Skinny and the Skunk
by
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“Yikes!” cried Pete. “What’s that stinky smell?”
John laughed. “It’s the spray from a SKUNK! What did you do, Skinny—attack it or something?”
“I saw something moving in the bushes,” Skinny explained. “I thought it was a rabbit, and I grabbed it. Then it got away.”
“And let out a stinky spray,” added Pete, laughing. “You reek, Skinny! It must have sprayed on you. C’mon, Pete. We better get out of here fast, or we’ll start stinking like our stinky Skinny here.”
“What about me?” whined Skinny. “What should I do?”
“Don’t even THINK about coming home,” John replied. “Mom and Dad would never let you come into the house smelling like THAT! You better just ride your bike to the edge of the woods and stay there.”
Skinny followed his brothers to the edge of the woods. Then he hopped off his bike and slumped down on a pile of logs while his brothers rode home. He felt sorry because he did not listen to his mother’s and his father’s warnings, but he felt even sorrier that he smelled so bad.
He began to wonder how long he would have to stay there all alone. What would happen if he never stopped stinking? What if Mom and Dad never let him come home again? How would he eat? Where would he sleep? What if a poisonous snake bit him and no one came to help him?
He began to cry. But he didn’t cry for long. He reminded himself that he was a big boy now, and big meant brave.
Meanwhile, John and Pete arrived at home. Their mom was sitting on the porch, waiting for them. “Why is Skinny not with you?” she asked with a worried look. “Don’t tell me you left him somewhere all alone!”
“Actually, we did,” John replied. “We told him not to come home.”
“Why?” she asked, standing up from a rocking chair.
“Skinny stinks,” piped Pete with a smirk on his face.
Mom looked cross. “WHAT did you say?!” she scolded.
“It’s true, Mom,” explained John. “A skunk sprayed on him. And now he’s stinky Skinny!”
Mom gasped. “A stinky skunk got Skinny stinky?”
“He was fishing and caught a skunk by mistake,” Pete joked.
“We didn’t think you’d want stinky Skinny stink up the whole house,” John added.
His mother frowned. “John,” she commanded, “I want you to ride the scooter to wherever you left him, and you tell him I want him home right away, you hear?”
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About the Book
Skinny and his brothers ride to a pond with strict orders from their mother to do nothing else but fish. He also ignores his dad’s warning not to touch a wild animal. He hears something move in the bushes. Thinking it might be a rabbit, he grabs what turns out to be a skunk.
About the Author
G. Shelling is a mother and a family counselor who has always loved telling, reading and writing inspiring tories. She hopes that her stories will allow the truths others know (or don't yet know) to seep deep into their hearts and minds.