Authors note: Just a quickie, this story is based on ‘The Hiring Fair’ a song by Fairport convention. Thought of this last night at a concert. Think this the first time I’ve ever written anything all in one sitting, hmmm..... Oh by the way, Mr Sands is in the building is an old theatre term meaning fire in the bbuilding, it’s also a cool fairport jazz track (hey, just sticking with a theme).
The first time I saw her, she was behind bars. A row along from me, but the surroundings were hauntingly familiar, the same white walls, white rug, white food and water bowl as me, all hygienic and clean plastic. To me the surroundings meant nowhere to hide, I stuck out like a black dog on an ice flow. When the nice ones came around, this was a blessing, they could not help but notice me, and although I hate the idea of anyone thinking they own me, they were my ticket out of here. Other times however, it was a curse, more than one dog chained heavy metal biker has been greeted by the sight of a black cat frantically trying to blend with the wall. It never bothered her though, she fit in perfectly, snow on snow. Her pure colour was enough to gain her all the attention, and one shot of those azure eyes and they are all as entranced as I am. You could always tell exactly who was in charge and she had auditioned many, but so far none had passed. Every time I watched her, I knew that I was falling hopelessly in love, without ever even knowing her name.
It was a week later that the first miracle happened. We had seen a few families that day, and outside the small top window I could already see the sun dipping low in the sky. I heard the long bolt being drawn back on the other side of the door into our room. ‘A little late for visitors’ I thought, but already I could see several bodies moving into the room. ‘Two families’ I realised. One was already moving to the adjacent row, and the other heading for mine. The usual drill had already begun, cats mewing for attention, some at the front of their cages poking their paws out of the bars as far as they could reach. The language was completely unintelligible to the humans of course, but I could hear the frantic concophony of “pick me!” “I’m young!” “Over here!” I refused to mew for attention, it degraded any shred of dignity I might have left to cry and display myself like that. However, the family seemed nice, so I walked quietly to the front of my cage, and sat down, my tail just poking through the bars. It wasn’t long before I was noticed, and a young one came up to stroke me through the bars.
“Look at this one Mum!” He cried. The elder human walked over and looked me up and down.
“He’s a cute one, I’ll give him that. How old?” She asked the assistant.
“Still young,” the other women replied, “not more than a year. Never been any trouble, always a sweet one.” The boy stuck his fingers though the bars to scratch my ears. Feeling I was in with a real chance, I flipped over onto my back, exposing my stomach and purring loudly.
“He likes me!” The boy exclaimed with delight. “Can we have this one Mum, please?”
“It’s your birthday” she replied, “yes, he seems fine.” The lock on my cage was undone, and the assistant picked me up, handing me to the boy. He held me against his shoulder and I began to purr. Suddenly a thought hit me, and I turned quickly to see my love, to tell her I would be back for her. As I looked, my breath caught in my throat. She too was being picked up by a young girl and was carried away from her cage. ‘I’ll find her’ I quietly promised myself, but as I was bundled into a pet carrier, I saw her being put into a car. I kept expecting it to drive off., but it seemed to being waiting for something. Suddenly my own carrier was picked up, rather inexpertly it seemed, as I had to dig my claws into the rug to stop myself tumbling into the walls. When the world had righted itself again, I looked to see where I was going. I couldn’t believe it, we were heading for the same car. Delight suddenly moulded my features, but as soon as we got in, I saw she was asleep, her beautiful face resting on her front paws. My breath caught, and my heart was beating hard in my throat. I dared not even speak to her, I felt that somehow it would be like shattering a perfect work of art. Instead, I listened to the conversation coming from the front of the car.
“It’s so lucky,” one woman said, “both of them wanting a cat, and their birthdays being so close together an’ all.” The driving women nodded.
“Even luckier that we live next door to each other” she replied. That made my ears prick up, we would live next to each other? I smiled quietly, drinking in the warm sensation that ran from my head to my toes. The women’s conversation faded into the distance, and with the soft purr of the cars engine reverberating under my belly I was lulled into a dreamless sleep.
When the car finally stopped, I was awakened with a jolt. I cautiously sniffed the air, and once again thanked my good fortune, as the familiar smell of West London declared itself. Close to my old home, and the junkyard. I wondered if she were a Jellicle. Probably, she had the poise that declared itself only in true Jellicle cats. It would be no wonder I had never met her, I was picked up when I was not much more than a kitten, and my memories of the junkyard were vague at best. But I remembered the smell, the awe-inspiring sight of Old Deuteronomy, and the timing of the jellicle ball, I would have to go back, become re-aquatinted, find out what had happened to my old friends. The carrier was once again picked up, thankfully this time by the much steadier hand of the boys mother, and I greeted the warmth of the house, as I was carried inside.
In the next few months, my desire and my jealously grew almost unchecked. My house was lovely, and my owners more respectful than I could have ever hoped. They had discovered quite soon what having an untrained magic cat in the house was like, an unexpected jolt of energy had set alight a rug. The boy had come and found me, and his mother had quickly put out the small blaze. The incident and the boy’s obsession with the theatre had quickly earned me my human name, Mr Sands. It was better what I could have ended up with, my colouring had often landed with me with the unfortunate nick-name Blackie, or worse, penguin. At least this way, they always addressed me as Mr. Life was comfortable, I had already returned to the junkyard, found my friends and my litter mates, gained a position as the tribe’s conjuror. I would see her sometimes too, but I was never close, she had already gained several admirers. Each day, my jealousy burned a little brighter, but my cursed shyness would not let me go to her. So it remained, I watched her in silence, and her figure filled my dreams, my memory already containing every contour, every detail. The months passed and slowly the season turned until finally we came close to the highlight of the year, the Jellicle ball.
Now, the ball is not a spontaneous thing, weeks of planning will precede it, decisions must be made, cats chosen, songs decided. It always the most strenuous, most exhausting time of the year, and Toms and Queens work side by side to prepare. For me, this time was my chance, I was near her, working almost side by side. Still, my tongue would twist every time I tried to talk to her, and I had to make do with stolen glances and a vain hope that among all the chatter, she would take the time to notice me. I cursed my youth, my inexperience and my shyness, I could only hope that my heart was shining through my eyes. Finally we had finished, the stage was set, mere hours before the ball was to begin.
I walked away, needing time to clear my head. I had gone quite away before I noticed her following me, a few paces behind. Scarcely believing what was happening I sat down to wait for her. She came up, and sat down with me. I was trembling, all my precious self control shredded by her proximity. I lifted my paw gently off the ground, and gingerly touched her front paw with it. She smiled, a deep knowing smile that reflected a thousand fold in her eyes. She lay her own paw on mine, and then laid down, purring softly, scarce a word had passed between us, and yet, I knew that this meant forever. I purred too, and laid my head on her back. She turned to me, smiled again, and I felt my senses reel.
It was dark by the time we awoke, I could already hear faint music from the junkyard filtering through the crisp night air. I nudges my love, and standing up she smiled and stood gracefully before leading me back to the junkyard. As I walked, I could not help but offer up a prayer of thanks, to the heaviside layer and the jellicle moon, for the girl from the cattery cage.
Finis
NOTE: For anyone wondering, here is the full version of “The Hiring Fair”
I went down to the hiring fair,for to sell my labour,
I noticed a girl in the very next row, and I hoped she be my neighbour,
Imagine then my delight,when the farmer picked us both,
though I spoke not a word on the cart to the farm,my heart beat in my throat.
My lodging was dry,my master fair,I gave him full measure,
but like corn in the field my envy grew,for in his house was my treasure,
I watched her carry water or drive cows from the byre,
and the heat from the sun made the corn grow strong,and with it my desire.
I could see her in my dreaming,In my dreams caress,
her lips, her eyes, her dark brown hair,the curves beneath her dress,
when harvest time it came at length so heavy was our task
that the women and the men worked side by side so I had her near at last.
I swung harder with my scythe few words between us passed,
and I cursed my tongue-tied youthfulness and hoped she’d hear my hear my heart,
when all was safely gathered inand we sat down to rest
my trembling fingers brushed her armshe placed them on her breast.
She turned to me as the sun went down and all my senses reeled
and we lay there on the scented ground‘til the moon rose over the fields.
She was safely gathered in my arms when from the barn
there drifted the sound of the violin, so we hurried to the farm,
and all the dancing and the lantern lightthe music filled the air,
and I thanked the lord and the harvest moon for the girl from the hiring fair.
There you go, words and music © Fairport convention. Characters © RUG story © Solstice. 1999
"You ever seen a cat fetch a stick? "Hey, Buddy, get it youself, i'm busy! If you want the stick so much, why did you throw it away in the first place??" --The cat, Red dwarf