The Old Man and The Skunk

Good choice

The Old Man didn’t like The Skunk, but to be fair, nobody did.

He had a bad experience with one of The Skunk’s relatives when The Old Man was a Young Man. It left a bad taste in his mouth, not to mention a foul odor on his body and clothes. The Old Man never forgot the incident nor would his classmates at their high school reunions.

Presently, The Skunk in question today wasn’t in the habit of waking up early.

Mainly, The Skunk was lazy and preferred daylight hours for carousing and cavorting. He didn’t want to sneak up on others without first being seen, so he chose to find food when the sun was still high in the sky. He especially loathed crossing highways at any time of the day, to avoid real life imitating that 70s pop song.

Today, though, was an exception for The Skunk because he was in the mood for a snack.

And that snack was found in the park close to where The Old Man walked.

The Skunk wasn’t the fastest animal alive but even the animal kingdom understood what that white stripe down his back represented.

When The Old Man crossed paths with The Skunk today, both halted in mid stride. The Skunk was still too far away to do any damage and The Old Man wanted to keep it that way.

The Old Man realized even a sudden move backwards could mean trouble for all those concerned, especially him. The faint waft of skunk lingered from his high school days.

The Skunk took the first step and waddled across the sidewalk, still 50 feet ahead of The Old Man. He had no intention of confronting The Old Man for he could not know for sure if The Old Man was packing, this being Texas and all.

The Old Man let him cross and decided right then and there that today’s 400 step walk was more preferred than his previously planned 10,000 steps. When you’re old and retired, you can make those executive decisions as critters meander nearby.