Chapter 1: Someone Else's Shoes

Bombalurina stirred and rolled over in her sleep. A warm, fuzzy lump at her side woke her. Her eyes flew open and she found herself looking at the equally startled face of the Rum Tum Tugger. They screamed in unison.

"Hey! Earth to Jemima! Helloooooooo!" Pouncival waved a paw in Jemima's face.

"Hmm?" she said. She looked down at herself, a surprised and shocked expression on her face. "Oh, no," she moaned weakly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! What in the name of the Heaviside Layer happened to me?" The white cat known as Victoria wrapped her face in her arms in an attempt to hide from the world.

"Vicky?" Mistoffelees's concerned voice came from behind her.

"It's not fair. Why is this happening to me?"

"Why is what happening to you?" Mistoffelees moved around in front of Victoria and gently peeled her arms away from her face. "Here, let me see..."

"I don't even like ballet music!" she protested.

Mistoffelees could see absolutely nothing wrong with her other than tears. "Um.. Victoria?" he asked, hoping she'd give him some sort of explanation.

"First-never, never, ever call me Victoria, Vicky, Vick, Vicks, Vickmeister or anything even remotely close. My name's Jessica. And second-I think it would be a very good idea if I talked to Old Deuteronomy now."

By the time all the cats in the Junkyard had gathered before the Jellicle Leader's tire, most of the hysterics had been calmed down to quiet miseries.

"Now, what's wrong?" Old Deuteronomy asked.

Jessica, better known to most of the Jellicles as Victoria, stepped forward. Jemima, Demeter, Bombalurina, The Rum Tum Tugger, and Cassandra stood a few feet behind.

"Old Deuteronomy," Jessica began, "Something awful has happened. We-" she indicated the cats behind her, "-aren't who you think we are. We're humans-well, er, we used to be. My real name is Jessica." She turned to the others, indicating for them to introduce themselves, as well.

"Lauren," said Bombalurina.

"Call me Tracy." That was Demeter.

"I'm Kayla," Jemima piped up.

"My name's Irving," The Tugger put in.

"And my name actually is Cassandra," the Burmese queen admitted. After a pause, she clarified, "Not the Cassandra you know. I just have the same name."

Jessica nodded. "Anyway," she continued, "It's not that we don't like Jellicles, we love you to pieces. The problem is, well, you see.." Jessica turned pink under her white fur. "Not all of us like.. all... of you. And.. we somehow ended up being turned into the very cats we, erm, hate."

Deuteronomy, who had been listening patiently throughout the explanation, nodded. "This is indeed complicated."

"Can you send us back?" Tracy interjected.

Deuteronomy shook his head sadly. "I wish that I could. Unfortunately, I do not know how you came here, let alone how to reverse the process. However, I will do my utmost best to find out."

Jessica, who seemed to be a somewhat self-appointed spokes-cat, nodded, holding back a sniffle. "I understand," she said, her voice controlled.

"I don't," Lauren, who had replaced Bombalurina, cried. "I want to go home!" Tearfully, she pushed her way through the crowd of Jellicles and went to sit on the large, black, open ended pipe. Black and gold fur bristling in anger, Tracy followed.