Backwards, so called because he was born backwards, has been going forwards ever since, the best squeaker of the bunch and the most keen to climb out of the basket. This momentous step forwards by Backwards may take place this very day.

Life is fragile and these kittens are miraculous. Mother Lil is tired out by the suckling and takes regular rests outside, where she plays with the other kitten-cats just as she did before giving birth brought a sudden maturity upon her. A squeak from the basket will cause her to abandon her game and hurry back to her responsibilities. She returns to the basket where the kittens immediately start scrabbling for the best teet.

The kittens are regularly visited by holy cat Pjevs, César who is almost out of his kittenhood, Tiger Puss, Sophie, and now and then by the Big Nasty Farmcat, who is responsible for some of the sets of kittens after attacking the mothers mercilessly. He seems a little more mellow this summer, but neither of us have forgotten the night he tried to murder Matalike and though he is friendly with Eva he is, and may always be, wary of me. 

Pjevs is most probably the father of Backwards and his litter - the little holy cat was ill in the spring, injured and starved almost to death, but he is hale now and spends his nights on a bench by the basket of kittens, a black guardian angel.

Beyond this place the world is in all kinds of chaos, but here in a basket what matters most is that 4 squeaky greedy kittens should have the perfect presence in this world of theirs gives them as a right.