More than a week passed. It was probably the worst week of Munkustrap's life. All cats were looking at him with fear or at least not with good emotions, wherever he went. Etcetera ran away whenever she felt he was close to her. Munkustrap couldn't stand this – practically being alone in the cat-filled Junkyard…
He asked his father, Old Deuteronomy, to pardon him for one day; he was going to take a day outside of the Junkyard. The old, wise cat permitted this. Although the leader probably knew about what happened between his son and Demeter, he didn't mention it.
When Munkustrap set his paws outside the dirt of the Junkyard, he felt a sense of freedom surround him. Just a day, aside from all worries, he thought.
He ran across the street, the street where cars passing were rather rare for a road in London. He started walking on the sidewalk, getting somewhat closer to the busier parts of the city every minute.
Munkustrap approached a small park. Old oaks acted as the roof for the area. He walked slowly to a small fountain. Making sure that the area of the fountain he was looking at didn't have any pipes or other hazardous features (lest he may get hurt), he jumped into the cold water.
(He, just like all cats, didn't like water so much. However, he wanted to release his stress rather-abnormal ways, and jumping into the cold water was one of those ways, or so he thought.)
Munkustrap's entire body shivered. Even in the hot August day, the water was almost freezing. The coldness permeated through his fur and touched his skin without warning. Munkustrap felt the freezing shock spread throughout all of his body via his nerves… He did not enjoy much this extreme physical feeling, but he was glad it made him feel just a bit better in his heart. A little bit of stress was let out; he was sure of it. He just walked around, his body becoming used to the temperature of the water.
After a few minutes, he jumped out of the fountain, scaring away a few pigeons nearby. He sighed as he watched them fly away. I wish I can fly like them, he thought, just fly away into the unknown…
He, after walking out of the humanless park, took a quick nap under a small bush. Munkustrap knew that staying too long at one place may result in being taken away to the animal shelter, so he stood up again after only a short while and kept walking.
He noticed a stair that descended down to an underground area. A few people were walking down the stair. He ran down each step, rather curious at what was at the place. It was somewhat dark down there – it couldn't be compared to the bright afternoon sun outside – but still not that dark. In the place, he could clearly see everything around him and far away without having to change to his night-time vision mode. (All cats could do that.)
There was a loud, rather unpleasant "creeeeeeek!" that came from somewhere. He figured that the sound was coming from somewhere even more underground than the area he was in. The sound actually reminded him of a train stopping at a station… Oh, this place must be that Tube mess Skimbleshanks told me about, he thought. Assuming that it would be overly-crowded on the train, and also wanting to prevent getting his tail stepped on, Munkustrap quickly ascended up the stairs onto the normal ground. Bright rays of sunlight greeted him, but he felt more pains in his eyes than the feeling of being welcomed back to the ground.
He roamed about the streets for a few hours. Bored and very hungry, Munkustrap crept into a dark alley between two buildings. There, at a corner, he saw two cats passionately kissing, expressing their love; Munkustrap never saw those cats before. The two lovers didn't even seem to notice the presence of another cat. Munkustrap sighed. I wish I had someone to love like that, he wished. He then suddenly remembered that he did: Demeter. But this reminded him of what stupid and foolish thing he had done to her. Munkustrap groaned in the pain of guilt. He looked at his paws – he couldn't believe that his paws, his own paws, had done such a horrible thing. Such a stupid and also frightening thing to… to… his love… Demeter. Munkustrap first let out a few tears, then more, then even more…
Munkustrap was soon wailing and crying. The tom Munkustrap. The protector Munkustrap. He thought that he wept more tears these days than he did for all the rest of the times he had lived through.
The kissing cats seemed to have noticed – finally – all the semi-mad wailing. The tom, who had a grayish coat similar to Munkustrap's, approached the crying tom and simply hugged him. Munkustrap found it very unusual to be suddenly hugged by a cat he did not know. But he hugged back, unable to cut the line of his tears. The cat that he didn't know gave a few gentle pats on his back.
"Hey… are you alright? Well… you don't seem so…" the cat said.
"No… no… I'm not alright…" said Munkustrap hopelessly.
"If you have a problem you're crying so much over about, then you should tell it to me. You'll feel much better," the encouraging tom said, "Also, what is your name? Mine is Perkinson."
Munkustrap wept a bit more and said, "My name… name… is… Munkustrap. Yes… Munkustrap…"
"What a fine name. Now tell me – why are you crying?" Perkinson asked.
"Well… Per… Perkinson… I'm just curious… If you did something terrible to the person you love… what… what… would you… do?"
"Well, Munkustrap…" Perkinson said with a sigh. He gave a shrug to his love, a few yards away from him; the queen then gave him a wonderful smile. Perkinson continued: "Well, Munkustrap, I would be brave and apologize, with my full heart, to her. After all, she would be crying as much as you, whether in her inside or her outside," he said.
"A…apologize…?" asked Munkustrap, looking up to Perkinson's eyes.
"Yes, Munkustrap, apologize. That's what I think you should do… be a tom. You can't just end your relationship like that… by a stupid action…"
Munkustrap then thought about this. Perkinson was right. He was being cowardly by not saying that he is truly sorry to Demeter. After all, it was his fault… his lack of self-control…
"Ok, Perkinson… I will… I will… I will apologize, truly apologize, to Demeter…" Munkustrap said.
"Demeter… what a pretty name," Perkinson said.
"Thanks… and I really thank you for telling me what I should do…" said Munkustrap.
Perkinson gave a firm nod with a smile; he then went back to his kissing.
Munkustrap, as he was walking back to the Junkyard, felt a small peck of confidence grow within his heart. He is right; I must apologize… apologize for hitting her… her… beautiful face… he thought.
Munkustrap picked up his speed. Soon running, he sprinted towards the Junkyard.
Sorry to tell y'all this, but I probably won't be uploading until Friday.
I really hope to see a lot of helpful comments! :)