Want to Read More? ... This WAY
Want to Feel the Love.... This WAY
Victoria lounged in the moonlight on top of the old Ford, Plato sleeping closely beside her, her eyes a peaceful azure in the darkness as they kept vigil over the other Jellicles resting all around her. Her brothers Alonzo and Mistoffelees snoozed beside each other in the shadow of the oven, sharing warmth in the cool air. Her mother Jellylorum huddled against her mate Asparagus. The moon did not sleep - it hung from the spidery web of stars like a large, full-cast mirror of the soul. That moon - it held everything. It knew all and it possessed no boundary. Victoria yawned soundlessly and rested her chin on her silky white paws. That moon - it knew her life and soul. It knew her faults and weaknesses. It knew her special talents and triumphs. It knew her better than anyone else. She was an adult, now, mated to Plato. And, dearest Bast, she loved him so completely and totally. She had known him when she was just a kitten. When all the other kits had teased her for being "perfect," he was there to defend her. When she had been alienated from the others and lonely, he had coaxed her out of her tight abalone shell and spent the day with her, listening to her thoughts and secrets like any dearest friend would. And through this all, they had both fallen in love with each other... She was complete.... Or was she?
Plato had always defended her for the nasty comments of her "perfect ness", yet he always called her so in his own affectionate way. No malice, just love. But, Victoria thought, I'm not perfect, am I? Jemima was sweet-voiced like a lark or a nightingale, fairy grace adorning her like a wreath of garden flowers. Rumpleteazer was a lovely lithe clown seductive and elegant in her own cheeky way. Even Etcetera had her own crazy, colorful beauty. They were all perfect.
I'm not the same Victoria though, she thought sullenly. Yes, she was still and always would be the same white cat people had come to know but she was more solemn, wiser. Right after the Jellicle Ball, it had happened, the Change of Changes.
She had blossomed ... like a rose. Yes, a rose. Her ears flicked at the insistent touch of the wind. Now, she understood what Jemima had meant. She was a rose - they all were roses - and she would eventually wither away. It was already happening, slowly with the constant passing of time. The twins of the tribe had seen it immediately, she realized then. They had stared at her constantly in their silent, intense way. They saw it. She hadn't.
She had begged them inwardly to tell her what they were staring at, what they wanted from her. It was the innate feline curiosity that drove her to one night go up to them and ask softly what her heart begged to know.
"You will know the answer soon enough," they had replied calmly as one and then returned to the shadows.
They were right. She now knew the answer. Measurably, she lifted her head to the moon again, her nose sniffing lightly at something inconceivably slight.
I miss my father, she thought sadly in a pang of grief.
Old Deuteronomy was the epitome of gentleness and wisdom and, in her innocence, thought he would be with her forever. Then, shortly after the Ball when she mated Plato, he left her, left her brothers, and left the entire tribe. She had been terribly upset, inconsolable, but she hadn't cried her feline aloofness gave her the edge to come across as cold and dignified even in great sorrow. Mistoffelees had come to her then in wonderment and kindness but still she found she could not weep. Now, that she was bloomed, the thorns of knowledge were finally piercing the soft flesh of her heart, leaving her bare. Tears came to her eyes and she rubbed at them with a paw. The breach of her emotions was wide open now and she was scared.
"Victoria? " came a whisper from behind her.
Startled, the young queen turned her head and saw Tantomile, Coricopat not far way, standing before her on the empty tire.
"What is it? " she whispered back, confusion blending with her newfound pain.
The female twin smiled slowly in sympathy. "Come with me. You must meet with your father."
Victoria's felt her hackles raise in blinded hope, though she did not fully comprehend how it would be possible. Her heart insistent, she stood, careful not to waken Plato, and went with the two placid twins, stopping hesitantly when she stepped inside their tunnel. She had never been permitted to enter the mystical pair's home before. It was polished and smooth, hazel light flickering across the worn metal all around them. The wind was a faint voice outside, as if afraid to flow through these sacred chambers.
"Enter," Coricopat invited.
Victoria looked at them, undeceiving, and entered a little ways more.
"How can I speak to my father? He's dead."
Tantomile motioned to a puddle of clear water I the hollow of the pipe.
"Every Jellicle sees their family at least twice," she spoke. "While they are young and when they are risen to the Everlasting Cat."
Coricopat took over evenly. "But, a third time is a gift to those Jellicle's fortunate enough, when a family member passes on to Heavyside."
"Victoria," both said together. "You are about to be given a great honor."
The white female dipped her head in flustered thanks. "But, why wasn't I allowed to see him before? What's happening to me? "
Coricopat smiled lightly in pride of her. "You have truly opened and listened to your heart."
"You have acquired the belated wisdom that enters all young cats when they lose their innocence," Tantomile smiled and nudged her gently to the puddle. "Now, you are ready ... to follow your heart the rest of the way and speak to your father who looks down on you lovingly from above."
Victoria stared down at the puddle, taking in all the words to her soul in a piled heap of confusion and understanding. Hazel line light reflected itself against the surface of the water, penetrated, and lay suspended there like ice crystal as she saw Old Deuteronomy before her in her mind's eye, the psychic part of her soul. He was smiling at his young daughter in that gentle manner of his and look her with him, just that once, to walk along the gardens of eternity in their reunion. Her body of flesh discarded for the night in the tunnel, Victoria embraced him happily in her spirit's reborn kitten hood. It was then that she felt truly complete in the end of merely the beginning.
THE END