The Skunk & The Porcupine

By Mx Chris Dämn

A lonely skunk sits on a log, weeping softly. “I'll never be good enough,” he says as he wipes his tears and stares down into a puddle. “I stink? This world stinks!” He jumps off the log and into the puddle, stomping around. “Stinks! Stinks! Stinks!”

In the distance he hears a twig snap. He quickly hides under the log and tries to be as quiet as possible. His heart pounds as he tries to control his breathing. He hears a soft voice. “Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.” He remains in his hiding spot. “I agree, the world does stink,” the soft voice says. “It stinks, and it's pokey.” His heart begins to calm and his breathing goes back to normal. “A pokey, stinky, wretched world.” He peaks above the log to see who the soft voice is.

“You're a porcupine,” says Skunk.

“You're a skunk,” says Porcupine.

“I'm too stinky, don't come near me.”

“I have no sense of smell, actually. Clumsy me poked my sniffer with my mother's quills when I was a baby. So, you stay away from me. I'm too pokey.”

“Does it hurt?” asks Skunk.

“Does what hurt?”

“When you lose a quill, does it hurt?”

“Not really. Why?”

Skunk gets back on top of the log and looks at Porcupine for a moment. “Can I have one?”

“What? Why would you want a porcupine quill? They're sharp and horrible!”

“I want to see how sharp they really are, is all.”

They both sit silently for a few seconds. Just staring at each other. “Come take one if you wish, but remember I did warn you.”

Skunk slowly walks up to Porcupine. “You're not running from my stench?”

“Told you, no sense of smell. Broken sniffer.”

Skunk stands next to Porcupine and moves his paw down her back. “They just feel smooth to me.”

“Just don't move your paw up--,” before she can finish her sentence, he tries brushing upward.

“Oh, I see.”

“You didn't yelp in pain,” she says, very shocked.

“Nope. Skunks are tough!” They smile at each other and laugh. “Let's be friends, Porcupine. You seem rather nice.”

“Ditto kiddo!”

Skunk and Porcupine walk off deeper into the woods. “Tea?” asks Skunk.

“Coffee.” says Porcupine.

“More tea for me then.”

“More coffee for me then!”

And they live happily ever after as best friends. Ignoring society's rudeness towards them for merely being who they are.