Jellicle Cats Have Cheerful Faces

Have you noticed how he never seems to smile? Sure, he claims he has a 'cheerful face', and his song sounds really bright and bouncy, but I can't recall ever seeing him wear a genuine smile.

That's right: I'm talking about Skimbleshanks. My father.

My twin, Etcetera, has never seen him smile, either. I asked my older sister, Victoria, if she had, and she said 'yes'. According to her, Father had smiled when Etcetera and I were born, and he even used to encourage Victoria in her dancing. I asked her if she had seen him smile since. She tried to avoid the question, but I could tell that her answer this time was 'no'. What had changed?

I asked Mum if Daddy ever smiled. A sad and distant look came to her eyes. "Yes," she replied, "he used to all the time."

"What happened to make him stop smiling, Mummy?" I asked imploringly. I had to know. I felt so left out of things because my father never smiled and rarely gave compliments, whereas the other kittens' fathers always smiled and always gave their kits compliments. Were Victoria, Etcetera and I aliens? Or was our father one?

Mum sighed and turned away slightly. "I…I don't know."

Being as innocent as I was back then, I continued to press the subject. "Did Etcy or I do something wrong?"

Mum turned back and swept me into a tight hug. "Of course not, darling!" she exclaimed. "And don't go thinking that either of you did."

"Okay, Mummy." But the worry that I had done something to anger or upset him invaded my body and consumed my thoughts. For two months, I woke up every night after having the same nightmare about Father being angry with me and abusing me before leaving the Jellicle Tribe forever.

I find it very ironic that Father's line during the Jellicle Ball each year is: "Jellicle Cats have cheerful faces". That line is spoken by the crankiest Jellicle in the tribe? That's a laugh. And then there's his song. The music is very upbeat, bright, bouncy, chirpy – whatever simile to those words you want to use to describe it. There is the line, "He would watch you without blinking and he saw what you were thinking and it's certain that he didn't approve of hilarity and riot…" That's true enough. Then he performs the rest of the song with a stupid, fake smile plastered over his face, pretending he's really happy about everything.

But I've watched him during each ball I've attended, and I always observe the same thing – a cranky cat. Last ball, he had some sort of altercation with Rumpelteazer during Tugger's song. Teazer told me that he didn't want her to join in. He might not like Tugger, but should he really be trying to prevent someone who is not his own daughter from dancing? If he tried to stop Teazer, why didn't he try to stop me? Or Etcy? Or Victoria?

And they say Tugger is a curious cat. Try my father. He fits the bill better.

There he goes now, stalking towards our den. I wish I knew why he is always so cranky. Even if it is my fault, I would still like to know so I can change it. Maybe I should I ask him one day.

Then again, maybe not.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the characters mentioned in this story; they belong entirely to T.S. Eliot, Andrew Lloyd Webber and whoever else helped create them. I DO, however, own the story, and it is protected in my name under Australian Copyright Law dating back to 2009.