The Skunk

The golden sunlight filtered through the corn in the early morning, and the fog of early autumn began to lift. June dashed out of the field and ran quickly behind a barn, her braided hair flying behind her. Her older sister Blanche was hiding behind the barn. "I found you!" June shouted. Blanche put her hand to June's lips. " Be quiet. Do you Want to get in trouble?" she sighed. June shook her head. "No, and it's your turn." June put her face to the side of the fading white barn and started to count, while she heard Blanche sneak away. "One, two, three, four, five, six. Seven... hmmm." June heard a whining sound come from the side of the barn. June lowered her hands and went to take a look, curious. June pressed her body against the side of the barn and peered around the corner. The sound was being issued from a small, dirty black heap of fur. It was shivering pitifully between the barn and a small green bush. Awww June thought. What is it? She stepped closer and smiled. It was so tiny, and so small. I wonder if this is a cat? She wondered. Then her face brightened and she knelt down onto the dew-dropped grass. Carefully she picked up the tiny little bundle and held it close. It was limp in her hands and she could feel the tiny heart beat through the soft fur. "My, you are skinny." she murmured.

She ran to the house, being careful to not to bump the little animal. She burst through the door, past the living room with the green and red striped/flowered wallpaper and entered the kitchen, startled her mom. "Mama! You wouldn't believe what I found! I found a kitten! Now we could get rid of the mice in the barn! Won't Father be happy?" Her face beamed, and she lifted her arms to show her newest treasure. Her mom's eyebrows pinched together with worry, and June thought she heard her whisper. "But it isn't a kitten." She smiled however and patted her cheek. "Yes, won't he. I have to leave to go work at the pickle factory right now, so your brother Grant will watch you. Make sure you behave yourself. We'll discuss this with father when we sit down to supper." She hugged her daughter, frowned at the animal, and walked out the door. "Come Lloyd. It's time to leave for Sechlers. "

The hours ticked by, seemingly endless, even though June had plenty to occupy herself. She played jacks with Blanche and ran through the endless field with Coral, but her main attention was to the little bundle of fluff she had found behind the barn. She snuck some milk from the fridge and tried to feed it, but the poor little thing wouldn't take any of it. "You know it's good for you." she said reprovingly to it after it vomited the milk yet again. "You'll starve if I don't feed you something." She felt the little animals bones beneath the thin layer of skin, and, sighing, tried again.

That night everyone sat at the table. The fading sunlight filtered through the window and the curtains were opened to lighten the room. June picked at her pork with disinterest, a wild excitement running deep in the blood beneath her cool exterior. Her mother glanced at her and returned her eyes to her plate, sawing her pork chop with a knife. "June dear, stop playing with your food." June's brown eyes flicked under the table and she assumed a pleading expression. "May I ask him now, mama?" Her mother picked the threadbare napkin up from her lap and delicately wiped her mouth. "I suppose that would be all right, don't you think so, George?" The father nodded, a slightly curious expression on his face. "Of course. What is it, June?" His eyes widened in surprise as June lifted the little animal with black above her lap. Now that June had washed it in the spring, you could see a thin white stripe down it's back, and it had a very pointed nose, which sniffed at her almost untouched dinner. "Get that SKUNK away from the food!" her father barked. Startled, June dropped the skunk. There was a little squeal, then she felt wetness around her legs. She looked down- and was immediately hit by the overwhelming stench. "A Skunk! I thought it was a kitten!" she protested as she covered her nose. Her father nodded briskly. "We will talk later. Right now we need to catch that skunk." He turned to LuReign and started taking control of the situation. "We need our filthiest blanket. Lloyd, we're out of tomato juice, so we'll have to make do with some of the pickle brine we have. " "Pickle brine!" June protested. Lloyd nodded to his father. "I'll go find some. We may have some left from when they gave us pickles instead of money." He dashed into the kitchen just as Mama was coming back with the blanket. The baby skunk had backed into a corner of the room and had it's tail up, hissing at them. June thanked God that the tile floor wouldn't hold the spray that the skunk was launching at them. They had little enough money to survive as it was, let alone for extra expenses such as flooring. George took the blanket from his wife and threw it at the skunk. He quickly ran forward once the skunk was covered, and wrapped it in the blanket. "Stay here everybody." He said as he marched towards the door.

He was back 5 minutes later, and he was wiping his hands on his clothes. Father tossed the blanket on the laundry pile. By then Mama had June's clothes in the pile as well, and she was sponging June's legs with a washcloth soaked in pickle brine. The mixture of the two smells made her nose wrinkle. Her father sat down with a loud sigh and looked at his daughter, who was now in her nightclothes. "You shouldn't bring wild animals in the house, June. How many times have we told you this?" he said calmly. June broke in. "But he was so little, he would have starved!" She insisted. Her father looked at her. " The thing, sweety, is the skunk would have died anyway. A baby skunk requires special milk to eat. You know how tight money is right now. We DEFINITELY couldn't give it cow's milk. Cow's milk could kill it." June's eyes went wide in consternation. "Even if we fed it what it would eat as an adult, it would take way too much time to gather all the bugs and nuts and berries for it. You will be needed soon, and you wouldn't have had the time to feed the skunk." June sought her sisters with her eyes. They looked back, with sympathy in their eyes. She tried again. "One of them could have taken care of it, father." He shook his head. "She just doesn't know when to stop, does she?" he murmured. "You saw what happened. The skunk could have at any time sprayed someone, or bitten someone. It was a wild animal, June. It could have hurt one of you, or the furniture. It's better this way. Trust me." He put his arms around her and stood up. "Now, why don't we see about getting you to bed, your Mama has something to tell you."

As her mama tucked her into her bed in the tiny room she shared with her siblings, June sniffed. "Now I'll smell like pickle juice for the rest of the week." she complained. LuReign smiled gently. " About that... your father and I have decided you are old enough to start working at the pickle factory. It would give us some extra money, so we could buy more for you kids." June lit up. "I'd love to!" she told mama, and hugged her. She smiled back. "Good-night." she said softly, and leaned down to kiss her goodnight.

June burst out of her room the next morning and rushed through her breakfast of oatmeal. "Come on, darling, we haven't got all day." her mother called from the front door. "Coming." she replied as she got on her shoes. Today was a new day, and sunshine filled the air. She laughed for no reason at all, and ran to catch up with her mother. Today was the day she started to work at the pickle factory, and nothing, not even a little old skunk, was going to dampen her spirits.