Sillabub closed her eyes tightly and screamed as they were rising like a bullet higher and higher off the ground. She clutched on to the tom's waist for dear life as he held a tight grip around her waist and the ladder, hoping they wouldn't fall off.
Just then the ride ended with a bang and a jerk that nearly knocked them off. The jerk made Sillabub loose her grip and fall but the tom quickly grabbed her paw. She dangled there nearly fifty feet in the air with a pack of street dogs barking below. She could feel herself slipping and she began to scream and kick.
"STOP IT!!!" he yelled, "That's not helping! Now quit you crying and get up here!!"
Sillabub did as she was told and grabbed on to his arm with her other hand and began to pull herself up. Once safe on the ladder again, he lifted her up and placed her on the roof top of the building. The tom then pulled himself up on the roof and fell the ground exhausted. Sillabub couldn't believe she was still actually breathing.
"We did it!!" she squealed jumping around and clapping her hands with praise at their survival. She ran to the edge of the building, looked down at the barking dogs below and yelled at the top of her lungs while laughing, "GET A PIECE OF THAT YOU FILTHY FLEE BAGS!!" and she rolled on the ground laughing till she found herself lieing beside the tom who had saved her life. He was overjoyed but far too tired to express like she was. He handed her the red ball he had taken and said, "Here's your ball back." but she took it and threw it aside uninterested in it. As the tom continued to lie on his back, resting, Sillabub lied on her back next to him, staring at him and thinking to herself. Where had this cat come from? Who was he and why did he save her? Together they stared up at the dark sky now filled with stars.
"Aren't they beautiful?" she whispered.
The tom frowned, "What, the stars?"
"Yeah," she replied with a smile, "Don't you see them?"
A confused look appeared on his face as he stared up at the stars and asked, "See what?"
"The pictures." she answered with a giggle. The tom was more confused than ever. Sillabub then went onto explain, "The stars, they make up thousands of pictures. Like over here," she pointed to the sky and at a group of stars and said, "That's the little dipper."
"The little what?"
"The little dipper. And over there is the big dipper. See the handle?"
Suddenly his eyes widened when he saw it."Oh yeah. now I see it."
Sillabub gave slight laugh then went on, "And that's Pegasus, the winged horse and over there beside it is Orion, the mighty hunter. See his belt? And over there is the north star right at the tip of the dipper's handle. They say when you're lost, the north star helps you find the way. It's the brightest star of them all."
The tom found it all very interesting as he continued to listen to her. She suddenly stopped as her eyes fell from the stars and onto him. He glanced at her wondering why she had stopped. He wanted to hear more. After a long while of staring at each other, Sillabub broke the silence with a comical statement, "You know, I never caught your name."
The tom smiled, "Well, I never threw at you."
Sillabub amusingly giggled at his reply then waited for his answer. The tom looked back at the stars as he said, "It's Titus."
"Titus." Sillabub repeated in whisper, wanting to say it in her own lips. "Like Titan?" she asked.
Titus nodded, "Yeah, it means 'strong leader'."
Sillabub smiled as she examined his build and replied, "I believe it."
Border strip
Early the next morning, Demeter paced around the junkyard. Munkustrap rolled his eyes and replied, "Demeter, I'm sure she's fine."
"She's been gone all night and half of the day yesterday! And I heard dogs barking last night...and...and...well don't you care?!"
Munkustrap stood and softly rubbed her shoulders from behind her to ease her tension and replied, "Of course I care. It's just that we can't get all upset about it. It'll only make things worse."
Suddenly Skimbleshanks' ears pricked and sniffed the air then replied, "I think I hear her now!"
Just then Sillabub walked in the junkyard humming to herself 'Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats'. When she entered, Demeter placed her hands on her hips and asked, "Sillabub where have you been?!" but Munkustrap walked towards young jellicle and said to Demeter, "Honey, let me handle this." he then crossed his hands over his chest and asked stirnly, "Sillabub, where have you been?"
Full of glee, Sillabub smiled and exclaimed, "Oh Munkustrap, I was out in the city and-"
"The city!!" the jellicle tribe cried simultaniously.
Sillabub's smile dissapeared and she answered shyly, "Well yeah."
"Sill what were you doing in the city?" cried Munkustrap, "You know that's no place for a jellicle!"
"But wait!" she cried, "You didn't let me finish! I met this tom-"
"You met a tom in the city?!?!?!" Demeter cried.
Sillabub rolled her eyes and stomped her foot as he yelled, "Could I please finish my sentence!?!" Seeing how everyone was quiet, she continued, "Now, I met this tom that I would like you all to meet." just then the tom emerged from the shadows revealing himself to the tribe. "His name's Titus." replied Sillabub. The tribe was silent for a moment, startled by his enormous looks. He was slightly larger than The Rum Tum Tugger and yet slightly smaller than Old Deuteronomy. Titus was shocked at how many jellicle there were, all staring at him from the hieghts of junkpiles, the openings of pipes, rusted waching machines and the trunk of an old dead car. Munkustrap walked up to the tom and asked, "Where did you come from?"
"I'm from the city." he replied, "I'm a stray."
"You don't belong to any other tribe?" the gray tabby asked.
"No sir," Titus replied, "I'm a loner. I've lived on the streets alone all my life."
"How long do you plan on staying here?"
However long I'm welcomed."
Munkustrap smiled at his reply.
Sillabub then added, "He saved my life, Munkustrap, from a pack of pollicles!"
