Chapter 2, "Enter Gritabella!"
Munk was all alone by the road that leads to the Junkyard. Suddenly, a cry for help rang out.
"Munk! Munk help us!"
"Jem, Tomba! Where are you?!?!" he shouted
He began running towards the voices.
"Munk help! HELP!"
"I'm coming!"
But when he finally reached Jemeter and Tombalurina, the sight of them made him freeze in fear.
Jem was on the ground with a claw mark wound in the shape of an "X" above her right eye and Tomba had her neck in Dacavity's jaws.
"D-Dacavity…h-how could you!"
He dropped Tomba and lunged for Munkutrap as he laughed like his evil father.
* * * *
"Grrr, grrr" *Bonk* "Oww!"
Munk woke up completely startled. This was the 5th time he had had that horrible flashback. He crawled out of his cardboard box bed, stretched a few times, then picked up the tin can that had hit him.
"Sigh, one of these days, I've got to get an alarm clock." he yawned as he placed the tin on a small spring above his bed. The spring was connected to an old solar panel from the junkyard. He yawned once more then headed to what was the living room. Most Jellicles lived in the junkyard so the houses were usually made from trash.
"Morning Dad." he said as he sat down on an old bean-bag chair. "Good morning, Son." Munkustrap smiled as he adjusted his collar. Munk stared at the studded neckband. He knew there was only one reason his father would put that strange thing on. "G-going…back home…Dad?" he asked trying not to sound worried.
"Just for a little while. My owner's coming back from his trip and I don't want him to worry"
"So, how long you gonna be?"
"Don't know. 3-4 days? Just until he leaves for another trip. Knowing him, it won't be long."
Munkustrap's owner was a pilot and was usually off flying and never at home. This meant Munkustrap could live in the Junkyard most of the time. But Munkutrap was always nervous when his dad left. After all, the Hidden Paw was still out there. Munkustrap saw the look on his face.
"I trust you won't burn the place down while I'm gone?"
"Dad! I'm not the helpless, little kitten I once was."
"I know. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you. I'm not the protector of Jellicles for nothing. So if anything does happen just-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. If anything happens go to Uncle Tugger. If I can't go to him I know where to find you." Munk had gotten this lecture hundreds of times.
"And…"
"Sigh, and if the situation involves someone like Macavity, don't go to you or Uncle because that's the first place they'd look. Go to Alonzo or Admetus and keep the other Jellicles out of trouble."
"That's my boy." Munkustrap said as he pet his son on the head. "Well, I'm off. I left you some salmon for dinner, but you'll have to catch breakfast yourself. See you later"
"Bye Dad"
He started sharpening his claws on his old scratching post. But the ghastly memory kept coming back. "Sigh, might as well catch some breakfast." He said to himself. "It might get my mind off Dacavity." he thought.
* * * *
Munk started for the Junkyard gate. For some reason, there was a shortage of rodents at the Junkyard. He would have to try looking in human territory. He was just about to go through the magical gates that would turn him into a real cat for camouflage when he heard a voice.
"Hey, where you of to Munk?" asked a tom with a brown spot on his eye.
"Hey Bouncival." Bouncival was the son of Pouncival. He didn't really like joining up with the other cats and usually spent his time alone practicing his leaps and handsprings.
"You're not going into human territory, are you?"
"Just to catch breakfast."
"Well, you wouldn't get me in there, it's dangerous. Jumble said there are all kinds of scary things."
"Oh, Jumblebrutus doesn't know anything! He hasn't left the Junkyard since his run in with a Pollicle puppy."
"No, really, he caught a squirrel in there."
"Well, if he did, then it was before the Pollicle."
"Anyway, Jumble said there are all sorts of dangers. Huge, wild alley cats, Pekes, Pollicles, not to mention humans."
"Humans aren't that bad. I've met my dad's owner before and he's pretty nice."
"Yeah, but not all of them are. Jumble said some humans mistreat their pets or worse, kill them. But what I think is scarier is what the humans do about it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when a human mistreats an animal, a group people come and take it way, never to be seen again! Jumble said it's called some thing strange, RSPCA, I think. I don't know what it means, but it sounds scary."
"I'm only going to catch a mouse or two. I won't stay long."
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you."And with that, he walked off.
* * * *
Munk started towards the alleyway across the road. "Might as well not go too far… just in case."
As he walked out of the gate, his semi-human like features disappeared and he became a small tabby kitten. If any human were to find out what a real Jellicle looks like, they would all be in danger. He wandered down the alleyway searching for food when all of a sudden he picked up the sent of… something. Was it a cat or trash? He couldn't tell. Then, it hit him… right in the face knocking him of his feet!
"What are you doing here!? This is MY alleyway!!!" a gray queen shrieked.
Munk looked up. The border of her coat was torn and stained with sand and the corners of her eyes twisted like a crooked pin. She was no doubt the ugliest kitten Munk had ever seen. "Everlasting Cat! This must be one of the alley cats Bounce warned me about!"
"I-I'm sorry Miss…umm"
"The name's Gritabella."
"Wait, Gritabella…Why does that sound familiar?"
"Wait a minute, are you a Jellicle?" She started to calm down.
"Then of course it's familiar. I'm named after my mother, Grizabella. She was sent up to the Heaviside Layer a few years ago."
"Y-you're Grizabella's daughter?!?"
Author's Note:
Yeah, I know I used the scene from "Warriors into the Wild", I just thought it would be cute. I thought it was really creative to think up a cat's idea of RSPCA. Please Review!