By Maria Pandil
The Skunk and The Four Friends
It was a summer day, nearing fall, when four friends were preparing to camp on the banks of the Colorado River. Late in the afternoon, the atmosphere became very hot, the suffocation did not even let the leaves of the trees move.
At nightfall, the four friends prepared to go to sleep. One lay down in a beach chair, the other two made themselves comfortable in the car they were traveling in, but with the doors open because, according to them, they would be cooler that way. Zar, the lucky dog, would lie down on a piece of carpet that his owner had brought him to sleep, to rest that night.
Each in his place, the three people began to talk about everything they had done throughout the day exploring the river, and the dog, lying down, just watched them. The night passed, you could see the full moon and the water of the river, practically in peace, in silence. The friends continued commenting on the rest of the exploits that occurred during the day.
But, already very late, between talks and laughter, two of them saw that, behind their partner’s back, a black lump with a white stripes appeared, blending into the night, but moving from one side to the other. Quickly, the four friends stood up, to see what it was or if that strange thing would make movements that could harm them.
The three boys got scared and started moving too. But, Zar, the great faithful friend, did not count from one to ten, he immediately began to run after the black animal, as if wanting to protect his friends from the intruder, who had invaded his camp.
At that very moment they had nothing else to do, but between the three of them they stopped Zar and simply watched as the skunk took control of the camp. But, in reality, the only thing that poor animal wanted was to eat, because it moved from one place to another sniffing, first, the box of fishing tools, and, later, the plastic bags that contained the food.
That black animal with a white stripe on its back was nothing more and nothing less than a hungry skunk. So Zar did not let the animal satisfy his hunger, he growled and barked at him, to scare him away, and every time he saw him approaching, he barked at the defenseless animal, to run him out of the camp.
In a little while, the skunk returned as if he did not remember that the dog had already run him out of his domain. But the skunk, stubborn and insistent, continued to roam the camp, looking for something, messing with the things of Zar’s friends. The skunk was looking for something in the dark. The dog looked at him and barked at him again until he could no longer.
Zar showed that he would not let that animal spoil things in the camp or eat his friends’ food. The faithful friend did not care that the skunk could spray him with that stinking liquid that these animals secrete. But apparently, everything turned into a game, because after a while the poor defenseless animal returned again to where the four friends were still camping, as if it were the first time he had done so. From which the visitors were saved, because the skunk could have drawn on its animal instinct to defend itself, urinating on the four friends. But he didn’t.
The skunk just kept looking for something to eat, sniffing around. Afterwards, the four friends would only scare him away, and the hungry skunk would continue looking for his prey.
Written by Maria Pandil
In Spanish
El Zorrillo y Los Cuatro Amigos
Era un día de verano, casi llegando el otoño, cuando cuatro amigos se disponían a acampar en las márgenes del río Colorado. Ya entrada la tarde, el ambiente se tornaba muy caluroso; el sofoco no dejaba ni que las hojas de los árboles se movieran.
Al anochecer, los cuatro amigos se prepararon para ir a dormir. Uno se acostó en una silla playera; los otros dos, se acomodaron en el automóvil donde viajaban, pero con las puertas abiertas porque, según ellos, estarían frescos de esa forma, y, Zar, el afortunado perro, se acostaría en un pedazo de alfombra que su amo le había llevado para que descansara esa noche.
Cada quien en su lugar, las tres personas empezaron a platicar todo lo que habían hecho a lo largo del día explorando el río, y el perro, echado, solo los observaba. Transcurría la noche, se podía ver la luna llena y el agua del río, prácticamente en paz, en silencio. Los amigos seguían comentando el resto de las hazañas ocurridas durante el día.
Pero, ya muy tarde, entre pláticas y risas, dos de ellos miraron que, a espaldas de uno de los amigos, se asomaba un bulto negro con rayas blancas, confundiéndose con la noche, pero que se movía hacia un lado y hacia el otro. Rápidamente, los cuatro amigos se pusieron de pie, para ver qué era aquello o si esa cosa rara hacía otro movimiento que a ellos pudiera dañar.
Los tres chicos se asustaron y empezaron a moverse también. Pero, Zar, el gran amigo fiel, no contó del uno al diez, inmediatamente comenzó a correr tras el animal negro, como queriendo proteger a sus amigos del intruso, que había invadido su campamento.
En ese mismo momento, ellos no tuvieron más que hacer, sino que entre los tres detuvieron a Zar, y simplemente observaron cómo la mofeta tomaba el control del campamento. Pero, en realidad, lo único que deseaba aquel pobre animal era comer, pues se movía de un lado a otro olfateando, primero, la caja de herramientas de pesca, y, después, las bolsas de plástico que contenían la comida.
Ese animal negro con una raya blanca en el lomo, era nada más y nada menos que un zorrillo hambriento. Así que Zar, no dejó que el animal saciara su hambre,le gruñó y le ladró, para ahuyentarlo, y cada vez que lo veía acercarse, corria tras el indefenso animal sacandolo aterrorizado del lugar.
Al poco rato, el zorrillo volvió como si no recordara que el perro ya lo había echado de su dominio. Pero la mofeta, terca e insistente, siguió vagando por el campamento, buscando algo, jugando con las cosas de los amigos de Zar. La mofeta buscaba algo en la oscuridad. El perro lo miró y volvió a ladrarle hasta que ya no pudo más.
Zar demostró que no dejaría que ese animal estropeara las cosas en el campamento o comiera la comida de sus amigos. Al fiel amigo no le importó que la mofeta pudiera rociarlo con ese apestoso líquido que segregan estos animales.
Pero al parecer, todo se convirtió en un juego, pues al cabo de un rato el pobre indefenso animal volvió a donde aún acampaban los cuatro amigos, como si fuera la primera vez que lo hacía. De lo cual se salvaron los visitantes, porque la mofeta pudo haber echado mano de su instinto animal para defenderse, orinando sobre los cuatro amigos. Pero no lo hizo.
La mofeta siguió buscando algo para comer, husmeando. Después, los cuatro amigos solo lo ahuyentaban, y el zorrillo hambriento seguiría en otro lugar buscando a su presa. Escrito por
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