A small tortoise-shell kitten shivered in the intense cold. Her mother had disappeared; leaving her huddled against a humongous wooden fence. She mewed loudly, hoping someone—something—would hear her. A strong blast of wind hit the fence, forcing the kitten's eyes shut and making her shake violently. She thought back to the past few days, wondering what she did wrong. She had to have done something wrong; otherwise, why would her mother leave her alone in the freezing weather?
Trotting next to her mother, Electra was chatting non-stop about anything that came to mind. "And when the birds flew away, there was no bread left at all! Can you believe that? The birds ate all the bread! The human girl acted like it was a good thing, so she threw more bread, and so the birds came back and started eating again." She paused to take a breath. "Why do you think humans give the birds food, and not us? I think we're lots better than birds, and we are so much more fun to play with. I just don't understand why—"
"Ellie!" Electra's mother said sharply. She waited until Electra was sitting still and silent. "Are you done talking yet?" Electra thought for a moment then nodded her head. She didn't like the tone in her mother's voice; it usually meant that she was not happy. Her mother, Nina, sighed and continued along the path, sniffing for anything to eat. Electra shrugged and skipped after her mother.
'Maybe she didn't like me talking so much,' Electra thought. She licked ice off her whiskers and blew into her paws. So talking a lot was not something good to do, and it made everyone else want her to go away. She burrowed a bit under the hard snow, surprised to find the wind could not reach her there. She curled up, fluffing her dark fur out as much as she could, and fell asleep.
…
Electra woke up to the sound of paws crunching through the snow. 'Mother!' she thought. She pushed her head above the snow, looking around for her mother's black-and-brown coat. Instead, she saw an old tom, whose fur was long and scraggly. But, oh it looked so warm. She didn't think twice. She ran up to the tom, leaning against him and rubbing all the ice off her tiny limbs. If the tom was surprised about her sudden appearance, he didn't show it. He merely picked her up and let her snuggle into his long fur.
The tom carried her into a junkyard, and with every cat Electra saw, the further she hid in the old tom's fur. By the time he was in a large clearing, she was barely visible; the only indication she was there was the trembling patch of fur on the old tom's chest. He began speaking, and his voice seemed to warm Electra's tiny body from the deep rumbles.
"Jennyanydots," he said. Electra peeked out to see who that was. A kind-looking queen came forward. That doesn't mean anything, Electra thought. Her mother had looked kind. "Will you take this young one and get some food in her stomach, and a warm place to sleep?" Electra began to panic as the old tom pulled her out of his warm fur. Jennyanydots held out her paws, and Electra was placed in them. She whimpered slightly—the tabby didn't have nearly as long of fur as the old tom.
"Everlasting Cat, Deuteronomy!" Jennyanydots said. She held Electra close, covering the kitten as much as she could with her slim arms. "This poor kitten weighs less than Mistoffelees!" Electra didn't know what 'Mistoffelees' was, but she had a feeling she would soon find out. "Jellylorum, will you get a blanket for this poor dear? She's shaking like a leaf in autumn!" Another queen hurried off, and Jennyanydots began rubbing any wet out of Electra's fur… it felt nice. She couldn't remember her mother ever doing that for her.
"Where did you find her?" A silver tabby asked. He had his arm around a black and gold queen, who was wrapped in a blanket and holding a kitten of her own.
Deuteronomy looked at him. "She was just on the other side of the south fence. There were paw prints that suggested another cat, but it seemed clear they weren't coming back. The poor thing ran straight up to me, trying to get close for warmth."
"Sounds like she'd been there for a while." The black and gold queen said. She hugged her kitten tighter, as if the same fate would happen to it. Electra stretched out despite the cold, trying to catch a better glimpse at the other kitten. Jennyanydots smiled.
"That's Jemima. She's about your age," she said softly. Jellylorum hurried up with a blanket, and Jennyanydots bundled Electra in the middle of it. It was soft and warm, and Electra began drifting off to sleep. "I'll just take this little one to the kitten den," Jennyanydots said. "Do you want me to take Jemima, Demeter?"
Demeter nodded, and let Jellylorum take the small queen kitten in her arms. The two motherly queens carried the small kittens into the padded trunk of a car, shutting the door behind them. Electra and Jemima were set inside a wide basket with several other kittens, all of them snoring peacefully. Electra was stiff at first; she'd never been around other kittens before, let alone slept with them. After a moment, she relaxed and snuggled into the incredibly soft fur of a tuxedo kitten next to her, feeling Jemima place a small arm on her shoulder.
"Don't be scared," she whispered. "We'll be good friends." Jemima wiggled closer, encouraging the other (not really sleeping) kittens to do the same. Soon they were a tangle of limbs and tails, laying on top of each other for warmth and comfort.
"What's your name?" A white kitten asked. She had her head resting on Electra's rump, and her big green eyes glowed. Electra hesitated; if she talked, would these kittens want her to leave? She was silent for a few minutes.
"I'm Victoria," the white queen said. She nudged the others to introduce themselves.
"Etcetera," a cream-and-brown tabby said.
"Pouncival," he was white and tan with brown patches.
"Admetus," a grey tom kitten said. He grinned at Electra from over Victoria's shoulder.
"I'm Tumblebrutus," He sounded a bit old to be sleeping in a basket full of kittens, but Electra didn't mind—he gave off a lot of body heat.
Tumblebrutus nudged the small tuxedo, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. He seemed to be shy. Victoria rolled her eyes. "That's my brother, Mistoffelees."
"Kittens, go to sleep."
They fell silent, pretending for a moment. Electra was scared that if she talked, Jennyanydots would tell her to leave. She curled up against Mistoffelees and Etcetera, her head rising and falling with Etcetera's breath. After what seemed like a lifetime, Electra opened her mouth, her voice barely audible.
"Electra," she whispered.