Years o’ experience had taught the cats eyes to fear their lone bretheren. That was the irony: when 1 marble stood out, this only pushed the other marbles e’en farther ‘way.
Such ostracism, such fear, ’twas unfair but necessary. They knew ’twas not the lone marble’s fault, but the vile light brown monster that, ‘pon the flick o’ 1 o’ its peach-plated tentacles, would transform a harmless, sedentary sister into a high-speed weapon.