Early one morning a small brown, orange and black kitten with brown patches over his eyes came trotting into the junkyard.
"It must be very early," he thought as there were not very many cats there, and those who were present were still fast asleep.
"Never mind, who shall I pounce on first?" Pouncival, whose love of jumping on other cats had earned him his name, could see Alonzo curled up with Cassandra, this week's girlfriend. He knew they wouldn't be pleased if he woke them up.
"They think they're so dignified, this'll shake them up a bit," thought the kitten as he crouched down, got ready to pounce and...
"Aarrgghh!" Alonzo screamed as the kitten landed on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"Pouncival!" Cassandra yelled, lashing out at him as he ran off to find his friends.
"That kitten," Alonzo spluttered, catching his breath.
"He'd better be careful," said Cassandra, rubbing her head against Alonzo's.
Pouncival had found Tumblebrutus, one of the oldest kittens in the tribe who looked very much like Alonzo, as well as Etcetera, a white queen with brown and black stripes. He told them what had happened.
"You'd better leave them alone for a while," Tumblebrutus advised, "come on, let's find the others."
A quick search of the junkyard revealed Etcetera's best friend, a tortoiseshell called Electra and her younger sister, Jemima, a calico.
Just as they were about to continue the kitten hunt, a loud giggle was heard, followed by an equally loud "Shh!". Then Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer appeared. The multi-coloured tabby partners-in-crime caught sight of their friends and hurried over to them.
"What 'ave you bin doin'?" asked Mungojerrie.
Pouncival said with a giggle, "Just waking up some of the adults."
"'alf of 'em are still asleep," said Rumpelteazer, "looks loike ya need some 'elp."
"Okey dokey, 'oo should we ge' up fust?" asked Mungo.
"Munkustrap," said Etcetera.
"Good idea," said Electra.
They approached the tire where the silver tabby and his black, white and gold mate, Demeter, were sleeping. They were in for a shock when four of the kittens pounced on them at once.
Munkustrap woke up with an "Oof!" to find the bigger two, Tumble and Mungo, standing on him. His front paws were free so he managed to swat them both before they ran away. Demeter wasn't so lucky as Rumpelteazer had landed on her shoulder and Pouncival was sitting on her hindquarters. Instead she screamed, "You lot are in big trouble!" planning to tell the kittens' assorted parents and guardians.
Triumphant, the kittens continued to wreak havoc by jumping on any cat who was unlucky enough to still be asleep, including Coricopat and Tantomile who hissed in unison at the troublemakers.
When the madness was over the kittens retreated to the shadows to wash themselves.
They were soon joined by a teenage, white-and-black kitten called Victor, who had just arrived. He brought bad news.
"You lot are in trouble. Munkustrap and Demeter just told Skimble, Jenny, Bombalurina, Asparagus and Jellylorum what you've been up to."
"Thank you, Victor," Munkustrap's voice startled him and he ran off, leaving the kittens to listen to their elders drone on about having respect for other cats.
The younger ones hardly took any of it in. Mungo and Rumpel were always being told off and the others were too young to care. It struck a chord with Tumblebrutus, however. He was already a year old and knew he shouldn't be playing about with the other kittens so much. The trouble was that they were his friends and the other cats who were more his age, Victor, Admetus, Mistoffelees, George, Plato and Victoria were, as Victor has just this minute proven, pretty boring. He didn't want to grow up just yet.
Finally the adults finished their tirade and the kittens set off to make more mischief, Tumble having decided to have fun while he still could.
Munkustrap sighed, "Do you think they listened to any of that?"
"Probably not, but don't worry. They'll be all right in the end," Asparagus reassured him.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, dear, "said Jennyanydots, "just look at you and Alonzo."
"What about me and Alonzo?"
"I remember when you two were as bad as that lot."
"You do? We were?" Munkustrap would rather they didn't keeping bring the subject up.
"Yes, we do and yes, you were," said Asparagus with a chuckle, "I can't remember how many times Deuteronomy and I yelled at you two about Heaviside knows what, only to find you doing it again the next day."
Jellylorum nodded, "Gus is right, dear. You two were almost as naughty as Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, but you sorted yourselves out in the end."
"Aye," said Skimble, "with a little help from the rest of us."
"I suppose you're right," said Munkustrap quietly, not liking to be reminded of his days as a reckless kitten when he was doing his utmost to be a responsible leader.
The older cats left to see what the kittens were up to and Demeter spoke.
"I never thought of it like that before."
"Like what?"
"That they'll come around by themselves. I wonder how much of what we say really matters."
"I don't know, but maybe one day we'll try it all ourselves," Munkustrap said, rubbing his head against hers affectionately.
"Maybe," Demeter replied calmly, smiling to herself as he watched her walk away.