BroadwayKhaos said that I should do this… and I'm still having bad Writer's Block with my other stories (my muse has pneumonia, the poor thing,) so… here it is!
IPod Shuffle Challenge
1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.
2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.
3. Write a ficlet/drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterward! (these were hand written first so I think they may be longer than if I had typed them)
4. Do ten of these, and then post them. (I got carried away but was brain dead by 17 )
Fandom- Coricopat & Jemima
Disclaimer: I don't own Cats, and I don't own the songs.
~SC~
Songs-
Defying Gravity- Wicked
"I can't do this anymore!" I screamed, raising my head to the sky. "I can't put on this mask for them! I won't play by their rules any longer!" Jemima gently kissed my cheek.
"Please, Cori, you know what my father will-"
"No," I snarled. "If there's a choice between following my heart or following your father's idiotic rules, I'm choosing my heart." My eyes lit up. "Jemi, come with me. We'll leave this place. Just you and me- no rules, no social norms, nothing!" She sighed, looking at me sadly.
"I… I'm sorry, Cori. But I can't leave my friends… my family." It broke my heart to hear her say that, but I nod. As long as she's happy.
"Look to the western side of London if you want to find me," I whispered, giving her a last, lingering kiss, before running away from this dictatorship they call a Junkyard.
Babe- Styx
I looked back at her. Jemima. The only queen that I had ever been able to love, other than Tantomile. She was my support- it was only because of her that I was able to keep up this charade of being normal for so long.
"I love you," I whispered softly, although I knew that she wouldn't be able to hear me. "But I have to do this." I tried to smile, although tears were spilling down my cheeks. "Goodbye, Jemima… I'm leaving my heart with you."
Eat a Mango- Mango Groove
I walked down the streets of the small fishing village, my stomach growling furiously. I was starved- I hadn't eaten in forever.
"Oi! Do you have anything to eat?" I called to a nearby vendor, who was selling mangoes. I needed a mango! It was my favorite fruit! I quickly counted out the necessary change, handed it to the vendor, and grabbed a mango. It was one of the few happy moments in my trip.
You Are Loved- Josh Groban
I lay, broken and wheezing, in an alley. I had been mugged, and now… I felt like I couldn't go on. My attackers stood above me, taunting me.
"Think of Jemima," I reminded myself. "She loves you… don't give up. You have to get back to her." I pictured her face in my mind- her beautiful, chocolate-brown eyes, her crimson and black fur- and I remembered what I had come to South Africa for. When one of my attackers tried to kick my side, I twisted around and grabbed his ankle, pulling him to the ground and standing up. I ferociously clawed at them, not resting until they all lay, unconscious, on the ground. With that, I ran forward and kept going towards my goal.
Too Many Tears- Elton John
I'm lost. Not physically, but mentally. I've lost myself… without Jemima, I can't find me. I can't find Coricopat… but it's said that it happens to many who come here, to a place where such violence had happened.
But too many tears have been shed already. I quickly wiped away my tears, looking at the beautiful, blue sky, and moved onwards.
Free Bird- Lynyrd Skynyrd
I looked up at one of the seagulls, cartwheeling above me in the sky as I tried to compose my message. It would be easier for her if she thought I'd left her… not that I'd died.
Jemima,
As you know, I'm in South Africa, not London. I lied to you… I didn't want to hurt you. But I'm a restless spirit- I can't be tied down to one spot. I'm like the gulls who're flying above me right now, but with more stamina. I can't change… sometimes I wish I could- I wish I could just settle down with you, but I can't. London was draining my soul, I could feel it. Things wouldn't have been the same. I wouldn't be Coricopat anymore…
Actually, I'm not sure if I'm Coricopat now. All I know is that I can't change.
Goodbye, Jemima. I love you.
~Coricopat
I sighed as I read over my message. It hadn't exactly gone as planned, but I didn't have the patience to write it properly. I folded it, gave it to the cat at the post office, and then I just… ran. I don't know why, I just did. I wish I could be like the birds, who were flying just above my head, taunting me. I wish I could fly. I wish I could soar.
I wish I could be with Jemima.
Something Bad- Wicked (?)
I listened to the rumors of the various cats in the bar as I rested. I had been traveling constantly for a week or so, and I was exhausted. Exhausted and broke, to boot.
"Did you hear about the owl? She lost her speech!" Jeeze… that was seriously bad.
Mad World- cover by Adam Lambert
I looked around as I got off the ship to London. Nobody seemed to be doing anything, and I regarded them with a detached expression. I wanted to kill myself. Jemi probably hated me, and I couldn't bear that.
"Happy birthday to me," I muttered bitterly. It was almost funny, how these people seemed to be doing nothing with their lives. They were all just running in circles… what a wonderful discovery to be made on my birthday.
What a mad world we live in…
Don't Go Changing- cover by Scott McIntyre
"Cori!" I would know that voice anywhere. The small calico queen rushed up to me, hugging me tightly. Before I could speak, Jemima interrupted me.
"Don't try and change," she whispered, looking up at me with tears in her eyes. "I love you, Cori. I love you just the way you are. And if you leave again, I'll go with you. I can't stand to be separated from you again."
"Have I mentioned how much I love you?" I replied hoarsely, kissing her. "You better not change, either." She smiled slightly.
"I won't," she promised. "All I want is you." She kissed me again, and, at last, I felt like myself again.
Hotel California- the Eagles
"Tell me about your travels," Jemi whispered, snuggling into me.
"Have I ever told you about the time I went to California?" I asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She shook her head in a no.
I had traveled through the desert for days until I came to an abandoned hotel. There seemed to be no one there, but I kept seeing cats in the corner of my eye. I had stayed there for a few weeks, until one night, on the full moon, I saw the mirage cats. They were dancing in the courtyard, and I realized what they were from the translucent sheen on them. They were ghosts.
"Welcome to the Hotel California," the ghosts whispered to me, inviting me to stay.
I had run for the door, trying to find my way back. One of the ghosts taunted me, saying,
"You can check out any time you like… but you can never leave!"
That place had haunted me for the rest of my life. (Excuse the pun.) I had felt like I would never get back home… and I had almost died in the desert trying to leave. But I had gone back to London, and I met Jemima shortly afterward, when I joined the tribe my sister had been staying with.
"Wow… that's spooky," she told me. I laughed.
"Yeah… and it's why I'm never going to California again!"
~SC~
Ta-da! In case you had trouble following the plot, it goes like this- Coricopat feels tied down by all the rules the Jellicles have, and thinks that he's stayed in London for far too long. He tries to get Jemima to leave with him, but she can't bring herself to. He goes to South Africa, where he gets mugged, realizes that he feels incomplete without Jemi, and is convinced that he's going to die while trying to go back to England. He does, however, make it back to London, although he still feels rather soulless, and remarks on how people just keep running in circles. Figuratively, not literally. Jemima spots him, and they make up, with her urging him not to change who he is. Later, he's telling her about a time he went to California and came upon a haunted hotel in the desert. He nearly died trying to leave, but he got back to London… and yeah, that's pretty much it.
Did you like it?
REVIEW!
