tongue out at him. “Besides, you don’t have to tell me what to do! I’m an adult you know, not a little kitten that you can boss around!” Mungo growls, and yells. “Bossing you around? I was just telling you some friendly advice, you have to act so stubborn again!” She yells back. “You always tell me advice, bad advice! I can take care of myself! And I am not stubborn! You are pushy!” He growls. “Me? Pushy? You are the pushiest cat I know! You always have to be right!” She screams. “Me? You are talking about yourself! You always have to be right, and responsible, and watch over me! Do you think I can’t take care of myself?” He growls and yells “Obviously not! You can’t do a thing right!” She growls, and storms over to him. She yells in his face. “I do plenty of things right! You are just so stupid to realize them!” He screams back. “I see you everyday, and the only thing I see is you making mistakes! A ton of them! You are too stupid to do anything right!” “Oh yeah?!” “Yeah!” He is screaming from the top of his lungs. He growls, and turns mumbling, “She’ll never learn…” Rumple yells at him. “At least I have good hearing! I heard that!” She growls, and stomps to her box. Mungo growls, and stomps to his washer/dryer. At the same precise moment, they slam their doors, and a loud bang is heard throughout the junkyard.
***
Just as Mungojerrie expected, around three o’
clock, the sky began to darken, and low rumbling of thunder is heard in
the distance. Rumpelteazer hears the noise, and sighs. He is right. She
jumps off the roof of her box, and stands in the middle of the junkyard
looking up. A flash of light, engulfed by clouds, brightens up the sky,
and second later, the rumble of thunder is heard. She keeps looking up,
and winces when she feels a wet drop on her cheek. It is raining, and she
moans. Just her luck. In a few seconds, a downpour of rain washes over
the junkyard, and she stands there, soaking wet. Actually, the rain feels
a bit good, and she lies down on her stomach, batting a pebble around.
“I was right, wasn’t I?” Rumple lifts her head to see the proud Mungojerrie
standing over her. A hint of triumph is in his eyes, and he smiles. “I
told you we were going to get bad weather, but you wouldn’t believe me.”
She growls, and rolls her eyes. The wind begins to get stronger, and she
can feel it ruffle through her fur. “Well, I guess you were right…for a
change. You are wrong so many times, I don’t know whether to believe you
or not.” He growls. “How many times have I been wrong?” She growls, and
thinks. “You have been wrong….um….I don’t know the number on the top of
my head, but you have been wrong! How many times have I been immature?”
He growls, and thinks. “Well….um….that isn’t the point! You are immature!”
The loud crash of thunder drowned out most of what he was saying, but Rumple
heard enough. After all, she does have good hearing. “For the last time,
I’m not immature!” A bolt of lighting flashes in the background, as the
rain continues to fall. Strong gusts rip through the junkyard, and both
the cats have to dig their nails in the ground to keep themselves in one
place. Mungo growls. “If you aren’t immature, then that means I’m not bossy!”
Rumple yells, but her voice is carried away by the wind. “You are bossy!
You are also intrusive! You have to stick your nose in everything I do!
You won’t leave me alone for a second!” He is shocked. “You want me to
know about everything! You come running to me every time you have a problem!”
Rumple she growls, and starts to cry. This day has been horrible, and Mungo
isn’t helping. She screams at him. “I only tell you stuff because you are
my brother, and that is what siblings do! If you don’t want me to come
to you, then fine! Be that way! I don’t care! I’ll ask someone else! But
you, Mungojerrie, are the rudest, cruelest, most self-centered person I
know! You don’t care about anyone besides yourself!” He stands there flabbergasted.
He screams. “I care! If I didn’t care, then I wouldn’t help you every single
time you have a problem!” Hails starts to pelt down at them. Rumple growls.
“I don’t come to you for every single problem! Most of my problems are
about you, so I go to someone else!” Mungo growls, a bit hurt. “Do you
hate me that much? Is that the only thing I am to you now, a problem? I
just try to be helpful, and you chew my head off!” She growls. “I believe
you think I’m a problem! That is why you always yell at me, and tell me
how stupid and immature I am!” He growls. The wind is fierce, and he almost
gets knocked down. The thought hasn’t occurred to them that maybe they
should go inside. “Well, some times, you act like it! Do you remember the
time we went stealing in that blue house? You had to piss off the pollicle,
and he almost killed us!” Rumple growls. “Well, remember when you opened
the window and set off the alarm in that same house?” He growls. “Yeah,
well, remember the time you got yourself stuck in a closet, and I had to
free you with my lock pick?” She growls. “Do you remember that time you
fell in a pool, and I had to save you with one of those long nets the humans
keep?” She looks at him, and starts to giggle. He growls. “What are you
laughing about?” She smiles. “You were so wet! You looked like a drowned
rat! You look like that now!” She falls back laughing, and lands into a
mud puddle, the brown slime covering her coat. Mungo looks down at her,
and chuckles. She looks so sweet when she laughs. “Oh, are you saying I
look like a drowned rat right now? What about you?” He looks at her now
brown coat, and starts to laugh. Rumple looks at herself, and giggles.
“Oh, that? Yeah, it is the new spring line up. You like?” She splashes
around in the puddle, and pulls Mungo’s arm, making him fall in with her.
Mud splashes onto her face, making it look like he is wearing a mask. Rumple
laughs. “Hey! You look like that human Zorro!” He looks down, his body
now covered in mud, and laughs. “Hey, I do!” Lightning flashes in the sky,
and the loud crash of thunder drains into their ears. Mungo gets up and
grabs Rumple’s paw. “Lets go inside. The storm is getting worse!” For at
that very moment, the once small hail pelts grew to the size of golf balls,
and they crash to the floor, striking anything in their path. Both cats
rush inside Mungo’s washer/dryer, and they shake off. “Geeze, it got so
bad all of a sudden!” Rumple states as she shivers. Mungo notices, and
runs to his messy closet. After a minute of searching, he pulls out a torn
up wool blanket that is decorated with flowers and vines. He places it
over Rumple. “Is that better?” She smiles. “Much, but you are shivering
too! Come under here with me!” He was in fact shivering, and he scoots
under the blanket with Rumple. She smiles at him. Just like the good old
days. “So, how in the world were you able to predict this storm? I had
no idea!” He laughs. “Well, it takes time, but I can teach you if you want.”
She smiles and nods. “Sure, teach away. Give me all the advice you know!”
She giggles. She was mad at him for giving her advice, and now she wants
it. How ironic. Mungo smiles, and starts to teach her the secret steps
to following the weather. They lie under the blanket in Mungo’s house while
a fierce storm rages on outside. But inside, bright sunny days are ahead.
