{"sf1_id":1672329,"sf2_id":"B1QNRkve","title":"Strange Bedfellows or Why you Shouldn't Sleep in Trees...","author":"Inked_Fox_Productions","words":919,"posted_at":"2021-01-11T20:14:07.000Z","tags":["Alcohol","Bush bash","Drunk","Feral","Forest","Furry","Human","Humor","Male","Night","Opossum","Parnter","Party","Reminscing","Short Story","Sleeping","Startle","Tail","Tree","animal","crazy","cursing","fall","funny","large","limbs","memory","screaming","squat","surprise","unexpected","vicious","wild","wilderness"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1672329-strange-bedfellows-or-why-you-shouldn-t-sleep-in-trees","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/B1QNRkve","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/d8/47/d8479dad-5c5c-4be7-95be-22c6f3b4b222","description":"There is something to be said about partying too hard, as you might find yourself in an odd place, but wait till it happens in the forest...","content":"Strange Bedfellows\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nOr\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhy You Shouldn't Sleep in Trees…\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nA True Story - Based on the Life of Mister Sillers\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThis story happened long before it was in vogue to pave pathways across green spaces, back when people had to find their own way through the local forest.\u0026nbsp; Natural deer runs made navigating the interior of the wood fairly easy and the main river made an excellent landmark.\u0026nbsp; Things have changed a lot since then; the forest has been reshaped and domesticated, losing part of its natural charm.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBack when I was younger and the forest was far less civilized, my friends and I used to spend a lot of time in the bush.\u0026nbsp; There were all sorts of activities to do for the woodsier of us, like hiking, fishing and exploring. \u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIn the heart of the forest there was a man-made enclosure, crafted from living vines, which created a natural blind.\u0026nbsp; The space was large enough for a decent fire pit and plenty of lawn chairs.\u0026nbsp; When the forest was in full swing, you could walk right past the dome without ever seeing it.\u0026nbsp; Basically it was our own secret base, hidden away from the rest of the world.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLater on when we got older, being out in the bush was all about relaxing and partying.\u0026nbsp; I can remember plenty of awesome bush bashes, all of which ended with great memories!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAfter a particularly crazy get together, I decided that walking home wasn't in my best interests, so I did the only rational thing at the time… \u0026nbsp;I climbed up a tree to sleep it off.\u0026nbsp; The reason why I chose this particular tree was due to it having a natural cradle, not too far off the ground.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nJust a side note, I'm one of those people that can sleep basically anywhere, so long as I can get comfortable. \u0026nbsp;The groove in the tree was perfect and sleep quickly washed over me. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Looking back on the occasion, I must have slept up there for a few hours.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLater during the evening, my stomach started to feel really warm.\u0026nbsp; I mean, yes it was summer and I had been drinking, but this heat felt a little strange.\u0026nbsp; The discomfort was enough to rouse me from my sleep. \u0026nbsp;I slowly opened my eyes, carefully stretching, while trying vainly to shake off the grogginess from the booze.\u0026nbsp; Looking out from my makeshift perch, I noticed the sun had almost dropped below the horizon, leaving the forest in the dim light of dusk.\u0026nbsp; There's something beautiful about the woods just before it becomes dark.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAfter a few moments, I realized the warmth that had disturbed my slumber also had a fair bit of weight to it.\u0026nbsp; Needless to say, I broke out into a cold sweat, considering I was sitting a good eight feet off the ground.\u0026nbsp; I highly doubted that it was a stray cat or a family of cuddly squirrels…\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAvoiding any unnecessary movement, I lowered my chin to my chest that's when I saw it; sitting on my stomach was a huge opossum!\u0026nbsp; The damn thing had curled up in a ball and was snoring!\u0026nbsp; If you have never encountered an opossum before, you're in for a treat.\u0026nbsp; They look like a nightmare come to life… all teeth, claws and prehensile tail.\u0026nbsp; Opossums have a white narrow wedge shaped head, squat little black legs that end in pink toes and a round bright pink nose.\u0026nbsp; They also have small black Mickey Mouse ears and a short grey body that ends in a long, scaly looking tail.\u0026nbsp; Let me put it this way, an opossum isn't going to win any beauty pageants.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Especially not the personality component; they may have a shot at the talent portion though… \u0026nbsp;So, finding one dreaming peacefully on my gut like a cat was quite the disturbing sight!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nDon't get me wrong, they can be cute when they are little or with enough PR work, but in light of the current circumstances… Nope!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMoments later, either by chance or pure bad luck, the opossum woke up and that's when things went sideways…\u0026nbsp; Basically, it went from an awkward coyote lay to a full on freak-out!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWithin moments, we were a tangle of flaying limbs, bared teeth, screeching and cursing.\u0026nbsp; Having lost my balance, we fell from the tree to the ground below.\u0026nbsp; Luckily for the opossum, they escaped from the fall relatively unscathed; I couldn't quite say the same for myself...\u0026nbsp; I felt the wind being knocked out of me, as I crashed against the soft earth below.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nTemporarily stunned, I could only watch out of the corner of my eye, as the possum lumbered off of my prone body. \u0026nbsp;Thankfully, the earlier aerial struggle seemed to have soured their interest in me and they waddled off into the underbrush.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI must have lain there for at least fifteen minutes before I could slowly and painfully pick myself up off the ground.\u0026nbsp; The shadows had grown long during my brief respite, giving the once cheerful forest a malevolent tinge.\u0026nbsp; Seeing as I had over stayed my welcome, all I could do at this point was make my way home and hope that my bed was empty…\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThanks for joining me as I relive some of the moments of my life; I hope you enjoyed it!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMister Sillers\n\n\u0026nbsp;"}