Mungojerrie woke up to an empty stomach and groaned. He felt as if he had been under a blanket all night. He stretched and yawned loudly. He hadn’t slept that good in a long time. He looked around and found a very large dead rat lying beside his bed. He frowned thoughtfully. Who brought it? He wondered. Maybe it was Etcetera. After all, she had been bugging him for a long time now. He knew that she liked him and wanted to be his mate, but the kitten was too energetic and couldn’t keep a secret. She just wasn’t his type. Besides, Pouncival really liked her and Mungojerrie had no quarrel with that.

But thinking of her only brought up the subject that he had been avoiding: The Jellicle Ball. The ball was a couple months away, but already a good number of the toms had taken mates and Mungo didn’t have one yet. He sighed heavily and his mind wandered to the figure he’d seen last night. He was sure it was a queen, but whom, he couldn’t figure out. But from the bit of fur he had seen, he was sure she or it was beautiful. It was then that he noticed the jewel, sparkling gently in the faint light that came through his curtain. He picked it up curiously and smelled it. Suddenly a wave of scent washed over him like a lover’s caress. It was the same spicy wildflower scent from the thing last night. Because of that, Mungo was sure the ‘thing’ in the cape and mask must have been a queen. As he was holding the jewel, a sense of calm and peace settled over his thoughts about the ball. It was as if he was being reassured that he would have a mate. He had the faint sensation that something had talked and sang to him the night before. It was a haunting tune and he didn’t know how to respond to it. He dove into a small chest where he kept the things he stole and rummaged around until he found a velvet jewelry bag. He slipped the diamond in and hung it around his neck. He felt as though he couldn’t part with it. Then, he decided to eat the rat left for him even if he didn’t know who had sent it. He stepped outside his box and heard noises from behind a small tire. He peeked around and was shocked at what he saw.

It was Etcetera and Pouncival! He was on top of her nestled between her legs as she scratched his ears while giggling softly. Then he grinned as he realized that Cetty would no longer come after him. That would leave him free to hunt for the apparition that had just started to creep into his mind. He waited until he was sure they were done and laying in each other’s arms before he sneaked up to them. He leaned next to Cetty’s ear, took a deep breath and said in a perfect imitation of the Rum Tum Tugger, “Hey Kitten, why didn’t you wait for me?” Cetty jumped up, turned red and pushed Pounce off her. He, meanwhile snapped up, fur standing out on edge. They both looked around and when they saw it was only Mungo who was laughing his head off, they both turned even redder and Cetty squealed,

“Mungojerrie!! I’m gonna get you for that!” and leapt up to run after him.

Mungo just laughed and raced away.

Meanwhile Pounce ran after Cetty to try to get her to stop. After all, they had wanted the tribe to know that they were together.

Mungo hid behind the car and Etcetera couldn’t find him.

Pouncival caught up with her and pinned her to the ground and started purring in her ear and she promptly forgot about Mungo.