“I wish I had chubby cheeks instead of such a stinky scent, but then I’d have to be a squirrel, and I’m only a skunk,” said Patches the Skunk, whisking his black and white tail behind him.
“If I had chubby cheeks like a squirrel boy, then I could find my own squirrel girl, and I wouldn’t have to be made fun of for smelling and making everyone hold their noses,” he said, hanging his head.
There was a certain squirrel girl named Nibbles that Patches the Skunk had admired for quite some time. He adored her blue eyes and brown coat, but he was too embarrassed to tell her how he felt because of his overwhelming odor. The smell was so bad that animals could smell him coming for yards.
Every time Nibbles smelled Patches, she usually hurried the other way before he could speak to her. Though he was sure he loved her more than any other animal, Patches had never spoken to her.
“I have to find a way to speak to Nibbles,” he said, hiding behind a large green bush with twigs. “Maybe she could just pretend that I’m a squirrel instead of a skunk and everyone would like me.”
Gathering sweet-smelling flowers from the forest, Patches tied them to his tail to cover up his scent.
“I suppose it’s now or never,” Patches said to himself, jumping from behind the bush to greet Nibbles on her daily hunt for nuts. “I’ll just pretend like I don’t smell anything other than the flowers.”
As Nibbles gathered nuts, her adorable cheeks got bigger and bigger, almost like they would soon burst.
“Darling, these flowers are for you,” Patches said. “You have the cutest chubby cheeks I’ve ever seen.”
“Chubby cheeks! I look fat and ugly,” she said, talking with her mouth full of nuts. “Umm, but those are the most beautiful smelling flowers I’ve ever received. All the squirrel boys think I’m overweight.”
“What nonsense! You’re beautiful just the way you are,” Patches said. “I love your chubby cheeks!”
Although it seemed like the oddest story of true love, Patches the Skunk and Nibbles the Squirrel lived happily ever after for the rest of their lives in the forest, and as long as he gave her flowers, she pretended that she didn’t smell is odor, and he loved her for her chubby cheeks.
Copyright 2019 Jennifer Waters
