Jellicle Week, June 2012.

I decided I would participate in BroadwayKhaos' Jellicle Week, where we are given seven prompts to complete in one week. I`ve gotten ahead in NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month), so I decided to spend this week devoted to the contest.

The first prompt was summer, and I really wanted to write a dialogue-less little ficlet about memories and summer. Every summer I like to sit out in my yard (regardless if I get eaten alive by bugs), stare up into the sky and the fireflies around me, and think about everything and nothing. It`s wonderful.

Summer

Munkustrap

Autumn brought the Jellicle moon and the Jellicle Ball, along with nice, cool weather. When Munkustrap happened to stroll out of the junkyard time-to-time, while he was off duty as the Jellicle Protector, and wander to a near-by park, the beauty of the leaves changing colors amazed him. Winter had snow in store - magical and fun but mostly for kittens who had never experienced such a thing. He personally found it dreadfully cold. Spring had an abundance of new life, with the grass growing greener and flowers and leaves budding. There were always a few brand new litters of kittens around the junkyard, too. But, if he had to think about it, summer was the season Munkustrap liked the best.

Oh, sure, there was that nasty humidity and heat he had to put up with, and the occasional, thunder storm and down-pours, but he always found the weather nice. Not that he was much of a daydreamer, as he was very busy keeping up with his many duties as the Protector of the Jellicle tribe, but every now and again he would cast his gaze up to the sky and admire the clouds as though he was a kitten again. And although the Junkyard was located on the edge of a bustling, hustling part of London, the air always seemed fresher in the summer time.

The nights were spectacular in the summer time, and they were what made Munkustrap love the summer so much. For some reason they seemed starry brighter. The moon, other than the Jellicle Moon of course, never seemed more illuminated.

When day was done and he was sure everyone was back, safe and cozy in their dens, he liked to crawl up onto the highest pile of junk he could find and sit there, eyes fixated on the sky above him. All Jellicle cats had a connection with the moon. Every cat, young or old, would love to sit in its light and look up to it, and Munkustrap was no different.

Then the Jellicle Protector, who was so collected, so focused, would let his mind wander.

Although he was dedicated by day sitting in the moon light relaxed Munkustrap and temporary relieved him of the day`s stresses.

Sometimes he would think about funny things, thing that had brightened his day- a tick Misto performed for the kittens, a joke Pounce let circulate around the yard- and he would smile and chuckle to himself. He loved those memories.

Sometimes it would solely be on his ineffable name, as every cat`s thoughts would occasionally settle on their secretive name.

Others, he would think of his past and some of his own bitter memories- the ones he sometimes wished he didn`t have. A lot of the time when he thought of his memories, it settled his mother, who had abandoned him, his two brothers, her mate, and consequently the Jellicle tribe.

When he looked to the sky, towards the Heaviside layer, he wondered if she was happy there with the Everlasting Cat or if she had been reborn into to a different Jellicle life and if she could no longer remember her hard life in place for a new one.

Sometimes Demeter, his mate, would join him and they`d talk and snuggle up to each other under the glow of the moon. Or they would simply just mull together on their own thoughts while stargazing, content with the silence and beauty of the night. She had a lot to think about herself and her own collection of memories she`d rather not remember. They had talked about it in the past, even before they became mates, but there were some days she`d rather not discuss anything with him.

Although they both had bad memories, they had plenty of good ones, too. And tonight they lay, wrapped in each other`s embrace as they stare at the constellations above them. Every now and again she would yawn and stretch, her leg kicking against his, but he didn`t care. They would just, side-by-side, sit and remember.

They were wrapped in a world of their own, and nothing seemed to matter in the moonlight of the nights of summer.