PAW PRINTS

I grabbed my bags for work and walked out the front door. The smell hit me like a ton of bricks. “Skunk!” My eyes began to water as I looked around to see if he was still nearby.

I quickly went back inside dropping my bags to the floor.

My son Alex was standing near the front door. “What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”

I lifted the sleeve of my coat up to my nose and took a sniff. “A skunk got scared in our front yard.” I wiped the tear that was falling down my cheek. “I swear the smell is on me!” I took the end of my hair and brought it up to my nose. “I can’t tell if it’s on me or I just have that smell stuck in my nose!” I lifted my arm toward him. “Do you smell it on me?”

Alex backed away. “I’m not sure I want to smell you.”

Just then my husband Steven came into the hallway carrying his file box. Alex pointed to me.

“Mom wants you to smell her.”

Steven looked confused. “What?”

“A skunk sprayed in the front yard and I think I got hit!” I held my coat sleeve up to him.

He leaned over and smelled. “Nope. You’re good.”

I sighed. “That’s a relief. I wouldn’t have been able to go to work.” I picked up my bags again. Steven put his file box down. “Okay, but before you go I have some bad news.”

I dropped my bags again. “Oh, no.” I sighed again. “What?”

“The skunk didn’t just pass by the front yard.” He began walking into kitchen while I followed him. “I’m pretty sure he’s living under our deck.” He opened up the back door and the skunk smell was overpowering.

I stepped outside and looked over the railing. Sure enough I could see the little footprints in the snow of our stinky friend coming from under the deck and walking to the woods. I came back inside and closed the door. “Didn’t we have this problem last year?”

Steven nodded. “Yup.”

“So what did we do?”

Steven shrugged his shoulder. “Nothing. After a few days it just moved on.”

“So we have to put up with this for the next few days?” I headed back to the front door.

“We could.” Steven was following back to the front hall. “But I’m pretty sure I smelled him in the back yard last week, so I’m not thinking he’s planning on moving soon.”

I picked up my bags. “Well, he can’t live here. I don’t want to be known as the stinky house on the block. I’ll pick up some ammonia on my way home from work. I heard they don’t like the smell.”

Alex was still in the hallway. “They don’t like the smell of ammonia but they don’t mind how bad they smell?”

“Go figure.” I shrugged my shoulders as I took a deep breath and held it while I opened the front door. Sprinting to the car I quickly got in and exhaled. I could still smell the skunk as I started the car. I once again smelled the sleeve of my coat making sure the smell wasn’t on me before I backed out of the driveway and headed to work. Halfway down my street I opened my window and inhaled before coughing. “Nope. I can still smell him.” I said as I closed my window.