Take Me Forward
Note: This story is just a bit of silliness. A few characters I don't use that often... and the title means nothing... enjoy!
Day was vastly becoming boring. Morning had ended what felt like hours ago, and now there was the dreariness of the afternoon before night dawned. The sun was still shining brightly in the sky directly above the junkyard, indication that afternoon still had a while to go before the world was plunged into darkness.
There was very little to do. So little, in fact, that those Jellicles that presently occupied the junkyard were lazing around. Some sunned themselves on collective pieces of trash. Others slept in their makeshift dens, dreaming of what it would be like when night fell. Most of them sat around in absolute silence, counting the number of sighs until nightfall.
"Ugh!" The voice startled those in close proximity to the kitten who uttered it. "Isn't it night yet?"
"No," came the grumbled reply from nearby. "It's still day."
There was inaudible whinging, followed by, "It's been day for the past week."
"It feels that way," came a female voice. "But it's only been day since morning."
Silence.
"Remember last night?" came a fond voice.
The Jellicles smiled and nodded in silent reminiscence.
"That was a good time," replied the female voice.
"What did you do?"
A pause, followed by, "Nothing. Just sat around." Another long pause, then the same female said, "But it was yesterday."
The Jellicles gathered gave a grunt of understanding.
More silence.
"You know what we should do?"
"What?" the others yawned.
"Go and see Mistoffelees."
The female frowned, changing her approximate line of vision to include the one who spoke. "Why?"
"He's magical." The reply seemed obvious. "Maybe he can make the night come sooner."
"Oh." the others said in unison.
"Okay. Let's go."
Slowly, sleepily, the four cats got to their feet. They yawned and stretched for a moment before following the suggester to Mistoffelees' den. When they arrived, they found the tuxedo kitten, as always, with his head in a book.
The suggester shook his head. "No wonder he never gets bored."
"Yeah," agreed the female. "Must be great to know how to read."
"Plus," chimed a third voice. "He can do magic. He can make things exciting any time he wants."
"Yeah," the others nodded in unison.
Mistoffelees startled as he looked up from his book, finding four cats standing there looking at him. Shock gave way to curiosity, then wavered slightly into annoyance as he noted that they seemed zombie-like in their trances, merely standing there staring at him.
"Have you come to eat my brain?" he queried in a bemused voice.
"No," replied one, his face blank.
"We've come to pick it," quipped another, also straight-faced.
Misto looked confused. "What?"
"Can you make it night time?" the suggester asked, his voice bored.
"Can I what?" The tuxedo kitten was annoyed at the question, dropping his book from his lap.
"We're bored," the female voiced. "We want to know if you can make it night time?"
Now, he simply looked incredulous. "What kind of stupid question is that?" He blinked down at them. "Do I look like the Everlasting Cat?" He held out his paws, shooting a stream of sparks from them into the junkyard. "Do you think I've got the ability to change time?"
The four shrugged in unison.
"We don't know," replied the suggester. "Can you?"
Misto's eyes narrowed. "I'll give you a minute to think on that one." Huffily, he launched his book to eye-level with powers of levitation, blocking his deranged friends from view.
The minute passed.
Hoping they had left, Misto lowered the book to the ground. To his utmost annoyance, they still stood, unmoved, watching him.
"Well?" he snapped.
"Well," the female began. "Can you make it night time?"
In a blaze of fury, Mistoffelees sent his book flying across the junkyard, followed by a stream of orange sparks. He let out a roar of anguish, getting to his feet.
The four Jellicles were relentlessly unmoving, still gazing up at him with straight faces.
"Is that a yes?" one of them asked.
Misto frowned. A moment later, a brilliant idea jumped into his mind. He gave an almost wicked smile.
"No, I can't make it night time," he said with an evilly calm voice. "However, I've got another idea that will be almost as good..."
Giving a yawn, Munkustrap scanned the junkyard for any signs of danger. Hot summer days were the worst. Not only was it too hot for any Jellicles to do more than rest, it was also too hot for any evil presences to creep into the Jellicle perimeter. It was days like this that made it hard for the silver tabby tom to concentrate on his role as Jellicle guardian.
He was almost thankful that a book had hit him in the head just a moment ago. Thankful, and not about to question the existence of flying books.
The silence was suddenly pierced by a scream. Though it made the tabby tom jerk into a standing position, he knew it wasn't a scream of terror. It was a scream of sheer joy. The kind of scream that was torn from the mouths of the female kittens whenever they saw Rum Tum Tugger strutting around the junkyard.
It was an Etcetera scream.
Scanning, he found Tugger asleep on a sheet of iron, having clearly dozed off during his sunbathing task. Moreover, Munkustrap also noted that the maned tom was also alone, no kittens within ten feet of him - just as Tugger liked it.
He continued to inspect every inch of Jellicle territory, trying to find the source of the joy. It was then that he saw it...
No, not it...
Them!
Counting, one... two... three... four...
Four separate sets of spark trails being released into the sky. Four different colours: blue, pink, green and purple.
Shortly after their appearance, Munkustrap noted four mischievous kittens running around the junkyard floor, randomly shooting objects and squealing with glee.
Pouncival, Etcetera, Tumblebrutus and Admetus.
They shot sparks at themselves, and then at other cats who proceeded to verbally scold them. They shot at the ground, making clouds of dust erupt before them. They shot at items high above rubbish piles, causing them to come stumbling down around them.
Munkustrap's temper flared, though he quickly reminded himself that they were simply bored little kittens. It was far easier for adult cats to pass time than kittens. For a kitten, a single day could seem to last a week. He realised this, but knew there still had to be some chastising for disturbing the peace.
And he knew just who to chastise...
Mistoffelees grinned as he levitated his book before his eyes once more. The squeals, screams and laughs that his gift to his four friends had created may have been annoying, but for him nothing was more annoying than having them stand there and stare at him.
The aggravated shouts of the Jellicles who were no doubt getting hurt by the sparks was mildly entertaining, and he couldn't help but laugh at his own great idea. The sudden rupture of his concentration caused the book to fall to the ground, and with a grumble, he picked it up.
His eyes rose to meet an angry pair of ice blue eyes. Pulling back, Misto could see that they were set in a silver and black face, appearing almost as angry as the eyes.
"Hey, Munkus," he said nervously, waving a small paw at the strong protector. "How can I help?"
Munkustrap frowned. "How can you help?" He winced as the sound of Demeter's screaming met his ears, followed by bouts of hysterical laughter. "How can you help?" the protector repeated, his voice shakily spoke through gritted teeth. "Why on Earth would you inflict such pain on the entire tribe?"
Misto stared, wide-eyed at the fuming tom... "I didn't mean to..."
"Giving a gift like that to those four is like wishing for certain death." Further screams. "Why oh why would you?"
"They wanted me to..."
"Is there something wrong with silence?"
"I just..."
"You do realise you'll be dealing with a lot of very angry Jellicles."
"Listen." Misto was all too grumpy about not being heard. Munkustrap silenced. "They wanted me to make it night time because they were bored. I wasn't too keen on giving them a gift that would destroy the balance of everything in the entire world, so I figured I would give them something to entertain themselves with until nightfall."
Munkustrap looked thoughtful. "So this spell will wear off once it gets dark?"
Mistoffelees nodded earnestly. "It was just to keep them occupied until then."
A smile slowly formed on Munkustrap's mouth, and he reached out and patted Misto's head gently.
"You're a little tuxedoed genius, Misto," he said with a grin.
Night had fallen, and with it came restored peace. Steam rose off practically everything within the junkyard from the playful antics of four little kittens, but nobody was hurt in the process.
Now, most of the cats had retired to their dens for the night. Some sat around discussing whatever flew into their minds. Most were already asleep, dreaming peaceful dreams of what the morning would bring.
Four little kittens lay on their backs, looking contently up at the stars.
"Ugh!" Pouncival's voice rang out through the silence, startling his nearby friends. "Isn't it morning yet?"
"No," came Tumblebrutus' grumbled reply. "It's still night."
Inaudible whinging, followed by, "It's been night for the past week."
"It feels that way," piped Etcetera. "But it's only been night since late this afternoon."
Silence.
"Remember this afternoon?" came Admetus' fond voice.
The Jellicles grinned and nodded in silent reminiscence.
Then, one by one, they slowly drifted off to sleep...
The End