I'm a Skunk!
by Oren the Otter
It started out to be a pretty nice day. The sun was shining, my tummy was full, and I was feeling especially fluffy. I was going for a walk through the forest, checking out this and that, when I happened to spot a large group of my fellow skunks. Well, being the curious and friendly sort of critter that I am, I went over to say hello. I walked with them for a while, just enjoying their company.
We walked a long time, and by and by, we ended our walk by stepping inside a big, silver box.
Had I known what was going to happen, I would never have entered that box, but I did. The other skunks around me began changing. I realized with a start that I was changing, too! I was growing larger, and my tail was shrinking. My fur withdrew into my skin, and in it's place, strange hanging things appeared around my body.
The other skunks had all become human kits, and with extreme dismay, I realized that I had become one, too. They began talking among themselves. It surprised me to learn that I could understand what they were saying.
"Wasn't that neat?" one said.
"I want to do that again!" said another.
"All that fur, it was so cool!"
"I wonder what we get to be next week."
"Too bad we didn't get to spray anybody."
A door opened in the box and a human woman escorted the kits out. I went along with them, not knowing what else to do. We entered a room full of big wooden desks and the kits began sitting down. Taking my cue from them, I found myself a seat.
"Well then," said the woman. Something in my mind told me that her name was "teacher". "What did we learn on our field trip today?"
"Skunks are really soft and fluffy!" said one of the kits.
"They like to eat bugs." reported another.
I tried to absorb the situation. I was now a human kit in a room full of human kits, who, it appeared, had temporarily become skunks to learn what it was like. When I had joined the group, they had assumed I was one of them and turned me into a human with the others. It was all a big mistake. I would correct it at once.
I sought to address Teacher. Instinct told me to raise my paw.
Teacher looked back at me and said "Yes... um... I don't recognize you, son. Are you new in this class?"
"Yes, Ma'am, I am."
"What is your name?"
"Grrngchk, Ma'am."
The other kits all began to laugh.
"Your real name, please."
"That is my real name. There's been a mistake. I'm not supposed to be a boy. I'm a skunk."
Now the other kits were really laughing.
"I think you're confused." said teacher, looking worried. "You're really a human boy. You only became a skunk for today's field trip."
"No, Ma'am. I'm a real skunk. I got turned into a boy by mistake."
A bell rang. My human instincts told me to get up and run out the door with all of the other kits, but I stood my ground. I had to get the teacher to change me back.
"Aren't you going to go home?"
"I can't. I won't fit in the burrow like this."
Teacher leaned down and took my paw. "Come with me." she said, gently.
We went to another room to see another woman. "Dinah?" said Teacher. "We have a problem. This boy thinks he's really a skunk."
Dinah looked upset. "Oh, no! I tried to tell the school board that this was going to happen when they installed that stupid transmogrifier!"
"What do we do now?"
"I was hoping you would know."
For hours on end I sat there as Teacher and Dinah debated what to do with me, until finally, a third woman entered the room. She seemed almost familiar, and yet...
"I'm Mrs. Diletsum." said the woman. "I'm the boy's mother."
Teacher breathed a sigh of relief. "I fear that the transmogrifier may have affected his mind, Mrs. Diletsum."
"It's not the transmogrifier." she replied. "Greg's what's called a species dysphoric, or furry. He's always believed that he was a skunk. Come along, Gregory."
"No!" I cried as she grabbed my paw. "I'm not a boy! I'm a skunk! I'm a skunk!"
She took me outside the building and into the woods. We stopped there, to my confusion, and stopped to watch Dinah and Teacher leave the school. Once they were gone, Mrs. Diletsum took me back and stepped with me inside the silver box. We waited only a moment, and then our clothes vanished and we grew fur, shrinking and growing tails. All the while I stared at her face. Then suddenly, I recognized her. {MOM!}
{That's right, my little kit. Oh, I was so worried about you when you got into that transmogrifier! I thought you were going to be a human forever!}
{So did I!}
{Come along, Grrngchk. There's a warm burrow waiting for us at home.}
And so I followed Mom home, joying in the fact that I was now what I was supposed to be. I'm a skunk!