Thursdays are for stories.

Throwback Thursday Story time.

I know the usually throwback Thursday is for photos but I thought it would be fun to do a story time memory instead. Maybe I can try doing one every Thursday but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

One of my favorite stories starts off on a cold, foggy, morning when I was getting ready to go to school at Alta Murrieta. I was in the third grade with nappy hair and bottle cap glasses. I would walk about a mile or so to school with friends but some mornings could be pretty chilly so my mom would put my jacket in the dryer before I headed off so that I was warm. My jacket was a huge, over-stuffed, cotton candy pink jacket that I wore every single day.

On this particular morning while eating breakfast my family and I smelled the worst skunk smell in the house. This wasn’t really uncommon as there were plenty of skunks around the neighborhood and a lot of dogs in the yards. We knew it must have been really close as the smell was so pungent. We ate breakfast and my mom went and fetched my jacket. While walking to school I realized the skunk smell had lingered on me from home and still smelled pretty strongly. Figuring it would wear off by the time I got to school I kept on going.

I had Mrs. Shannon who was your stereotypical ‘mean’ elementary school teacher that had no sense of humor. Looking back, I wonder if she was really that mean or if I just really hated fractions and math. The school wasn’t fully developed yet as the city was just new so all of the classrooms were mobile buildings.

I arrived at class, sat in my little desk, and put away my backpack. About 30 minutes into the lesson I heard my classmates whispering about how bad it smelled in the classroom. I didn’t really think much of it at this point but wondered if they were talking about the skunk stench. About five minutes after that, Mrs. Shannon picked up the phone and I could hear her asking for the janitorial office. About 10 minutes after that she announced that,“There might be a skunk under the building”.

I remember thinking….so maybe this is about the skunk smell. I was nervous but I also didn't want to say anything because I was so embarrassed. I can still remember it so clearly; just sitting there not knowing what to do. The janitor came and asked the class to evacuate so that they could look under the building. We all lined up against the building while the grown-ups discussed what actions would be taken to get the skunk.

This is where my memory fades me….for the life of me I cannot remember how it came about that everyone realized the smell was coming from me. I don’t know if a classmate told on me or if I finally confessed. I don’t know if Mrs. Shannon pulled me aside and said, “You stink”…but whatever happened in those dreadful 10 min I have no recollection. I just remember after the fact standing away from all of my classmates while the janitor went to get a plastic bag for my jacket. I remember standing there with my fluffy, pink jacket all bundled up in the bag and I think I may have been crying softly which was steaming up my bifocals. My mom came and picked me up and we headed home.

I remember the shenanigans at the house trying to figure out what had occurred- such a mystery. Well, a few days later my dad solved it. He took apart the dryer and pulled a scorched- crispy- black-burnt skunk corpse from the motor of the dryer. Turns out the little rascal had climbed up into the dryer and when my mom went to dry my jacket she scorched him sending his entire potion spray onto my jacket.

We couldn't believe it! It was really something out of a movie. It has always been one of my all time favorite stories to tell people. Sometimes I don’t mind when embarrassing things happen to me because they are always the greatest stories to tell afterwards. My mom felt awful for sending her 7 year old to school covered in skunk juice but what are you gonna do? Happy Thursday.