a narrow escape

The other nite, my husband was having a fairly bad allergy attack. It was late, around 11:30. I woke up because I could hear him coughing and wheezing, and I asked him if he was alright. He said yes, he was. Twenty minutes later, it got worse. I asked if he wanted to go outside. At first he said no, but after a few more minutes of obvious discomfort and misery, he said that yeah, probably he should go outside for awhile. The fresh air would do his allergies good.

I grabbed my robe and threw it over my pj’s and shoved my feet into flip-flops. The Man actually got dressed. He told me to stay inside, but I informed him that I would be joining him. No way he was going to have to sit outside by himself; it’s kinda my fault that his allergies are acting up. He’s allergic to my little poochy love Chiquita, and the only reason he tolerates her is because I love her so much.

So we head outside, and it was a beautiful, clear nite. Stars were out, it was truly lovely. We sat on the porch and talked for awhile. Talked about things many and varied. It was soothing and quiet, and his allergies slowly got better. His breathing eased, he quit coughing, and he seemed a lot more comfortable.

While we don’t exactly live in the wilds, there are animals that go roaming around our ‘hood in the nite. Mostly, cats and dogs, but we get the occasional wild beastie. Mice, raccoons, even coyotes. Anyway, there was a cat that kept wandering around, unafraid of us as it kept coming into our driveway. I heard it moving around behind us, over by the shed. I asked The Man if he wanted to go inside, and he said in a few minutes he would be ready. A few seconds later, I heard the cat come up the stairs behind me. Our back porch has two sets of stairs on opposite ends, with a landing about four feet across, separating them. I mentioned to The Man that the cat was behind me, and turned to look at it.

A few seconds of squinting in the dark, I said in a low, low voice, “Um. I don’t think that’s a cat.”

He says, “What is it?”

I reply, “I really don’t know, but I don’t think it’s a cat…”

He asks, “Is it a skunk?”

I ask, “Do skunks have white butts?”

He says, “….. I think we should very slowly go inside the house….”

I reply with, “I totally, totally agree….”

People, that was a close one!

4 down, 96 to go!