Skunk Lady

Mr. Beecher would slap Chrissy, who had a bad smell, with a powder puff to cover it up. She carried money in her mouth, so people gave her what she needed instead. Restaurants gave her scraps for her animals, but she had dirty hands. The military academy even called her when they had a skunk problem. Eventually, her house was condemned, so the town built her a new one. Sadly, she only lived there for four months before passing away. People miss her because she was well-loved. I saw Mr. Beecher run out of his store lots of times to slap her with a powder puff of talcum. He'd want her to cover up the smell as she walked by. It was bad for business. She'd go gagging and coughing along to every store along the way. And get this. She carried money around in her mouth for safekeeping, so nobody wanted it. They'd rather just give her whatever she needed. Restaurants would give her scraps for the animals in her house, and as for me, I wouldn't let her fish around in my big candy barrel because her hands were so filthy. I'd just say, hold on there, Chrissy. Let me get that for you. No charge, honey. You keep your money. I do have to say she was always grateful. Oh yeah, the military academy was a little suspicious of her. But even they lowered themselves to call her over when they had a skunk under a porch. Chrissy dove right under there and in short order popped right up with a baby skunk clinging to her coat. That was a sight to see, I tell ya. All that said, Chrissy was a happy lady, and the kids in town loved her. In fact, when the health department finally condemned her house by the railroad tracks, everyone got together and built her a new house with modern plumbing and a real floor. Unfortunately, she only lived there for about four months before she passed away. We think she was about 80 years old. And we always thought that after all those years living in filth with skunks, snakes, and possums, she had a hard time adjusting to the cleanliness of a new house. I don't know if that's true, but we miss her. Our skunk lady was well loved.