A Skunk Story: Part Two

     When the weather is stormy, I normally sleep in the closest room to my garden, the kitchen. My owner didn’t want to spend too much money on a large place to sleep for me since it was only sometimes when I slept there, and a bed in the kitchen would look a little tacky. Czenko got me the tackiest and most uncomfortable place to sleep. She got me a slab of rock. It had no blankets or anything like that, just rock. The rock was flat though, so it wasn’t the worst in the world. It wasn’t a fun thing to sleep on, but it was always better than sleeping out in a storm.

     I walked inside. Instead of going into my usual spot on the slab of rock, I only stared at it. Naninhah was still in my mind. There was the chance that he was going to be abandoned again. No. No. There couldn’t be a chance. I wanted to change that “chance” to 0%. Naninhah was going to be my friend. He would learn to talk to me, but in order for him to win his place in the family, he would need to communicate with everyone.

     Slowly, I got into bed, but when I did, I just stared at the ceiling. I was still thinking about Naninhah. I didn’t know what had happened to him before he came to my family. All I knew was that he was forgotten about by someone. I wanted to make him so he was unforgotten like the rest of the family. I wanted to make him feel loved, but now, what was going to happen?

     I couldn’t get Naninhah off of my mind. After awhile of thinking, I got up from where I was on the rock and made my way upstairs.

     Naninhah jumped when he heard somebody enter the room late at night. He grabbed his blankets and pulled them over his head. When I got into the room, I could see a jiggling pile of blankets.

     “Naninhah, it’s me. Don’t be scared,” I said to him.

     Slowly his shaking resided and he popped his head out from the blankets.

     “It’s just a little stormy outside. Do you mind if I sleep here for the night?” I asked him.

     Naninhah didn’t do anything to indicate an answer. He just looked at me with his usual blank (but extremely cute) expression. I knew that even if Nanin showed that he didn’t want me to sleep in his room, I would anyway. I knew he secretly wanted the comfort of having somebody around, so I made myself comfortable (Maybe “comfortable” isn’t the right word) on the carpet of the floor.

     “You sleep well, okay?” The air was cold without any blankets, but I eventually fell asleep.

     ***

     I woke up the next morning a lot more comfortable than when I fell asleep. It was rather early that morning. Misha and Lavalilly probably wouldn’t be up at that time since Misha stays up most of the night guarding the house and Lavalilly was screaming her lungs out at a concert.

     I sat up and realized that a blanket was curled around my body. This was originally Naninhah’s top blanket. I looked over at the bed, and sure enough, his bed had one less blanket. This blanket was made from Babaa fleece and was dyed a dark blue. Not only was Naninhah’s bed absent of one blanket, but Naninhah also wasn’t in it. Unforgotten, the plushie Huggy, was sitting up in the middle of the unmade bed, probably guarding it.

     I stared at the bed blankly, wondering where my little brother went. Then I heard the door open and shut. I whipped my head around. Naninhah had just walked in. What was more surprising was what he held in his paws. In one paw he had a plate stacked high of Fluffy Faerie Pancakes, and the other paw was carrying a pitcher of lemonade. I remembered this as the first meal Naninhah and I ate together. He set the plate and the pitcher down on the floor next to me.

     “Breakfast in bed?” I said.

     Naninhah blushed and turned his head. He then walked out of the room again.

     I took a second to inspect what Naninhah had brought in. There was an extra plate stacked under the plate holding the pancakes. Next to the pancakes, the plate held two forks and two knives. The only things missing were the glasses.

     Naninhah walked back in the door. This time he was holding two glasses. He made his way in front of me and the stack of pancakes and sat down cross-legged.

     I didn’t say anything. Naninhah still wasn’t speaking to me, but he was showing such a large amount of kindness and love right there. He took the extra plate out and slid half of the pancakes onto the plate. He then placed a fork and a knife on it and handed it to me.

     I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. This was so nice of him. There was nothing more I could think of to do or say other than just take the plate from him. Naninhah then poured the glasses of ice cold lemonade and handed it to me. I took it.

     No words could explain how much I appreciated this. I loved it so much. The food was great. Naninhah was great. He was such a great skunk. I loved him. I loved my little brother.

     This was probably one of the best meals of my young life as an Island Kougra. It was the best even though absolutely no words were spoken throughout the whole thing. I didn’t say a word. Naninhah didn’t say a word, but we both knew that we were enjoying each other’s company. For the first time after a month I could really see that I was making a lot of progress with earning my brother’s respect. Words weren’t needed for that progress to happen.

     By the time the meal was finished, Lavalilly and Misha’s voices could be heard downstairs. Naninhah didn’t look like he wanted to go downstairs then. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the dishes,” I assured him. “Thank you for the breakfast. I loved it.” I took the dishes and headed downstairs.

     Misha, Lavalilly, and my owner, Czenko, were all downstairs in the living room. I already knew what was going to happen. I decided to ignore them and make my way to the kitchen to wash the dishes. I washed them as silently as possible so I could hear the conversation go on in the living room.

     “Seriously, did Naninhah ever say a word to you?” Lavalilly spoke loudly.

     “Barely anything,” my owner replied. “He just introduced himself, but his eyes are what says everything. I... I couldn’t help but bring him home.” If my owner had said that when we had first met Nanin, I would have completely tossed that statement aside, but I understood what she meant entirely at this moment.

     “But... But...” Lavalilly tried to argue, but she appeared to have trouble coming up with anything.

     “Naninhah really doesn’t have any respect for this family,” Misha finished for Lavalilly.

     “Yeah!” Apparently, Lavalilly liked what Misha said. “He’s been here for like a month and he hasn’t said a word to me. Barely looked at me even.” She looked down at the ground. “How do you suppose that makes me feel?” I believe that she just thought that everybody should adore her. Anybody that didn’t would be named “weirdo” or anything that has the synonym of “strange”.

     “I don’t know.” Czenko suddenly didn’t look too happy. She picked at her orange nail polish as she spoke. “He really does seem like a sweet Usul.”

     “I’m sorry, Czenko,” Misha said. “I really don’t see anything sweet about him. I can tell he secretly dislikes all of us.”

     I mentally disagreed with his statement but I didn’t say anything about it. I probably should’ve, though.

     “I know that ever since I became a mutant, I have been getting very scared looks cast at me, but even our ‘brother’ should have learned by now that I am actually approachable,” Misha continued.

     Then came Lavalilly’s annoying voice. “Let’s just face it, Czenko! Nanin doesn’t like us. Any of us! So why don’t we just pound him? He’d probably be happy with any family other than this one.”

     Misha looked into Czenko’s eyes. “We’re only thinking of what’s best for all of us.”

     Czenko looked at Misha, then to Lavalilly. They both appeared to be staring at her with looks of concern. She sighed and then threw up her arms, “You win,” she announced.

     My heart suddenly gave a huge leap. You WHAT?! No, no, no. You’re not supposed to say that, Czenko. You’re supposed to disagree with them. DISAGREE! My mind suddenly went into rage. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t possibly consider getting rid of Naninhah.

     “I don’t want to do this, but my feelings shouldn’t get in the way of what’s best for the family. You’re probably right. It might be best if Nanin found another family. Probably one where the owner has more free time and is able to tend to his needs. We’ll wait for a little bit and see if Nanin warms up to us. If he ever does warm up to you guys, let me know, okay? I’ll work on finding Nanin a new family that’ll be sure to treat him right..”

     There I was, standing at the kitchen sink, my paws covered with soapy bubbles while my heart pounded against my chest. I felt it was necessary to take action immediately. I could not stand to watch Naninhah be pounded for the second time. I had to save him, but at the same time I was thinking that, I was looking down at the soapy paws thinking, “What could one Island Kougra possibly do?”

To be continued...