Where the Wildcats Strike!

Where the wildcats Strike!

Redmayne and Tom Paine scribble slogans on the walls. Chalky hands reveal their misdeeds, but they have the right intentions with their writings. Rosa does not write on the walls but scribbles on the pavement, about a lack of living space. And Rosa is really cross. But the rain will wash away her words.

The Wildcats make moves to make more permanent markings. Rosa, Redmayne and Tom paine are ready to print. “You can’t change the world on your own,” Tom says as he halves the potatoes. “Two of us together is just company...”

Tom passes the halves to Rosa and she colours the potatoes. Then Redmayne presses them upon the paper. Tom continues talking, “...but the three of us together means trouble.”

And the three of them working together always means trouble.

Rosa and Redmayne walk ahead of Tom Paine. Tom is holding all the posters rolled up under his arm. The wildcats will decorate this city with potato printed posters that read ‘HOMES FOR ALL’. The cold weather has come and it's really too cold for anyone to sleep outside on the street, but they do because they have no choice.

First, Rosa pins a poster to a tree in the park. Then Redmayne tapes another to a bench. Somebody is sleeping under the bridge. The wildcats all quietly tiptoe past, so as to not wake the sleeper. When they pass the shops Rosa wonders where the best place to put up a poster is. There are many brightly coloured SALE signs up in the shop windows, but the wildcats poster doesn't look as well made. Tom Paine is angry and doesn't care about the poster being hand-made. “It's our message that matters. We don't always need to buy stuff”.

Tom’s outburst has caught the attention of the security guard. He towers over the wildcats as the three attach the poster to a wall in the shopping centre. The security guard grabs all three of the wildcats because he is a cat snatcher. And he catches these wildcats for they have been caught red handed.

Rosa, Redmayne and Tom Payne keep quiet. The wildcats are checked into the police station and then locked into a cell. Do they have a plan to escape? Or will they use their moment in the law courts to publicise their cause? The three have spent a long time thinking, for they have little else to do. The three are to be charged with vandalism. But Rosa wonders if the wildcats are really ‘vandals’. Did the wildcats make a mess like invading hordes might do? No. The wildcats made a protest for the forgotten few who need their help. Rosa rises to her feet and says, “we will stand up and speak out for those who need us to.”

Redmayne and Tom Paine clap in agreement.

The night is long , but in the morning they are taken to court. The cat snatcher presents his evidence; a half-ripped potato print poster proclaiming ‘HOMES FOR ALL’. The Judge does chuckle, “is that it? Some rain would wash it right away. Do you seriously expect me to preside over this case? 

“But the wildcats were caught red handed,” the cat snatcher protests.

The Judge is amused and says, “the paint probably ran into their hands.”

The news reporter is speedily writing this all down, for it will make a good story for tomorrow’s paper. Rosa, Redmayne and Tom Paine can only watch.

The wildcats must keep quiet or the Judge will charge them with contempt of court. “I will not ask these wildcats how do they plead; as there is no case to answer this time. But there better not be a next time or you will be in real trouble. Do you hear me?

The wildcats nod. And Rosa, Redmayne and Tom Paine are allowed to slink away.

The next morning Redmayne reads the headline from the newspaper, “The Furtive Three go Free”. 

Redmayne continues to read the article, “An amused Judge laughed out the case of the potato print postering in the High Street. The three wildcats protesting about homelessness , were caught red handed by the security guard. However, the Judge joked that the paint must have run. The Judge reprimanded the wildcats, but the furtive three kept silent only nodding in response. Then the case was dismissed.”

Tom Paine is impressed by this short report. So many cats will have seen the story. Tom has plans to make a zine telling stories of those who have no home to go to. So something might be done about it. So we might not end up sleeping on the streets, because we all want somewhere safe we can call home.