The First Meeting

A tiny orange kitten let out a great yawn as he awoke from his third nap of the day. Forcing his eyes open he looked out over the pile of five other kittens curled up around him, snoring happily. Stretching his legs out as best he can while being surrounded by siblings, he rolls over to snuggle into the long belly fur of his mother. Her snow-white fur cascades around him as he burrows deep. She had stopped producing milk for them some time ago, but the sweet scent of it is still there. His mother opens her emerald eyes and gently reaches over to give him a quick wash behind the ears. Being the rebellious boy that he is, he pulls back to avoid the sweeping motions of her tongue and calls out a tiny kitten protest. His sharp movements and crying disturb the rest of the pile and soon there are six kittens trying to escape bath time. Their father jumps down from his perch atop the human's lap and helps his mate wrangle the kittens.

"Now, now" he says with a stern voice, "None of that! We've told you today is a big day and you all have look and act your best."

Four of the litter instantly start squeaking out a steady line of questions without waiting for any answers, "Why's it so important? What's happening? Do we really need a bath? Can I have an extra breakfast?"

The other two kittens, one orange and one calico, try to hide from their parents by…hiding under each other…it didn't work. Eventually the parents managed to gather all six together for a bath and tried to prepare them for the big day ahead. For today was the day families would be coming in hopes of adopting these precious balls of floof. A sad and happy day, all in one.

A shrill screech sounded far off in the distance, a train whistle, their parents had told them. The orange kitten flattened his ears at the sound and vowed he would never go near such a rude and noisy creature.

Some time later there came many sounds at the front door as several families were escorted in and started talking in loud and excitable voices. The kits' parents pulled the young ones close for a great big hug, then jumped up to the fireplace mantle and sat next to various ribbons and trophies. You see, the parents were both prized show cats. The kittens didn't know what this meant, but they were sure impressed by it.

Soon the living room became a circus of kittens running every which way, human kittens chasing after them screaming "here kitty kitty!", adult humans trying not to step on any of the little ones, even more people coming and going…chaos! One kitten in particular was staying as far away from the action as he could, hiding his bright orange coat in the shadows next to the fireplace. At first he hid because he didn't want the little humans grabbing him, but as the day continued he noticed that there became fewer and fewer of his siblings around. As the humans left…they were taking his littermates with them! He became terrified of what was happening and squeezed himself as far back into the shadows as he could.

Eventually there were only him and one calico sister left. Feeling relieved that he had not escaped the madness alone, he left his hiding place to find his parents and demand an explanation. He was about halfway across the living room floor when…another sound at the door came! They were back! He raced across the floor to his sister and pulled on her tail to try and get her to hide.

"Let go of me!" she laughed and pounced on him, mistaking his intentions.

"Hurry! Hurry!" he panted, "Their going to take us away!" Too late, one more human male and his kit had come in. He turned tail and ran back to his hiding place, leaving his sister to trot up to them and meow innocently. The large human reached down and picked her up, turning her in his hands and inspecting her closely as she playfully swatted at him and giggled. The poor, scared, lonely orange brother laid his ears flat and wished he was back in the warm pile of fur with his brothers and sisters. Bits and pieces of the human's conversation floated over to him "…train was late…moved from Scotland…expensive for a kitten…purebred…daughter has few friends…seems depressed…needs someone to take care of…" none of it made any since to the poor boy, and it didn't explain where his family had gone either. He peeked his head out from the corner and tried to catch the eyes of his mom and dad, but he caught the eye of the human kitten instead…and it started walking towards him! He curled up tighter and tried to disappear, but two hands reached out and slowly picked him up.

He twisted and fought the hands that struggled to hold him, he squeezed his eyes shut and cried for his mother to protect him like she used to. The human kitten held him close to her body as she turned and carried him to the others. He refused to be examined like his sister, no matter what he would not be handed over! I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't! He opened his jaws wide and bit down on the hand holding him…hard. The human kitten gasped and stopped walking, but she didn't put him down. The hands continued to hold him, and he realized something…they were very soft hands. He opened his eyes crack, then a bit more, then all the way. Staring into a pair of soft brown eyes.

The human kitten didn't say anything, didn't scream, didn't tighten her grip, didn't do anything, except look at him. It was her lack of reaction that made him feel guilty about biting her. He slowly pulled his teeth away from her hand and gently licked at tiny red holes he had left there. She still didn't say anything to him, yet, he got the feeling she forgave him. She gave a small smile and pulled him close to her shoulder. Her hair fell over her shoulder and tickled his nose. It was almost the same color as his fur, a little more red though.

"Daddy" she said softly, "This is one for me. Can it please be this one?"

"You sure Penny?" His voice was low and rough, not all that pleasant to the kitten's ears.

Penny nodded and gave the little kitten a kiss on the head. "I even know his name"

"Well, alright then."

While he had been out the house before (they had a family trip to the vet not long ago), it was quite the frightening experience for the little kitten. There was so much noise and people and metal monsters rolling down the lanes. Horrifying! He shivered against Penny's shoulder as she carried him through town, refusing to leave her side for even a second. Frozen with fear is probably more accurate.

She tilted her head to nuzzle his back with her cheek, "It's ok Skimbleshanks, we'll be home soon." He had no idea what a "Skimbleshanks" was…other than it was a funny sounding word. Eventually they came to a great building with many people running to and fro. Sitting in the middle was a giant metal monster that belched black smoke from the top of its head. It suddenly gave a very familiar screech, it was the monster he used to hear when he curled up to go to sleep! But wasn't far away this time, it was right in front of him!

"Wait!" he yelled at Penny! "That thing's a monster! Where are we? Why are you taking me towards it? Help! Help!" He started to struggle in her grasp.

"Calm down, it's okay, it's okay. Nothing to be scared of."

"Nothing to be scared of?! You're carrying me towards a monster!"

Rough hands yanked him away from Penny and stuffed him in a small crate. "Daddy! He's scared enough as it is. He needs me to hold him."

"You can hold the carrier dear. If he jumps down, we'll never find him in this crowd." Now he wished he hadn't struggled so much. Penny's soft hands were better than this box, but at least they had stopped moving towards the mons- he spoke to soon. He kept screaming his protests as they made their way towards one of the many mouths along the side. Closing his eyes tightly, he prepared to be eaten.

Only when much of the sound had quieted did he dare open his eyes again. They were…in a hallway? How did they escape the monster? They passed many doors and would briefly step outside only to find themselves back inside again. What kind of place is this?

The rough voice of the tall human broke the silence, "You get him settled, I've got work to do."

Penny hummed her acknowledgement and passed through another door, into a tiny room. "My daddy's very important on this train. We get a car all to ourselves. This is where I live Skimble, he lives next door" She set his carrier down and opened the little door. "Come look" He cautiously stuck his head out and glanced around. Not nearly as big as where he grew up, but big enough for two kittens, even if one was a human kitten.

As night approached he felt safe enough to come out of the carrier and sniff around. He suddenly arched his back and hissed as the ground started to move beneath him. "That's just the train moving Skimble, it won't hurt you" Penny giggled at him and smoothed down his fur.

"Wait…are we inside the monster?"

She ignored his question and climbed onto a small bed. Patting the space next to her she called him over and said it was bed time. Never one to pass up on a good nap he struggled onto the bed next to her and laid down. She wrapped and arm around him and pulled him in close. Kissing the top of his head she whispered "Goodnight Skimble".

The rocking of the monster was surprisingly soothing. He was soon drifting off to sleep next to his new sister. Until a sudden thought rudely woke him up again. Hold it…Skimbleshanks is my name? Are you serious?!

The days passed quickly and turned into months. Skimbleshanks (still getting used to that name) grew quickly. His kitten fur soon turned into the beginnings of a proud, long orange coat like his father had. He still missed his family, but Penny was quickly becoming so much more to him.

Dodging the human's legs became a daily occurrence, after he learned how to leave his and Penny's room of course. He now knew enough to not let any of them try and grab him, they would try to throw him off the train. There was a strict "no stray" policy. Eventually one of the regular passengers was king enough to make him a little vest. Skimble didn't like it at first, but he soon learned it was the only thing that let people know he was allowed to be there. Eventually, he began to feel very important in his little vest. After all; everyone would point at him and whisper "that's Skimbleshanks…the train's most important crewmember…big name for a small cat."

At any other time of day he would open his eyes wide and show everyone his bright green eyes. The passengers seemed to really like his eyes. But not right now, there was no way he could be late! The time was drawing closer as he raced through the train cars. Can't be late, can't be late, can't be late. He kept repeating to himself. He had earned a few jobs and responsibilities while walking up and down the length of the train, but none were as important as the one he was racing towards. Zigzagging around parcels, legs, other pets, a mouse…he'd be back for that one…he began panicking that he wasn't going to make it. It's almost time…I have to run faster…can't be late…not for this…anything but this. Skidding to a halt in front of the room he and Penny shared, he entered the room and saw that he was right on time.

"Perfect timing Skimble, I just finished setting up" Penny's cheerful voice brought his heart's beating back to normal, so relieved he hadn't failed her. He sauntered up to the small table she had prepared and noised at the little tea cup there. Evening tea was EXTREMELY important! You could NOT go to sleep without it!

Licking up the warm liquid always made Skimble happy. Though; he wasn't sure if it was the tea itself, or just listening to Penny talk to him like she could understand his meows and purrs. He knew she couldn't, but he sometimes wondered…

Penny finished her tea and changed into her nightclothes while Skimble was still working on his cup. (Give him a break! It's a lot of tea when you're smaller than a loaf of bread!) When he finally finished, he jumped onto the bed beside her and looked at the journal she kept. It was a journal of the stories various passengers would tell her. Penny kept track of them all and told Skimble that the two of them were gonna do them someday. She called them "extreme sports". He couldn't figure out what was so extreme about writing in a book, but he didn't want to disappoint her, so he would look at the pages with interest and meow his approval.

As Penny's yawns got bigger and bigger, he nuzzled her cheek and told her to get some sleep. She stretched got up to put the journal back on its shelf. While she did that, Skimble took the opportunity to run around the room. He stuck his nose into every nook and cranny. Checked under the bed, the crack in the wall, out the window, everywhere a monster could possibly hide. Some of the other children would tell stories of monsters hiding their room back home. Skimble had never seen a monster other than the train (which he was still convinced was alive), but he wasn't taking any chances. He climbed back onto the bed after Penny had laid down, and positioned himself on her back. He would keep watch all night, protecting her from anything that dared get to close to his precious child…that was the plan anyway. Every night, he ended up snoring louder than the train before five minutes had passed.