As you will be aware, I have been obsessed with putting Fox and Skunk into picture after picture around here. I felt like there was an old-fashioned fable somewhere deep inside of them, waiting to come out of their inscrutable relationship.
It came out.
The Story of Fox and Skunk
Once upon a time, in the days when Fox was young, Fox was hungry. And Fox walked around for a long time not finding anything to eat. This made Fox even hungrier. Fox wandered for miles, getting hungrier and hungrier.
Until Fox came upon a hopeful little valley with a waterfall and a deep stream. On the banks of the stream were some flowers, and some mushrooms, and there was a skunk.
Fox knew about mushrooms. Fox knew about flowers. But Fox did not know yet about skunks.
Fox thought Foxes could eat skunks.
Fox tried to eat the skunk.
The skunk did not want to get eaten. And when Skunk does not want to get eaten, Skunk does not get eaten!
Skunks make a special liquid they can spray from under their tail. It is a powerful liquid. Skunk sprayed Fox with this liquid.
The liquid that Skunk sprayed did not smell so terribly bad. Maybe you have smelled the smell of skunk from a distance? But it did not smell so terribly good either. But the most important thing about Skunk's smell was that it smelled a lot.
It smelled too much!
It smelled so much that Fox couldn't think about anything other than the smell.
And that is how Fox decided to not eat Skunk.
Fox was now very hungry and everything smelled too much of Skunk, especially Fox!
Fox was sad.
Fox was so smelly that everyone ran away from Fox, which made it even harder for Fox to catch anything to eat. Fox rubbed on the trees to get rid of the smell. It did not work. Fox rubbed on the flowers to get rid of the smell. It did not work. Fox rubbed on the mushrooms to get rid of the smell. It did not work. So even though Fox did not like baths, Fox decided to jump in the stream to get rid of the smell.
Fox plunged into the clear blue water.
Fox was surrounded by fishes!
Fox thought maybe Foxes could eat fishes.
Fox was right!
Fox ate many fishes, until Fox's belly was full.
Fox climbed out of the stream. Fox climbed up on the bank. Skunk was there.
Skunk was eating mushrooms and grasshoppers and flowers and beetles. Skunk did not worry about Fox. Fox, having had a bad time of it before, kept a respectful distance from Skunk. But Fox did not run away. Fox looked around.
It felt like home.
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