Day One

Excitement

A/N: This is my first fanfiction; an entry for Quiffin's 'A chapter a week' contest. Enjoy and please review so that I can improve!

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Jennyanydots was in a good mood. A very good mood. The kind of mood which can make one drop music, crocheting and tatting (temporarily, of course) and jump for joy- and Jenny most certainly was jumping.

"Demeter!" the Gumbie Cat called to the first person she saw. "Guess what!"

"What?" replied the paranoid-yet-mildy interested queen.

"Skimbleshanks is coming home TOMORROW!" Jenny squealed in delight.

At this, a loud 'thud' echoed from somewhere to the left of them, echoing around the sunlit (and nearly deserted) junkyard. Demeter shuddered.

"That's nice... I've got to go." she mumbled, scampering away.

"Alright..." Jenny then saw Jellylorum approaching. "Hey, Jelly, I just realised- Skimble is coming home tomorrow! It's only one day until the Night Mail returns!"

Jellylorum grunted. "Those ridiculous kittens have got the nerve to spill yet another can of paint all over themselves... Oh, did you say something, dear?"

Jenny simply sighed. "No." Another 'thud' pierced the relatively quiet air. Jellylorum stalked off in the direction of some very Etcetera-like screeching.

"Oh, dear- I would have thought that someone would be excited about my best friend returning home." Jenny said to herself. Then she saw that she was at the opening to a den- Bombalurina's den. She knew that the red queen could be quite moody in the morning (sometimes she would giggle and tease playfully, other times she would merely growl and offer sarcastic remarks), but Jenny decided that just for the chance of having someone to share her joy with, it was a risk worth taking.

Reluctantly knocking on the frame of the opening, Jenny whispered "Bomba?"

"What?" came a hoarse reply from inside. Clearly, out of the two demeanours previously mentioned, Bomba was currently the latter. Knowing that now she had knocked, she had to reply, she said a little louder, "It's me, Jenny. Can I talk to you, please?"

"Ugh, fine." Bomba grumbled, clearly annoyed. "What time is it?"

"Just a little past noon."

"So early?" the red queen whined. "Alright, make it quick."

Jenny hesitantly stepped in. Bomba was lying on her make-shift bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Yes?" she snapped after a moment's silence had passed.

"Oh, um... I just wanted to tell you that Skimble's finally coming home tomorrow."

At this, Bomba seemed to jolt awake. Then, she sank back. "Poor him."

It took a moment for Jenny to process this. "What? Why?" The Gumbie Cat was quite confused.

Bombalurina took a moment to simply look at Jenny, almost as if she was examining her. "Well, you certainly seem enthusiastic to see him." she begun, motioning towards Jenny's feet with her paw.

Jenny looked down, and realised that the whole time she had been talking to Bomba, she had been tapping her feet excitedly.

"Oh, yes..." she murmered, hanging her head in embarrassment.

"And, you see," Bomba continued indifferently, "I just don't think that any tom would want to come home to a queen like you in a flurry of thrill."

Jenny had been sort of following it up to there, but now was thoroughly puzzled. "What do you mean, 'a queen like me'?"

Bomba sighed.

"It's pretty obvious that you don't care about how you appear to toms. You're quite a bit overweight, you spend your time teaching mice how to crochet, and your fashion sense is... questionable." Bomba replied simply, turning a glance towards Jenny's bright yellow and orange coat. "And I know that when that kind of queen gets over-excited, it gets a bit tiresome for toms."

Jenny gaped at Bomba, her mouth hanging open like a codfish. After she mentally regaled herself for this, she began to realise... Bomba was right! Staring down at herself, if suddenly occurred to her that she was that kind of queen! How could she make Skimble put up with her as she was? How could she do that to him? She needed to change!

"I need to change!" she repeated aloud, slightly determined.

A small smile curled into Bomba's scarlet lips.

"My dear Miss Jennyanydots, you have come to just the right place."

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A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it- there'll be more tomorrow or the day after. I stuck to a pretty average interpretation of Jenny in this chapter, but I made Bomba a bit more mean for the purposes of my mostly-sorted out plot. Did it work? Please review and tell me!

Oh, and to Quiffin, thank you so much for putting on this competition! It's really fun and I can't wait to see what other people write!

Until next time,

MoonlightSongs