sulky kittens and jam jars || Quirk #11

*strolls in two days late with a juice and a lamington* what's up guys!! 

I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how this Quirk fits with my blog, colour-wise. Obviously this did not affect my choice, buuuut I may take this into account in the future. Because I am shallow. xD

Also! How about that angsty text prompt in the middle of the Quirk picture, huh! I'm cackling.

: : :  QUIRK #11  : : :

“I hope,” Thomasino snarled, “that you regret giving us up.”

“Nonsense,” Anna said briskly. “That makes it sound as though I’m giving you away, which you know I undoubtably am not. Now will you get in, or shall I pinch your tail?”

“Cruel. Cruel.” Thomasino slunk head-first into the jar and curled around, hissing lowly like a balloon wilting.

Anna flicked the last of the kitten’s tail in after him and screwed the lid on firmly. He dissolved into a thick fog and continued circling, sulky, inside the glass. Careful not to shake the jar too much, Anna slipped a colourful square of cotton over the lid and tied a string around it with quick movements.

On the label, she wrote in her best hand, For rain. Good for two hours.

The jar joined its companions in the basket sitting on the floor beside her, all containing cats in various states of fog and topped by floral cotton and labels tied on with twine.

She tugged her second-best hat off the back of the door on her way outside, centring it on her head so the lace settled neatly down her back. One ought to be well-presented when delivering one’s own wares.

  • • • • • • •

The cat door ticked open and shut as Thomasino slunk in. “Unloved,” he moaned. “Unloved and cast out!”

“Honestly,” said Anna. Her hands dipped in and out of the basin, suds to the wrist, and jam jars marched a gleaming line across the table away from her.

“And for rain!” Thomasino puffed up his bedewed fur indignantly. “To send poor Thomasino out for that, to send him to face such a horrid shock, the betrayal! To have my jar opened and find myself in a garden full of awful rain, so suddenly!” He picked his way across the flagstones, lifting each paw high and leaving an aggressively muddy print with every step.

“Lorelei,” Anna pointed out, mildly, “was sent to a farmer whose herd of cows had mastitis. If you weren’t such a kitten I might have considered giving you that responsibility instead of rain.”

“No, no, Thomasino is faaar too small a kitten,” he wailed. “Thomasino would have been trampled! Instead he is wet, yes, wet and miserable, but if the choice was being trampled by terrible big cows—” his tone changed slightly “—is there, perhaps, milk to be disposed of? Thomasino is far too tiny to be sent in a jar to be opened in the presence of cows, but perhaps, even though he is exhausted from walking so far and from shivering from the wet, he really ought to help with cleaning up Lorelei’s job—”

“Oh, Lorelei came trotting back more than ten minutes ago. The farmer had buckets full of spoiled milk, she said.”

Thomasino flattened himself to the floor and yowled forlornly. “And Thomasino is so tired and hungry—”

“She’s currently in the back yard enjoying custard I made up from the milk that got sent back with her, if you were wondering.”

A shiver ran over him and he closed his eyes, the yowling trailing off to a pitiful whine.

“Silly prawn,” Anna said, affectionate. “There’s plenty there for big cats who have just finished a jar spell job.”

Abruptly, the kitten stood. He stretched his back, as though that was what he’d gotten up for, then wandered towards the doorway to the hall, paused in front of the staircase, wandered back to wind between Anna and her table’s legs. Then he paused, tipped his head, and sauntered for the doorway to the back yard as though he really hadn’t anything better to do so he may as well.

He really wasn’t as small as he liked to claim, Anna mused, but she’d give him a nice job next time anyway. Better to ease him into working life gently. Perhaps an old lady who needed a detangling spell for her wool—or would that be too much for him? Presumably as soon as he and the spell were released, he’d undo all the work—and the wool—at once. He’d enjoy that. Maybe she could find an old lady who wouldn’t mind a kitten enjoying her craft basket for an hour or so.

 

I am required, I believe, to shout out to my sister. She looked over my shoulder when I was at the "she's selling magical cats" stage of drafting, and suggested that Anna is merely leasing them out in connection with spells. (It added nicely to the "regret giving up on giving you up? ...what a dramatic baby you are" vibe, so I'm happy. xD) 

And if you liked Thomasino, you should—if you haven't already—read the How To Train Your Dragon books!! the books are basically a different thing to the movie! Toothless is catlike and bratty and banters constantly except like a literal child would banter! I will never get over people not reading the books because they've seen the movie, by the way, this is a pet peeve of mine. Shame on you. Shame on your dragon.

  • • • • • • •

I have to admit, my Quirks are getting less and less time in editing, oops. Then again, I've never been a "rough first draft, edit in the second" type of writer. I blame never coming close to completing NaNoWriMo on this fact.... definitely because of writerly laziness and procrastination! why of course not! 

But I'm still really enjoying writing these—and I hope you are too!—which is excellent, because having fun and doing a bit of writing is 100% why I started this. 

And here's a list of the people who definitely hopefully enjoyed this Quirk prompt, because they came back with a Quirk in answer:

Samantha @Bookshire

Elizabeth Hyde @All Things Trivial and Insignificant

Elisha @The Voyaging Storyteller  

The Story Sponge

Once again, these marvelous folk have bestowed excellent and munchable bites of story upon us! The owl has even been persuaded to hand over a few slices of cake in gratitude. (Today's cake is sour cream mocha, if you were wondering!)

  • • • • • • •

What's been up with you this March? I'd say something along the lines of "wow April already huh" but everyone is already thinking that, I know, so it seems redundant. xD I hope you've had some adventures, whether big or small, and some comfortable and warm moments at home with people you care about. We should all have hobbit moments in our life. Also food. Lots of food. Hobbits would approve.

Who's doing Camp NaNo? I will not be joining you but I wish you all the best xD Let us know what your goal is so we can all cheer you on! 

And of course, don't forget to go and read those Quirks I linked above! Go! go!  

...wait no, comment and then go.