A fuzzy family

As much as Clementine liked living with the yarn lady, she found that sometimes she was lonely.  Definitely when the yarn lady went out, but also sometimes when she was home.  She was nice and gave her lots of love and played with her, but it wasn't the same as having her sister and brother around or even the other cats she had met at the SPCA.  The yarn lady would throw things for her to chase, and played with her in her playhouse (she called it a hamper, but Clem knew it was a playhouse).  That was nice, but she missed playing chase with her siblings and the other cats.  

Clem's favorite thing to do was to play with all the yarn balls that the yarn lady had made for her.  There were lots of green ones, one red one and a giant fluffy brown one that was entirely different.  She thought it was called a pompom, or something like that.  It wasn't as fun as the others, because it didn't roll very well, but it was nice to lie on because it was fluffy.  

The yarn lady had gone out this afternoon, and soon after she left the rain started.  It rained harder and harder, and then the thunder and lightning started.  The lights that had been left on blinked a couple of times, and Clem was afraid she'd be left all alone in the dark.  She ran around the house, gathering up all the yarn balls, even the big fuzzy pompom and piled them under the yarn lady's bed and then sat down in the middle of them.  As the rain lashed against the windows, Clem shivered and huddled up against the pompom, which was nearly as big as she was.  It was kind of like when she was very little and she'd snuggle into her cat mommy's side.  She gave the pompom and experimental lick, and decided that no, it wasn't quite like her cat mommy.  Her tongue didn't end up fuzzy from licking another cat.  

She looked at the pompoms and moved them around her, as though they were all a litter of kittens, snuggling a fuzzy mom cat.  The little red one looked kind of like her sister, come to think of it.  She was small, just like the red yarn ball.  She'd call her Tamsin, after her sister.  Then she pulled the green one with the long tail closer - it was kind of like her brother, Archie.  His tail was longer than hers and Tamsin's.  She'd call that one Archie.  The pompom of course had to be Mommy.  As the storm continued outside, Clem was oblivious to it, examining each of the yarn balls and deciding which cat that she'd met at the shelter they were most like.  "Tamsin, Archie, Mommy, Mehetabel, Hettie, Babs and Tinker.  What a nice group I have here with me.  You all play chase with me every day.  I don't need other kittens as long as I have you all, well, and the yarn lady of course."  She gave a playful bat to Tinker, a very fuzzy green yarnball that seemed to be coming somewhat undone.  Tinker skittered over to the wall and bounced off it.  Clem leaped on her/it and using her claws did a hook shot that sent Tinker out from under the bed and onto the hooked rug.  

"You can't hide from me by trying to camouflage yourself!  I've got you...."  Clem grabbed Tinker in her mouth and ran into the hallway, completely forgetting about the storm.  She and Tinker caromed around the house, occasionally including Tamsin or Archie in the fun.  

When the yarn lady returned later in the evening, she had no idea why Clem was so exhausted, or why in the world all the  yarn balls she'd made were scattered around the living room.  She was glad that Clem didn't seem to have been traumatized by the terrible thunderstorm and wondered if perhaps Clem had just slept through it.