Barley woke up purring inside a tire, his younger sister lying on top of his face. "Truffle!" he protested with a sneeze, wiggling out from under her. She yawned lazily and gave him a whack. "You stinky! You woke me up!" Barley snorted, pretending to be insulted. "Well, exCUse me for wanting to breathe," he retorted good-naturedly, sticking out his tongue. Pearl's matted head craned around from her position around them and meowed gently, "Good morning, my kittens." "Good morning!" they chorused, pausing their playful squabbling. "We're moving on today," their mother told them. "We can't survive here." Barley's stomach rumbled like thunder, but he tried to ignore it. He didn't want to make things harder. But Truffle clearly felt the same. "I'm hungry! Could we eat before we go?" Pearl's yelloe. "I'm afraid-" she began, then, looking at her desperate, hungry kittens, seemed to change her mind. "All right, then. Let's ask those nice-looking cats over there to poke through their trash can." Barley and Truffle skipped along. "Excuse me?" Truffle piped up. The cats looked up from their quiet enjoyment of the chicken leg they'd found. With sauce and salted sticks! Barley's nose picked up. He nudged his sister. "Let Mother do the talking," he hissed, shoving a paw over her mouth. She glared at him but stopped. The cats spat as Pearl began meowing. "May my kittens and I look through your can?" "Well," drawled one of them, "No. We can't afford to share with the likes of you." Pearl cast a worried glance at her kittens. "Please. Just a tiny bit for my kittens." Their fur slowly began to rise. "Mother!" Barley broke in, "It's all right. We can find something else!" His eyes gleamed with worry. "Fine," she meowed reluctantly, turning away from the alley cats. "Like she'd fight us!" "Shh, Bone, she might get scawed!" "Okay, she's gone now, Brick. We can stop living out our lives in fear!" Barley hissed as he trodded along behind his mother. How dare they? 

A few days later, they were sitting in a sheltered place, quietly nibbling on a piece of chicken, when a small black cat with a Twoleg collar tripped past. "Hide!" Pearl whispered urgently to them. They quickly ducked behind her, Barley firmly covering Truffle's mouth with her tail. She ripped free, unfortunately. "Hey!" she called recklessly to the cat, who looked about their age, "Do you want some food?" The kitten jumped, startled, and turned his head in their direction. Barley stuffed her down again quickly. "Y-you mean it? I can really share your food?" Pearl flicked her tail, about to turn him away, then seemed to remember the cruel, vicious alley cats. "Yes, come on," she sighed, trying to make her meow sound like Truffle's so he wouldn't discover them, "I can't resist kittens down on their luck." The kitten cautiously padded over and bent to share the chicken she'd found, ripping chunks off with relish. Barley poked his head over just long enough to get a glimpse of the other kitten. He was black, with blue eyes and a single white sock. "This is GOOD!" he mumbled in between mouthfuls. "What is it?" "Chicken. I'm surprised you don't know, being a kittypet," Pearl replied. Barley listened to the black kitten meow a reply, unaware he'd stopped holding Truffle down until she meowed loudly, "What are you doing here?" Pearl shot her a panicked look. "-I might ask, but, hey, none of my business!" she meowed quickly and nervously. The kitten nodded, finished the chicken, and trotted away. Barley sighed, feeling his stomach rumble. Truffle was sometimes too- well, Truffle-like- for her own good. 

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SCREAMING