Violet pushed her body against the cage as hard as she could. She felt the cage rocking on the edge of the shelf. She took a deep breath. She had to open the door to the cage!
She gave one last push and her heart lurched as the cage toppled to the cold, hard floor. As the cage hit the floor, pain surged through Violet's right forepaw. She gave a yowl of pain. To make matters worse, the pellets and water spilled over her fur.
The cats in the room were waking up. Some who had already woken up were peering out of their cages.
"Violet!"
Violet's ears pricked at the familiar voice. She turned up to look at another cage, where a golden brown cat was straining to look at her. Autumn.
Violet forced her paw out from under the cage. The cage was dented and the door was hanging open. She slipped out of the cage, crawled into a corner and washed her paw, aware of the other cats watching her. There was one cat that caught her eye as she scanned the cages. He had dark gray fur and the brightest green eyes she had ever seen. She shook her head quickly and licked her chest fur in embarrassment when she realised that he was staring at her as well.
Violet got on her paws and looked around the room. She looked at the door. The human had probably locked it for the night. And even if it wasn't, there was no way she could reach the doorknob.
"Hey! There's a small window behind my cage. Do you think you can open it?" an old, raspy voice called out.
Violet climbed up the shelf and realised that there was moonlight streaming through the window. With her head, she pushed the latch and slowly pushed the window open. There was a tree outside, which provided a safe escape for the older cats, like the one who told her about the window.
By then, the room was already noisy as the cats talked to each other in excitement and relief.
"Can I have every cat's attention?" Violet called out and the room quietened down. "I need your cooperation. There are forty-three of you here and we have to do this quickly if we want to get out. I need ten cats to help me open the latches for the other cages."
"Me! Me!" Autumn's familiar voice cried out. Violet jumped over to her cage and opened the latch. After that, more cats volunteered, including the green-eyed cat and Kiara.
There were many grateful meows as the cats, young and old, climbed out the window. Violet made sure every cat was out of the room until the only cats left were the ten who volunteered.
Autumn purred and rubbed her cheek against Violet's. "Thank you, Violet. Do you want us to wait for you?" she asked. Violet shook her head, and Autumn and Kiara went out of the window. The other cats thanked Violet too and followed the two cats out. The last cat was the cat she had been admiring earlier.
"Yeah! Thank you, o Great and Wise Violet!" he said with a mrrow of amusement. Violet hit his ear lightly, amused. He looked down shyly and said,"My name's Instinct. Do you want to go out first?"
