2.

The Junkyard was thoroughly drenched. The unlucky cats that had no other homes or did not reach their homes in time searched in vain for a dry spot. The driest of the cats were still damp. One of the unlucky cats, Admetus, wandered around in an attempt to stay dry. He peeked into the car trunk, which already contained Alonzo, Exotica, Plato, Etcetera, Pouncival, and Electra. “Um, any room for me?” Admetus asked.

“There’s barely enough room for us,” Alonzo said. “You wouldn’t fit.”

“Oh,” Admetus said. “Well, thanks anyway.” The cold water pelted his ears, head, and back, while dripping in a continuous trickle from his nose. The twins were in the oven, and that was quite crowded. Besides, Admetus didn’t want to bother them. Tugger and Jemima were in the dryer, so that left the pipe. It wasn’t the driest place, but it was better than standing around. He peered into the pipe for any sign of life.

“Who is it?”

“Misto, it’s me, Admetus. Can I come in?”

“Sure, but it’s still pretty wet.”

“That’s OK.” He crawled in and spotted the young tux curled up against the side. “Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?” Admetus joked.

Mistoffelees raised a skeptical eyebrow and smiled. “You look like a drowned rat.”

“You mean cat,” Admetus said, smiling. “You don’t look much better.”

“Eh, I’ll live. How about you?”

“No problems from me.”

“It’s kinda funny, doncha think?” Mistoffelees’s voice echoed in the pipe.

“What’s that?”

“We’re hiding out from the rain in a drainage pipe.” Both cats got a good laugh. “How much longer do you think the rain’s gonna last?” he asked, after their laughter died down.

“No telling.” Admetus looked out at the gray, ominous sky. “Minutes, hours, days, weeks-“

“OK, enough. I don’t like rain,” he playfully whined.

“Let’s just take a nap. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the rain’ll stop by the time we wake up.”

“Nap. What cats are famous for, at least to humans, anyway.” They smiled and settled down for a wet, cold nap.