The Fighting Spirit
I tried to hide in the corner as the bigger football players got into their uniforms. It was the last match of the season, and I hadn't gotten out of a single game unscathed yet. Sure, I was more than big enough to be on the team, but I was still...
Filling a Tank
It was one of those days. You know the kind - you come home after a long night out, you're tired, you're sticky in various places and covered in another guy's smell. Yeah. One of those days you come home alone. I turned up the speakers all the way,...
Hooking up
I stood outside the hotel, unsure whether I wanted to venture in or not. Normally I didn't go in for the online hookups, especially having one or two friends with benefits around, but every now and then everyone else has gone to bed and it's 2 am and...
The Naughty List
Like most days where it was too cold to even _think_ about making dinner, Mattock and I were at the local all-you-can-eat Feed Trough. It had been snowing for most of the week, and our waistlines were starting to show it. Thank heaven for...
A Clockwork Tanuki
The city fair was busy, even with the rain. The street vendors had put up awnings to keep everyone dry, but I had my umbrella out as well as I browsed. I had been spending far too much time browsing this booth where the older ape lady from the comic...
Before the party
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me--as usual-- - seven swans a-swimming, - six geese a-laying, - five go~old rings, - four calling birds, - three French hens, - two turtledoves, - a partridge in a pear tree, - and no return...
Chasing Rainbows
"So you're telling me you make all your income just by... _living through_ holidays?" Mattock was indignant. The chubby red kangaroo that Musky had brought to the party was adorable, sure, but he seemed to take personal offense to the idea of being...
The Hog's Head
Another night in the bar, another blind Internet date. All right, another attempt at a hookup. The slimmer young man sitting opposite me had moved as far away from me as he could manage while still sitting at the same table, and the disdain on his...
Accidental Valentines
The familiar, gentle _ping_ in my head woke me early. Awareness days. They come with a little mental radar display that tells you what's around you. This one told me: white is bad, red is good. You're white. I groaned and rolled over in bed. I...
Sleeping without Blankets
We stopped using blankets, the nights Mattock stayed over. As a tubby skunk, I tended to keep the bed kind of warm all by myself; add a chubby roo into the mix and it would be sweat city if we tried to cover up. Of course, we didn't really like to...
Facing Prejudice
I'm a skunk. In a modern world that shouldn't mean anything, but there's still a lot of prejudice left over and you find it in the most surprising places. Today it started while I was crossing the food court at the mall. A little foxgirl held her nose...
Taking the Monster in the Showers
I looked around the locker room one last time to make sure it was empty, really empty. It never does to take chances when you're taking chances. Once I was sure I had the all-clear, I pulled out my duffel bag and sat on the benches outside the shower...