Bees Ott

One day in early spring, just as the flowers were blooming, I was awoken by the clatter of my two daughters.

My oldest, Lila, chased her younger sister Katie as they ran through the house giggling. I groggily rubbed my eyes awake and sat up in my bed.

I crawled out of bed and stretched as I looked for something decent to wear.

Suddenly, their usual loud playing quieted to a shushed gasp.

Finally, clad in jeggings and a yellow t-shirt, I walked into the living room and saw them huddled around a window.

Katie noticed me watching curiously and smiled as she said, “Look, mommy! Babies!”.

“What?”, I asked, crouching to look out the window at my back yard.

Sure enough, there was a group of about five or six black and white creatures, some separated from the lot by a rainwater-filled ditch. “I think they’re sk—!”, I tried to say, but was interrupted by Lila.

“I think they’re kittens!”, Lila said, pointing at the small animals through the glass.

Suddenly, Katie darted towards the door, slipping on her flip-flops. “I want kitties!”, she announced happily as she ran out onto the porch and over to the small creatures. “Wait for me!”, Lila said as she too put on her shoes and ran out the door. Worried they might slip on the wet ground; I hurried over to the entryway.

I quickly squeezed on my sneakers, “Be careful!” I yelled after them.

When I finally got to where they were, I was panting heavily from all the running. Each of them smiled as they turned to me, and I finally saw what the small, fluffy creatures in their hands were. Baby skunks. I let out a shocked screech as I backed away.

“Girls, put those down! They might spray you!”

“But mommy…” Katie whined as she pointed across the small muddy stream, “They need help!”

I squinted to see what she was pointing at, and realized it was the mother skunk.

She had gotten separated from her babies when they tried to cross the water! “Oh… Poor things…”, I said as I put my hands on my hips and frowned. Lila’s lips pursed, and I could tell she was thinking.

Katie set the kit down and crouched to pet the others. Lila crouched too and picked up a skunk.

She lifted it across the water, and it immediately ran to its mother as soon as it touched the ground.

Katie realized what her sister was doing and started helping the babies across too. I joined not long after and soon enough all the kits were reunited with their mother.

“Bye, bye, skunkies!” Katies said, waving to the little ones. Lila waved too, and I smiled. The mother looked back at us one final time, and I could feel her happiness. She disappeared back into the nearby bushes as we returned to the house.