A Harrowing Sight

Last night I was driving home from my friend Elaine’s house and was very surprised to see three skunks in the middle of the road! The sun had set, and I was driving down one of those narrow country roads that have no stripes down the middle, or sides, and no street lights to improve visibility. There were no houses in sight, and the road was twisting and turning. I had just gone around a very sharp “hairpin” turn and saw the skunks walking, on “my” side, head to tail – like you would see elephants on parade! They all appeared to be the same size, so I couldn’t tell if they were a mother skunk leading her babies across the road or not.

When my headlights hit them, I braked as quick as I could, and started to steer the car away from the direction they were walking. Uttering a silent prayer “please, Lord, don’t let me hit these skunks” I tensed up and held my breath. I was SURE that I was going to hear that horrible “thunk” that would confirm that my evasive actions were inadequate. But no thunk came. And no skunk perfume wafted up at me. I let out a sigh of relief, and looked in my rear view mirror to see if I could see the skunks, but the darkness of the night had already enveloped the threesome. They were gone from sight. I offered up a silent “thank you Lord” and started to breathe normally again. But I kept my eyes sharply peeled for any other wildlife that might decide to cross the road as I continued my journey home. Thankfully that was the most exciting part of the trip.

Although I marveled at seeing the three skunks walking nose-to-tail like that, I hope to never see a sight like that again while driving in a car! And now I can’t get that song “Dead skunk in the middle of the road” out of my head! Maybe after watching this YouTube video about the song will help me get over it quicker!