The Best Day
"Daddy, what was the best day you ever had?" mewed the young tuxedo-kit, a nearly exact replica of her father. Mistoffelees pondered her question while stroking her head fur. Outside the den, rain pounded the ground, turning the clearing into muddy mush, effectively destroying the usual play place of the kittens of the tribe. As a result, every kitten ended up in their homes, seeking shelter with their families.
"That's a difficult question. I have a lot of days to consider," Mistoffelees replied softly.
"Tell me about one of them! Please, Daddy?" The mystic chuckled and obliged.
"Well, I was about your age, maybe a little older, when I put on my first magic show. All of my friends gathered to watch: Tumble, Pounce, Etcetera… even Uncle Tugger showed up."
"Was Mommy there?"
"But of course! She was in the front row." Mistoffelees swept his tail around the kitten, cradling her closer to his side. "It was an incredibly hot day. Even Uncle Munk was complaining about the heat." The kitten's eyes rounded in disbelief (the idea of the stoic, ever reasonable Protector complaining about anything other than the Rum Tum Tugger was completely absurd), but she didn't interrupt. "For my first trick, I produced a bouquet of flowers for the most beautiful queen in the audience, just like this."
Mistoffelees flicked a paw, and a bunch of daisies appeared in his daughter's arms. She giggled and inhaled their scent deeply. "So you gave them to Mommy then?"
"That I did," he replied with a smile. "I did a couple of other tricks, like picking the queen of hearts from a pack, predicting dice rolls, things that your brother is trying to learn." Mistoffelees glanced at the black-and-white striped tom-kit sleeping by the door. Although no signs of real magic have emerged in his son yet, he loved to watch his father preform tricks, loudly proclaiming how he will be exactly like his dad when he grows up.
"But pretty soon," Mistoffelees continued, looking back to his daughter, "everyone in the audience got tired of the heat and started getting restless. So I tried a new trick." He hesitated. "Before I keep going, I need you to promise me something."
"What is it?" the young she-kit mewed, deadly serious. Mistoffelees glanced about the room surreptitiously before leaning in and whispering,
"You can't tell Uncle Tugger that I told you about this. Deal?"
"Deal!" she replied, vigorously nodding her head.
"Okay, I'm trusting you with this, then. Well, Uncle Tugger kept pulling at his mane because it was making him so hot, like a winter coat. So I called him up to the stage.."
"Ladies and gentlemen, for my next trick, I shall request an assistant from the audience. Tugger, if you would be so kind as to join me on the stage."
The overheated Maine Coon reluctantly trudged up to the front of the audience and sat down next to the young Mistoffelees.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, does the Rum Tum Tugger seem hot to you?"
Etcetera squealed. "Always!"
Mistoffelees hit his forehead with his paw. "Let me rephrase that. Does the Rum Tum Tugger seem overheated?" The audience nodded in response. "Good. For my next trick, ladies and gentlemen, I will make Tugger cool down faster than any electric fan could manage." Tugger skeptically raised an eyebrow.
"Presto!"
A small raincloud gathered above Tugger and began drenching the cat in ice-cold rain. His fur was plastered to his sides, making the usually lean cat appear frail and gaunt.
"Hey, kid, make that stop! Dry me off! This isn't funny."
Mistoffelees squeaked at his mistake. The spell book didn't mention anything about rain…
"Sorry, Tugger! Umm… The real problem is your thick fur, right? I-I-I can fix that. You'll be less warm!"
Tugger saw what was coming and began frantically waving his paws, trying to get Mistoffelees to stop his trick, crying, "No! Wait! Don't do that!"
Alas, his cries were in vain. Mistoffelees clapped, and a silver wind shot from where is paws collided and flew toward Tugger, running down half his face and one flank. The audience began laughing hysterically as they watched a half-shaven, thoroughly drenched Rum Tum Tugger sprint away from the crowd, crying and running into his den.
Mistoffelees looked absolutely lost, completely unsure of what to do next. He heard the crowd ripping into laughter, and decided to turn and bow, ending the show.
Mistoffelees' daughter began laughing hard, reminiscent of the crowd's amusement that day in his kittenhood.
"He still holds a grudge for that," mentioned an alabaster feline, curling up next to her kitten and mate to join the conversation. Mistoffelees purred at Victoria's comment.
"Nah, I was too cute to hold a grudge against. Heaviside knows his ego grew back with his fur, so it's not too big of a deal," he replied. He swiveled his ears toward the door. "Listen," he whispered, "the rain stopped. What do you say you and your brother go run about a bit outside to stretch your legs?" The kitten nodded in agreement and leaped forward to wake her sleeping brother. Not long after the two exited the den did the kitten shriek across the clearing, "Uncle Tugger! Guess what story Daddy just told me!"
Mistoffelees snorted in disbelief. "I made her promise to not tell him about that," he told Victoria. The irritation in his words was cancelled by the smile on his face.
"She takes after me in that," she purred, grabbing her mate's hand and pulling him out the door. "Come on, Misto! I want to see his face when he hears this story again!" Mistoffelees grinned and followed her out the den. He would never let Tugger live this down.
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I'm going to be honest here... I'm not very pleased with how this turned out. All my other ideas turned into half-baked stories that lacked continuity. But it's the last prompt and it's one in the morning, so I'm gonna post this and go to bed. Thanks for a lot of fun and a good challenge, BroadwayKhaos! Happy judging :)