Dead Raccoon

It was unusually warm this early in the Spring and this day was unusually bright. The cloudless sky letting the Sun pour forth it's fury onto the Earth unabated.

The young male raccoon had been asleep. Safe in his nest with his siblings and big female mother. He hears a hiss at his ear. It's mom wakening him up to his new life. She begins to nip at his nose and forepaws. Teeth bared. Agressive.

The male heir is startled. Why is she acting this way? She starts to bite. Viciously. He scurries outside. He scurries to escape. He scurries into a new life.

The big female stands guard to her nest. It is now time for the male child to leave. It is nature's way.

The young male wanders in the woods most of the day. Confused. Hungry. Scared. He finds a wood pile of old fencing covered with blackberry vines and surrounded by an odd assortment of forest ground cover. Grabbing a paw full of early berries he scrambles into the pile to hide and ponder what to do next. He falls asleep.

He awakes with a yawn. It is dark as the Sun has long ago drifted below the horizon. The raccoon sniffs the air. Hungry, he must find something to eat. Soon. There must be a birdnest or big beetle or grub worm near by. He leaves his hiding place.

The young male knows by instinct that he must find his own territory before whomever owns the one he's in finds him. Looking around and sniffing for odors that will help his decision he embarks to a scent that oddly smells of . . . he does not know. Curious, he follows the scent.

Traveling about a hundred yards he encounters a ditch. Crossing the dry depression he emerges from the weeds onto a road! That is what he smelled, the road. The raccoon touches the surface with his left paw gingerly. He sniffs it. He hears something approaching. Fast.

The bright headlights leap across the small mound in the road catching the raccoon in its glare. Not knowing what to do the young male stands transfixed in the beam. The car moved to avoid the animal but was to late. The right front wheel hits the young raccoon sending him skidding to the shoulder in the weeds. He lies lifeless just off the asphalt that so caught his attention.

. . . . .

What a perfect day. Warm. No rain. Sunny. A day to get the juices going after a hard winter. A day a young girl in love fantasizes and immortalizes in journals and tweets!

Then her parents ruined it! Told her she must not see her beloved Johnny not again. Not ever. They forbid it! They don't understand that she loves him so. And he loves her! He said so. So many times! They can't tell her not to see her handsome Johnny! She stormed out of the house and into her car that morning full of rage and anger.

The teenager drove around for hours. Not knowing what to do. Johnny did not get off work till late. Doing overtime this night for whatever reason. She must see him! She crys.

Her parents tried to call her. She ignores their calls. Not ready to speak with them. Later. After seeing Johnny. The Sun is long gone now. It is time to see her beloved Johnny.

As she nears his place of work she recalls the morning. Anger welling in her chest once more. Tears streaming down her face. She will tell her Johnny every thing. How she loves him so. Her right foot unknowingly pressing the throttle closer to the floor.

The car tops a mound in the road and the light beams immediately catch the raccoon. The animal's eyes reflect back to the young girl as shiny red orbs. She over corrects to miss the little male raccoon and skids off the road. The teenager did not feel the right front tire hit the raccoon.

She turns the steering wheel hard to the right to get back onto the road but the momentum is too great. The car slams into the tree just at the driver's door. The force of stopping so suddenly wraps the car around the 2 foot diameter tree. She died instantly. Along with the sound of the crash.

. . . . .

Hours later a bored deputy sheriff making his rounds finds the wreck. He calls dispatch.

Red lights, blue lights, yellow lights all flashing at different intervals surrounds the wreck. Police, fire, EMT, wrecker vehicles all have their jobs to do and they do it well. Soon the photos are taken, phone calls are made, deputies dispatched to the home of the now deceased girl. The reporter making her final report to the newspaper.
The ambulance has taken the body to the morgue. All is quiet again.

The Sun is trying to peak over the horizon to begin a new day. The mother raccoon now comes out of hiding to survey what all the hubbub was about just a few moments ago. She sniffs the air. A familiar scent fills her nostrils.

She ambers over to her now dead son. Sniffing again the fur she knows so well she backs off. Looking at him she raises her head and spits. She turns around and ambers back into the forest.

All that remains is one dead raccoon along the shoulder of the road.