Forcing aside the brush, the golden feline let the light pour into the cave, the heady scent of morning washing over all of them as their eyes slowly began to focus on the others around them

Forcing aside the brush, the golden feline let the light pour into the cave, the heady scent of morning washing over all of them as their eyes slowly began to focus on the others around them.

The black queen swiftly counted all of the other humanoid felines, coming up with fourteen in total, all terrified and tearful, in particular, two of the smaller queens who were clinging to one another desperately.

The gold queen – who had the strangest urge to call herself Glory – made her way across to the slight pair, rubbing gently against them, drawing them into her arms and reassuringly hugging them as she looked around at all of her other companions in consternation.

A tuxedo tom crouched in one corner, a beautiful red and white queen protectively cradled in his arms, apparently either asleep or unconscious. Glory was certain it was more likely to be the latter than the former.

Near her, there was a large tom with black- and ginger-striped fur, looking absurdly like an overgrown Garfield come to life. His arm was gently draped around a sobbing gold and black queen's shoulder.

"How did we get here?" The gold queen found herself face-to-face with the black persian again, a tint of an Australian accent colouring the persian's voice. "I was in a car crash, but I didn't crash into insanity, did I?"

"It wasn't your fault, Jenna." A brown and white tom soothingly ran his head up her arm, his eyes gentle. "There was ice on the road."

"Jenna?" Glory frowned in confusion. "I thought your name was Siah…"

The black queen gave a little flick of her head. "It's strange." She murmured softly, her eyes wandering to her paws. "I know that my name is Jenna, but I feel like I should be called Siah."

"Like I'm Plato." The tom who was formerly Kristov nodded. "I think we all must have two different names…"

"No." Siah shook her head. "We have three different names!" Reciting the lines, she instinctively took up a very feline pose, her hands between her knees as she knelt up, her eyes fixed on a spot beyond the walls. "First is the name that the family use daily…Jenna, Kristov, Tatiana…"

"Sylvia." Glory nodded.

"But I tell you a cat needs a name that's particular." Two kittenish voices joined with Siah's from Glory's arms, both the tiny queens sitting up. "A name that's peculiar and more dignified…else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular or spread out his whiskers or cherish his pride?"

"You mean to tell me," A ginger and brown tom put in coldly. "That we've become freakin' Jellicles? Because we were online during a storm?"

"A computer did this?" Another quiet voice put in, a small queen peering over the shoulder of a large, brown- and white-patched tom. "Weren't we all in the same chatroom or something?"

The large ginger and black tom frowned. "There were six people in the chatroom, if I remember right. Me. Jinx." The multicoloured queen raised a paw. "Misty." The tortoiseshell queen in Glory's arms nodded. "Mercedes." The other kitten waved. "Glory." The gold queen smiled ruefully. "And Reajin."

"It's Ray-jin!" The ginger and brown tom growled indignantly. "Not Ree-ah-gin."

"My mistake." The larger tom agreed softly.

From the shadows of the cave, a new voice softly enquired. "Then how did the rest of us get here?" Stepping into the light, the tom's dark coat was a mottled mass of dark grey and jet black.

"I was with Jinx." The tom sitting in front of the colourful queen replied quietly. "I heard her say something about the computer and I went to look and next thing I knew, I was here." Looking around, he summoned a shy smile. "I'm Admetus."

The gold and black queen in the large tom's arms struggled into a sitting position. "I was in a car with Jen…I mean, Siah and Plato. We spun off the road and when I came round, I was lying here. And I was a cat." Flashing a weak smile, she added. "I'm Callista by the way."

"Would you believe that we had just gone to bed?" The black and white tom looked up from the unconscious queen in his arms. "I've heard of the Earth moving, but this is ridiculous." He brushed his fingers over the queen's cheek gently, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "She was so scared. She always hated storms."

A flicker of recognition flared in the large tom's eyes. "Jordan?"

"Kristian?" With a bitter laugh, the tuxedo tom shook his head. "All this because you couldn't track me down online. I told you that this lady was impatient." He stroked the soft fur of his wife's mane.

"Pig." She weakly muttered, curling closer to him, her cheek pressing against the soft white of his belly. Her dark green eyes slowly opened, gazing up at the feline face that loomed over her. "Givus a kiss, Wolfie."

Several furry eyebrows were raised. "Wolfie?"

With a sleepy nod, the queen smiled at her partner. "My little Wolfgang." She purred softly, butting her head under his chin lightly. Uncurling her body, her glossy fur gleamed in the cool light of day.

Deep red, a splash of creamy-white fur spread over most of her face and down her neck and chest to her waist, with rosettes of white dotted here and there on her coat. A single star-shaped spot of white marred the red of the back of her left paw.

"You are one helluva gorgeous queen, Estariolle." The tuxedo whispered in awe, his arms wrapping possessively around her body.

"I'd agree with that!" A grinning tom ducked back in through the opening of the cave, his brown and gold fur coated with grass and leaves, his dark blue eyes dancing with good-humour. "What did I miss?"

"How we got here." Glory replied.

"Ah!" The tom chuckled. "I was squished by a set of basketball stands. They fell down and I just happened to be under them at the time." He shook his head ruefully. "So much for being the Dodger."

Reajin tilted his head. "That's your name?" He demanded.

"Guess so." The other tom grinned, stretching his body lazily. His tabby body was criss-crossed with stripes here, there and everywhere, his brown face patched with white, black and gold. "Whose Mister-strong-and-silent in the corner?" He gestured to the silent, dark grey tom who had first posed the question.

"Shadow." He replied quietly. "I was hit by a truck, if I remember right."

"Ouch!" Dodger winced in sympathy. "At least we're not dead, right?" He grinned around, noticing the crestfallen look on the massive ginger and black tom's face. "What's wrong, mate?"

Exhaling, the tom sighed. "It's not fair! Why can't I have a decent name? Why can't they give me something fun or different?"

"Huh?"

"What's your name, Kris?" Wolfgang asked. "It can't be any worse than mine…can it?"

"Oh it can…and it is." The former Norwegian replied miserably. "My name…" He paused dramatically. "Is…Tiddles!"

The two queens beside Glory started giggling, trying to hold it back by covering their mouths with small paws and the older queen could barely hold in her own laughter as she tried to say. "It's not…that bad."

"Why don't I believe you?" He asked mournfully, shaking his head with a sigh. "I mean, I wouldn't even care if I was called Garfield! Even something vaguely non-joke-worthy would be fine by me."

"We won't joke about it." Estariolle giggled. "Much."

"In that case…" The ginger and black tom pounced on the queen, tickling her furiously, ignoring her shrieks and squeals of despair and laughter. "I guess I'll have to make you laugh at something else!"

"You leave my queen alone!" Wolfgang leapt to his partner's defence, only to be tackled by a giggling Callista, who was closely followed by Jinx, Misty and Mercedes, each of whom brought a yowling tom into the fray, until only Glory and Reajin stood by watching, one looking amused, the other bored.

Glory allowed herself a small smile, as she watched the wriggling, giggling pile of younger cats. It looked like she was going to have a second chance after all with a whole new family of her own.