Margie, like all skunks, was myopic. When she looked at things far away, they were a blur. When she looked at things up close, they were clear.
She lived in Doctor White’s backyard. Doctor White, also known as Doc the Animal Fixer, was a veterinarian. His dog, Duchess, a German Shepherd, lived in the backyard as well as various other animals. Jack the rabbit, Mathew and Matilda the mallards, Rachel the robin and her chicks, along with King Tut, the Siamese cat, all lived peacefully in Doc’s big yard. King Tut had house privileges, but he spent nice days outside exploring, creating his own adventures, and sunning himself on the edge of the wishing well. All the rest of the animals were content roaming around Doc’s big yard.
Doc’s yard was a healthy place to live because the ecological system seemed to be in balance. Doc made a special garden area for Jack the rabbit and a pond for Mathew and Matilda. And, Margie the skunk was one of his main pest controllers. She bumped along in the yard every day looking for delightful tidbits of food. Some days she enjoyed a feast of a peapod, but her favorite foods were tomato worms, beetles, larvae, and grasshoppers. She especially loved grasshoppers when they were in season. She helped to keep Doc’s yard healthy. She was, in fact, a model for ecology. Everything had a purpose in Doc’s yard, and Margie’s job was to keep the yard and garden bug free.
However, there were two things that bothered Margie. The first thing was Duchess sneaking up on her. The second thing was Doc’s pond.
Duchess viewed Margie as a playmate and often wanted to get a game going. Often Margie would be minding her own skunk business and would not be able to determine that the fuzzy object headed her way was Duchess. She became frightened, arched her back, displayed her skunk business, and sprayed. Duchess wore Margie’s special brand of Skunk Perfume every time that happened! Even so, Duchess continued to invite play time. Even so, Margie was still bothered.
Doc’s pond presented another problem for Margie. She would bump along the yard, hitting a bush here, a tree there, nose to the ground in search of delights and the next thing she knew, she was taking a swim in the pond with Mathew, Matilda, and the goldfish Doc recently added to the pond. The ducks were eager to share the pond with Margie, but she was not eager to be in there. The goldfish simply swam away when Margie entered the pond. Swimming was not something Margie enjoyed and she was not good at it. Most importantly, she did not like the way she looked when she got out. She was a fuzz ball. Margie, always extremely careful about her appearance, wanted to look smooth and to look elegant. Therefore, swimming ruined not only her appearance but her attitude.
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