Disclaimer: If you don't know by now that Cats is not mine, you're even stupider than my cat. Not that my cat is stupid. I mean, could you catch a bird with a bell on your collar? I didn't think so.
Author's Note: well, here it is... the last chapter of Jellicle Cats Develop Slowly. Thanks so much to all my reviewers!! I hope you like(d) the story!
It was the morning before opening night. Cara awoke with the excitement of Christmas Eve morning. She wiggled her toes under the covers, chasing the cat around the foot of the bed. Suddenly, her cat jumped from the bed and ran howling to the window to watch a squirrel outside on a tree branch.
"What are you doing, silly?" Cara asked. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. Her voice was as raw as if she had been screaming. She gasped and ran to the mirror. Looking far back into her throat, she could see how red it was.
"Hello," she said to her reflection, testing out her voice. It sounded scratchy. She groaned and hurried to the kitchen to make tea with honey. She needed a lot of honey so she could heal her throat. Cara used almost half of the jar. Just as she left the kitchen the phone rang. She picked it up and instantly recognized James' voice. Cradling the mug of hot tea in one hand, Cara sat down on the couch to talk.
"Hey Cara, you ready for opening night?" James asked. Cara nodded enthusiastically. There was no response. "Cara?" James called. Cara nodded again and opened her mouth, afraid to let him hear her rough voice. "Cara, this is a phone. I can't see you," James explained patiently as if to a two-year-old, his smile audible in his tone. "Are you nodding?"
"Yes," Cara croaked. She heard a faint gasp from on the phone. "I'm fine," she said quickly. "I'll be fine by tonight, at least. I'm not going to let a little sore throat take my spotlight."
"You're kidding, right?" James asked in disbelief.
"No, why would I? I've been working on this, like, forever, why would I give it all up to the understudy for opening night? I'm not going to throw all that work down the drain."
"So you'd rather throw away all the work everyone else did." James said quietly.
"What? What do you mean? How is wanting to be in my one minute in the limelight going to ruin it for everyone else?" Cara said, frowning.
"Well, what happens if your voice goes in the middle of a song? How's that going to make the rest of us look?" James still spoke calmly, but there was a hint of anger behind his words.
"But, James! It's my one chance! There's not going to be another opening night. All the press and my family will be there, and everyone will be looking for me." Even to herself, Cara sounded like she was begging. She bit her lip and raised her chin. "I'm going on tonight, and that's the final word," she said stubbornly. Cara listened closely for a reply but heard nothing. She thought she heard, "…thought better of you," but when she called out James' name she only heard the dial tone.
Hanging up the phone and tossing it onto the table across the room, she saw the cat sitting in front of it. He stood up and walked to her, rubbing against her legs and mewing loudly. Cara sighed and stood up too. Her kitten twined around her legs and pushed her toward the phone.
"I know, I know," Cara managed to say to her cat in a clear voice. "I'll call him." Her voice cracked again, and she smiled sadly. Reaching for the phone again, she slowly dialed Jonathan's number and waited for him to pick up. She spoke softly to him, trying not to hurt her voice more, as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Well, there it was. The final chapter. Please tell me what you thought! Even if you don't like it, it really does help my writing when I get your reviews!