It’s summer again, and that means I’ll be writing a series of short fiction pieces based on inspiration from some of my 8th graders. I asked them for the first line and last line of a fictional story, and I’ll fill in the rest. I’ve been doing this for a number of years now, and it’s a great chance to have some fun and take a break from pontificating. This week’s lines come from Ryan Schlaak.
I jumped over my chicken nugget. Now why, you might ask, would I waste a chicken nugget by having it somewhere that I’d jump over? That’s quite a story, so stay tuned!
I live just outside of our town. Technically, it’s the country, but it’s only a few minutes, as the crow flies, to get to my friend’s house in town. And naturally, I take the route as the crow flies, except for the flying part. There is a big grove of trees that separates our place from town, and I take different routes through there rather than follow the paved roads around the outside of town. I can still take my bike, and it’s quicker, so there.
Sometimes my dog, Rex, will join me on my travels. If I’m playing ball with my buddies, Rex is welcome to come with me, and he’ll chase around any ball that gets loose. It doesn’t matter if it’s a baseball, football, or basketball, Rex is the best. He’s not a golden retriever for nothing!
This past summer, though, the woods had a whole lot more wildlife than it ever had. There was nothing really dangerous, but I would see an occasional deer along with the normal sightings of rabbits, squirrels, and birds. The fact that deer were so comfortable this close to a well-populated area was a real change. They had grown too used to humans, I guess.
There was a McDonalds in my town, the only fast food joint we had. You can imagine how busy it was! After a long afternoon of pick-up football, my group of friends headed to the golden arches for a tasty treat. Of course, for teenage boys, that’s basically a whole meal. I ordered chicken nuggets to go along with my fries, soda, and McFlurry.
I had a few nuggets left as I entered the tulgey wood. The sun wasn’t yet set, but a storm was moving in, and the darkness had descended quickly. I knew I’d better hurry.
Suddenly, directly in my path, was a skunk. Behind the skunk were a few baby skunks. Oh, yippee. Any skunk can be bad news, but a mama skunk really is. I really didn’t want to get doused by her spray, but she had her eyes firmly fixed on me. I couldn’t go back, not with the storm bearing down. If I ran in any direction, she might follow and spray. I looked down at the food in my hand, contemplated for only a second, and then threw a nugget toward the mama skunk.
Her attention shifted quickly. I had no idea if skunks ate meat or not, and I wasn’t going to stick around to find out. As soon as she started sniffing, I took off and leaped over the skunk and my chicken nugget. I looked back as I landed and saw her chewing on the all-white meat hunk of chicken. Then I turned toward home and sprinted for all I was worth.
A couple days later, I was following the same path home on my bike when I saw the skunk again. She eyed me, but this time I had a faster way of escaping her and just pedaled for all I was worth.
However, the next time I came back from McDonalds, she was waiting again. I tossed her a nugget again, and that kept her occupied while I made it through the woods to my house. Did this mean I always needed to have a nugget on me in the woods?
I even named the skunk. I called her Daisy. I didn’t always have food for Daisy, but she grew so comfortable with me that even when I didn’t toss her something, she let me pass without any hassle.
I told my mom about the skunk. “You have a pet skunk?” she exclaimed. “No, no, I forbid that. You’re just going to get sprayed.” She was shaking her head as she said this.
“It’s not really a pet,” I said. “I’m not bringing it home or anything.” But in my head, I wondered, Is Daisy my pet?
One day, some kids on dirt bikes were tearing through the woods. As I came walking through, I saw one of them chase one of the baby skunks and run it over. The cries from the baby were heartwrenching. I rushed over to help the little skunk. Just then, another dirt biker came at me and ran over my sandaled foot.
Now there were two of us crying in the woods. I looked through my tears and saw Daisy coming toward us, not looking happy. She glanced in the direction of the bikers, then nudged her baby, who seemed to be okay. Finally, in a magical moment, my pet skunk licked my toe.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is tulgey, which means dark and scary, as in, “The tulgey wood was a rite of passage for kids in the town to cross through at midnight.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!