A/N: Okay my first story with chapters. Let's see if I can do this!
Summary: When Valerie Greywool, a painfully shy young woman, dies prematurely trying to save her beloved pet, she is offered a second chance at life. Unfortuanately for her, she gets a little more than she bargined for.
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"Thank you, come again," said perky young clerk, as she handed the rather nervous-looking college student his bag of books. Valerie Greywool, the only other soul in the tiny bookstore, watched her with a feeling of nausea rising in her stomach.
No real human being could be THAT happy without being on some kind of medication, Valerie thought. She continued her task of pulling new books out of a shipping crate and placing them on their designated shelf spot. She continued to watch the young clerk, whose name was Mary Sue, pull a small brush from her pocket and run it through her shining blonde hair. The feeling of nausea became even stronger. Valerie felt as if she was going to throw up.
But nothing could have prepared her for the next unwelcome sight to walk through the door of the bookstore. As the bell on the door jingled and Mary Sue giggled with delight, Valerie poked her head from behind the shelves to see...him.
Daniel Pryde sauntered up to the desk and planted a kiss on Mary Sue's lips. She pretended to be embarassed and shoo him away. Then, he pulled her closer, as they began a furious, yet disgusting, make-out session.
Sickening, thought Valerie. She couldn't bear it any longer. Abandoning the half-empty box of books, she walked around to the front of the book shelf that hid her.
"Hey, Mary Sue," she chimed politely, despite the rising feeling of vomit in her throat at the sight of their spit exchanging.
Mary Sue quickly jerked her head around to face Valerie, and, with the stupidest grin imaginable, managed to pant, "Yeah, Val?"
Valerie cringed at the dreaded nickname, but said sweetly, "I'm not feeling to well. I think I'll step outside for some fresh air."
"Okay, you do that," said Mary Sue, returning to the more pressing matter of sucking Daniel's face off.
Valerie turned on her heels and headed for the back door, which led to an alley, where she often ran to to escape whatever headaches she may have been experiencing. As she thrust open the heavy door, she nearly hit a small red, white, and black kitten. Said kitten mewed in protest of nearly being smashed with a giant, metal door. Valerie bent down and picked up the small ball of fur.
"I'm sorry, Rosie," she cooed, gently stroking the kitten's ear. "But you have to be careful when you're hanging around this door. Say, where's Dusty?"
If anything, Valerie loved cats. The furry little wonders were, to her, the best thing on the face of the Earth. Two particular cats she was very fond of were Rosie and Dusty. Rosie,the small kitten she held at the moment, was named so becuase her striking red fur that made her look like a walking rose. Her eyes, which were a lovely shade of gold, shown with the innocence of childhood so many human's lacked. Dusty, on the other hand, was named because of just that. Every time Valerie saw him, he was covered in dust, from his ears to the tip of his tail. But under all the dust, he had pretty orange fur with a long brown tail. His eyes were like green glass, that, when looked at properly, almost flashed.
The pair would come to the alley behind the bookstore often, but for some reason, Rosie would sometimes show up alone. Valerie usually would dismiss this as normal cat behavior (whatever that might be).
Valerie continued to stroke Rosie affectionatly. Valerie found herself growing envious of the kitten.
"You know something, Rosie?" she said, as Rosie stretched and dug her claws into the leg of Valerie's jeans. "You cats don't ever have to worry about anyone cheating on you. I was with Daniel for a whole year! And then he drops me like a sack of dirty garbage for that walking cliche! A year of my life wasted on that slimy, back-stabbing, man-whore..."
She stared down at the kitten in her lap, who was staring back. Valerie laughed.
"You probably have no idea what I'm even talking about do you, Rosie?" she asked. The little kitten cocked her head and Valerie couldn't help but laugh.
"Of course you don't," Valerie said, placing the kitten back on the ground. She stroked Rosie's fur and opened the door. She looked back down at Rosie, who was gazing up at her with an expecting look.
"You know you can't come in with me," Valerie said. But the small kitten just kept looking at her, with those beautiful golden eyes...
"Fine," Valerie sighed, stepping aside to allow Rosie in.
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Inside, Valerie went back to unpacking the books from the crate, as Rosie played with pieces of tape dangling from the edges of the box.
As she set the books to the side so she could price them, the title of the book caught her eye. It read "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats".
Suddenly, Rosie jumped into Valerie's lap, causing her to drop the book, which opened on its landing. The bold black-lettered title read "Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat". Rosie immediatly hopped from Rosie's lap onto the book and began to paw at the page.
"What are you doing, Rosie?" Valerie asked, picking up the book and flipping through it. She came to a passage called "The Old Gumbie Cat".
Weird titles, Valerie thought. As she set the book back on the floor still open, Rosie once again began to paw at the page.
Valerie was about to say just how odd the cat was acting, but she was cut off by a monstorous bellow that she was all too familiar with.
"Greywool!" shouted Susan, her bruting manager who could easily be mistaken for a professional wrestler.
Valerie stood and faced Susan, the over-powering scent of onions coming over her, undoubtedly Susan's new perfume.
"What the hell is that cat doing in here?!" Susan barked. Valerie looked down at Rosie, who stared at Susan with wide-eyed fear. Valerie stammered, unable to stand up to this beast that was her manager.
"You know I hate cats!" Susan shouted, grabbing a broom leaning against one of the book shelves. She swat it at Rosie, who hissed and lept backwards. Valerie watched in horror as her beloved pet was chased around by this monter weilding a broom. And she was helpless to stop her! Mary Sue stared blankly at Valerie, completely unaware of what was happening as Susan thrust open the door and, with one last powerful swipe, shooed Rosie out the door.
Slamming the door, Susan pounded back to her office, but not before giving Valerie a "do that again and you're out of here" look. Valerie looked out the window, as Rosie padded into the street.
As Valerie's head strayed to the right, she noticed a car speeding down the road. It was headed for Rosie!
Without even stopping to think, Valerie pushed the door open and ran out into the street...
The pain was incredible as the car made contact with Valerie's spine. She could feel the bones shattering inside of her like glass being thrown against concrete. Her brain screamed at this sudden change.
All around her, Valerie heard noise. People yelling to call an ambualnce, someone explaining how she'd just jumped from nowhere, and people wondering who would do such a crazy thing for a cat!
Valerie could taste blood in her mouth. All the feeling from her body was beginning to drain. Everything went black...
"It'a too late. She's dead," was the last thing Valerie heard.
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Son of A/N: Ah, youth, cut down in it's prime! Anywho, despite what most of you are thinking, this IS a Cats fic. It just has to develop. Be patient people!
Now, here's the jist of things. I'm not going to update if no one reviews for this. And I mean NICE reveiws with constructive critisism, if any. NO, I REPEAT, NO FLAMERS!