One day, Alonzo was walking through the alley to his favorite field to hunt mice. As he was anxious to get there, he took a shortcut not many cats; toms and queens alike do not like to take. This is because many tough cats live in this alley. Macavity himself was being raised there. So Alonzo hurried by all the alley cats, trying to remain unnoticed, but doing that is impossible. When he reached the end of the alley, a black and silver blur ran in front of him. When it stopped, he was able to see a black and silver stripped tom.
“What are you doing?” asked the tom.
“Nothing. I was just going to the valley.” Alonzo replied.
“Were you going to meet someone?”
“Yeah.”
“Who?” The tom was starting to get an excited tone to his voice. “Was it someone named Macavity?” He sounded mad. This made Alonzo think. What reason did he have to be mad at Macavity? Macavity was born here. Why would they be mad at him?
“No.” Alonzo said. “ I’m meeting a queen. A JELLICLE queen.” He thought this would make the tom back off. In most alleys, cats respected jellicles. And if your meeting a jellicle, chances are you are a jellicle. But in this alley, cats did whatever they pleased.
“And I care?” said the tom. “Now the field where your going, does it have a lot of MICE?” he seemed desperate.
“Yes, it has lots of mice.”
“Then go.” The tom moved out of his way. But what Alonzo didn’t know is that the tom was following him. But the tom was also carrying a kitten.
The next day…
Alonzo again went to the field. Except this time, he didn’t take the alley. As he walked through the tall grass, he heard something.
“Are you hungry Pounce?” It sounded like the tom from yesterday. He went to investigate. It was. Only he was feeding a kitten.
“So the tough guy has a soft spot.” He said. The tom whipped around.
“Go away. I’m busy. Unless you’d like to help me.”
“With what?”
“ Taking care of this kitten.” At this Alonzo softened. He loved kids.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Watch him till I come back.”
So Alonzo did. He didn’t watch him very long though. Soon the tom came back with a mouse.
“Here you go Pounce.” He said as he gave the kitten the mouse. Then he said, “We haven’t been introduced. My name is Munkustrap and the kitten is Pouncival, or Pounce for short.”
“I’m Alonzo,” Then they started talking. By the time Alonzo left for home, it was almost dark.
“Where were you?” asked Tumblebrutus, Alonzo’s baby brother. “Old D almost sent out a search party. Okay so Old D wasn’t worried. But Cassie was.” For a month old kitten, he sure talked a lot.
Everyday, Alonzo went to visit Munkustrap. They enjoyed the spring and summer. No one knew why Alonzo was gone so long each day. They wondered, but decided if they tailed him he’d be really mad.
“Munku?” Alonzo asked. “How are you going to survive in the fall? You can’t just live here in the open. Come to the tribe with me.”
“Would that be okay?”
“Yes. I’m sure it would. Old Deuteronomy is a nice cat.”
So after an hour on the subject, Alonzo finally convinced Munku to come with him.
“Are you sure it’s okay? I don’t just want to barge in on your little tribe, what if nobody likes me? Are you SURE it would be okay?”
“Yes I’m sure it’s okay. Everyone will LOVE you Munku. Don’t worry so much.”
“What if they don’t like Pounce? If Pounce can’t come, I won’t come.”
“The queens ADORE kittens. I have a little brother myself, Tumblebrutus. He’s about the same age as Pouncival. He’d LOVE to have someone to play with. And quit worrying! Everything will turn out fine. Oh, look! We’re at the junkyard! Come on in!”
As he entered the junkyard, Cassandra rushed over to greet him, holding Tumblebrutus in her mouth.
“Ptooe! Alonzo, I refuse to watch him ever again!” she said after she dropped Tumble at Alonzo’s feet.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come in?” Munku asked from behind a tire. (The magical tire)
“Yes I’m sure. Cassandra, meet Munkustrap.” Alonzo said as Munku walked out with Pouncival hanging on his tail like a monkey on a vine. “And the kitten is Pouncival. Pounce and Munku for short. Munku, meet Cassandra.” But before anyone could say a word, a queen with tiger stripes and leopard spots came running over to Pouncival, who had just gotten done swinging on Munku’s tail and had come over to play with Tumble.
“OH! Who is this DARLING kitten?” she said, scaring Pounce out of his wits. “Jellylorum! Come see this ADORABLE kitten!” yelled the queen as she cuddled the kitten.
“Jennyanydots? Am I darling and adorable too?” asked Tumble.
“Yes, of course you are.” Said the queen, who we now know as Jennyanydots. “Hello! I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. Is this darling little thing yours?” she asked Munku.
“No. I found him in an alley. His name is Pouncival. I’m Munkustrap.”
In another part of the Junkyard…
“Demi! Bomb! There’s a new cat in the junkyard! And he has an adorable kitten with him! Oh you have to come see him! Come on!” yelled at the top of her lungs so not only Demeter and Bombalurina heard, but Jellylorum, the kittens (Victoria, Electra, Ecetera, and Jemina) the Rum Tum Tugger, and Plato heard as well.
“You don’t need to yell so loud Cassie! I’ll bet Skimble heard you at the train station!” Bombalurina yelled back, but not nearly as loud. “Is he cute?” she asked as she slinked out of the dog-sized pet-taxi she used as a lair.
“Oh yeah.” said Cassie. “Do you want to meet him?”
“Sure. Dem, are you coming?” asked Bomb.
“Yeah sure. How bad can he be? Besides, he has a kitten.” said Demeter as she too slinked out of the pet taxi.
When they arrived at the magical tire, they couldn’t get through to meet the new cat. Cassandra had yelled so loud all the jellicles had come to see the newcomer and the kitten.
“Oh well,” Cassandra sighed. “I guess you’ll have to meet him tomorrow.”
In the center of the crowd…
“Alright Cats! Clear out! He now has to see Old Deuteronomy! Clear out!” yelled Alonzo. Munku really needed to see Old D if he wanted to become a jellicle. “Told you the girls really go for kittens. Speaking of kittens, TUMBLE! COME HERE!” Alonzo yelled. All of the sudden, two little furballs came out of nowhere and landed on Alonzo.
“We pounced you! We pounced you!” they sang in unison as Alonzo got up of the ground.
“Funny. You two can play again later. Right now we need to take Pouncival to Old D.” so the four walked to the Vinterage Wall where Old Deuteronomy liked to nap. And sure enough, there he was.
“Hello Alonzo, Tumblebrutus, who are your friends?” said Deuteronomy.
“My friends are Munkustrap and Pouncival sir. They wish to become jellicles sir.” Alonzo replied.
“Is this true?” Deuteronomy asked who he figured was Munkustrap.
“Yes sir.” The tom replied. “ We wish to become jellicles.”
“Very well then. Follow me. As you weren’t born jellicles, we will need to find out if you have the heart of a jellicle.” Deuteronomy said as they reached the magical tire. “Tantomile, Coricopat, please come out. We have two jellicle candidates for you.”
For a minute, Munku and Pounce thought they were seeing double. Two identical cats, (Well, as identical as you can get for a male and female) stepped out from the center of the tire. They did EVERYTHING the same. I’d go into detail, but that would take a whole 13 pages.
“Munkustrap, Pouncival, meet Tantomile and Coricopat. They are mystical cats. They will se if you “have what it takes,” to be a jellicle.” Deuteronomy explained.
“Kittens go first. Come up here Pouncival. Don’t be frightened. We won’t hurt you.” Said Tantomile. She sounded very warm and loving, so Pounce trusted her. He sat at the middle of the tire while the twins walked around him on the edge of the tire. At first, it seemed like they weren’t doing anything, but Munku finally figured out they were moving. They started out very slow then went faster till they ran so fast they couldn’t be seen. They finally ran so fast they melted into wind.
“Don’t be afraid.” One of them said. All of the sudden, Pounce felt the cats, who were now pure wind run straight though him.
“They both definitely have the heart and soul of a jellicle.” Coricopat confirmed.
“Good. Alonzo. Go help Munku, is it okay if I call you Munku? * Looks at Munkustrap, who nods * Anyway, help him find a lair. For now there is a cardboard box next to Demi and Bomb’s pollicle carrier. I think a cat carrier will work for Munku, but you’ll need to find one.”
“What about me?” asked Pouncival.
“You, like all the other kittens will get to stay with Jellylorum.
“Whoopppeeee! I get to stay with Tumble WOOOOHOOO!” Pouncival screeched at the top of his lungs.
“Oh, we forgot to tell you, Tumble and Pouncival are going to become a pair. They will annoy everyone like crazy, but they will know when to stop.” Tantomile said. All the cats who heard groaned. But Tumble and Pounce just kept on playing. The two were becoming fast friends.
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