Peter the Rabbit 

It was the night of the Jellicle Ball, and all was quite in the junkyard.  Everyone was preparing for the arrival of Old Deuteronomy, who would arrive at the junkyard at about 7.30pm.

An old, fat black and white cat came waddling into the junkyard.  It was Bustopher Jones.  He wandered over to the tyre, and paused for a moment.

"Should I practise my dance routine?" he pondered to himself.  He decided he would, and slowly sat down on the tyre.  There was a terrible hiss, and he started to get nearer and nearer to the ground - he'd popped the tyre!  As quickly as he could, he scurried out of the junkyard before anyone noticed anything was wrong!

Moments later, along came the rest of the jellicles, and they stopped in horror as they saw the dreadful sight in front of them.  

"What should we do?" wailed Rumpleteazer, "the Jellicle Ball starts in three hours, and no one will be able to get to the Heavyside Layer without the tyre!"
Mungojerrie comforted her and asked "What should we do?"
"You ought to ask Magical Mister Mistoffelees, the original conjuring cat," said Tugger from his ledge.
"Of course!" congratulated Munkustrap, "Good thinking Tugger."
"What?" said Tugger confusedly, "I was just rehearsing!" 
"Mistoffelees?" purred Victoria, "we need your help."

A flash of white light and a puff of smoke later, there stood Mistoffelees, grinning cutely. 
"What do you want?" he asked politely.
"Well, the tyre's been popped and we need it to get to the Heavyside Layer," explained Munkustrap calmly, "can you help?"
"Why of course," replied Mistoffelees, "In fact, I've been working on a trick which would be very useful now.  Hang on."

An hour later, the cats sat around hopelessly.  The junkyard was covered with useless objects such as old flowers, sieves and eggcups.   Victoria had gone off to comb her coat yet again, and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had gone off, no doubt to cause some mischief as usual.
"Mistoffelees?" whined Electra, "Will you hurry up?"
"I'm new to this trick," he replied snappily, "Oh, hang on I think I've got it!"

Mistoffelees whispered the magic word, and pulled something black, white and ginger out of his black top hat.  It was Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer.
"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I'll try again."
He whispered the magic word again, and a small white object flew out of the hat.  It was Victoria.
"Another useless object," he said thoughtlessly.
"What?" screeched Victoria
"Oh! Erm… sorry Vicky," he said with slow realisation.
"Don't you Vicky me!" she screamed angrily.
She slapped Mistoffelees around his small, white face, leaving a large pink paw-mark on his left cheek, and stormed off angrily.
"I'll have another go, shall I?" he asked, gingerly rubbing his cheek.

"Presto!" he whispered, and pulled a small, white, fluffy object out of the hat.  It was a rabbit.  Mistoffelees sighed heavily, and threw the defenceless creature aside.  It yelped as it flew several metres into the air, and landed in a heap on the floor.  It turned round and shot Mistoffelees an evil look, and hobbled out of the junkyard.
"Oops!" said Mistoffelees.

He decided to try once more, and muttered the magic words and, to his delight, pulled a pump and puncture kit out of the top hat.  This resulted in a round of applause from the remaining Jellicles.  
"I'll fix the tyre," said Munkustrap generously.
"Ok," agreed Mistoffelees.
They began to fix the tyre.

Meanwhile, the rabbit had wondered into the darkest part of town - Macavity's Lair.  He was limping along muttering evil things about 'that idiot magician cat', and had no idea he was being followed by a very tall and thin, ginger cat.
"I can use this to my advantage," thought Macavity evilly.  He ordered his rats to capture the rabbit and bring it to his Lair.

A few moments later, the rabbit was presented in front of Macavity. 
"Well hello there, rabbit," said Macavity maliciously, "I have a proposition for you."
"Its…P…p…p…Peter actually," stuttered the rabbit.
"Well then, Peter, how would you like to get your own back on this magician cat."
"I'm listening" 
"Well…" began Macavity.

Fifteen minutes later, the Jellicles had finished fixing the tyre, and were joyfully discussing the Jellicle Ball.  
"I think it will be my mum," said Jemima proudly, "although I'm not sure I want her to go anywhere."
"Well," started Tantomile mysteriously
"We know it's going to be Gus this year," finished Coricopat.   
"No it won't," argued Cassandra, "It'll be my Alonzo."

Suddenly, there was a crash, and a loud wailing noise filled the air.
"Macavity," explained Demeter, "Quick.  Run."

But it was too late, for into the junkyard came a huge army of rats and a rabbit, led by Macavity.
"Mwahahahaha," he laughed, "Get them."
All at once the rats and the rabbit jumped on the cats, and bit, scratched and pulled at every visible piece of cat fur.  Amongst all the din, a quiet little giggle emerged from the trunk of the car.

Suddenly, a blur of white and brown hurtled itself across the junkyard, screaming "BOO!" as it went.
"Ahhhhh!" screamed the cats, and ran for cover.  A flash of ginger fur darted across the junkyard.  Macavity had gone.

Plato sat in the middle of the junkyard, alone, laughing hysterically to himself.  The cats started to creep out of their hiding places, and when Mungojerrie spotted the cause of all the terror, he yelled "What?  It was you?"

The rest of the cats went mad, and pushed Plato back into the car trunk, ignoring his protests about how he'd scared off Macavity.

When all had gone quiet, the twins said "I believe it is Old Deuteronomy."  Sure enough, making his way towards the junkyard was the old, grey cat that was the leader of the Jellicles, whom everyone had grown to know and love.

After a few hours of informing Old Deuteronomy about all the cats who deserved to go to the Heavyside Layer , it was time for him to pick. 
"Gus!" he cried eventually.

"Up, up up to the Russell hotel.  Up, up, up, up to the Heavyside Layer," sang the Jellicles.  Old Deuteronomy and Gus climbed up onto the tyre, and it began to rise.

Suddenly, a little white rabbit jumped onto the tyre, and violently pushed Old Deuteronomy and Gus off.  He ran to the top, and shouted "That'll teach you!" before hopping up into the unknown.

An hour later, Mistoffelees sat by himself miserably.
"What's up?" asked Victoria inquisitively.
"All that before," sighed Mistoffelees, " it was all my fault."
"No body thinks that.  They all think you're the hero - getting the pump and stuff" she said, sensitively nuzzling her head against his, "Forget about it."
"Thanks, Vicky," Mistoffelees said gratefully, "You're a great friend."  
"Get rid of it," she advised, "That hat.  It's nothing but trouble."
"You're right," Mistoffelees agreed, and with that he threw the hat aside, and cuddled up to his mate.
"Thanks," he sighed happily.

In the distance, hundreds of little white rabbits came creeping out of the hat...

Copyright Velina and LilTeaza