*****
Yes, Blacky had gone back to bed. He lay there on top of the covers with a bag of chocolate balanced upon his belly. He was wide awake as he stared at the ceiling. It was a boring ceiling, but he did not really care about that. The skunk took another bite of chocolate and imagined what it would be like to remain in his bed for always. It did seem a little hard, but then there really was no point to leaving it if all the animals in Cottontail Pines did not like him anymore. Maybe, his mother could bring him food now and then. Sure she would! If mothers are good for anything, they always feed their children. Yes, Blacky would do just fine in bed.
There was a knock on his bedroom door. Blacky sat up bumping some chocolate over between his legs. “What?” he called.
A voice returned, “It’s Flopsy. Can I come in?”
Blacky pulled his covers up and over himself and turned away from the door. “No!” he said tersely.
Flopsy came in anyways and saw the pitiful sight. She gulped and nervously said, “I’m sorry, Blacky, but I really needed to talk to you. I was wondering if we could go to Oak Pass together.”
“I’m sleeping,” said the skunk without looking at her.
“But you’re talking to me,” said the nervous bunny. “How can you talk if you’re asleep?”
“Practice.”
Flopsy walked over to the skunk and rolled him over till he faced her. “Blacky, come on. I have a special surprise for you.”
Blacky did not smile. He just glared at her. “Really?”
“Yes,” nodded Flopsy. “It’s a special surprise.” She paused. “A very special surprise.”
Blacky did not say or do anything for a bit. He just glared at the poor bunny for a little while. Finally, he yanked away the covers and stood up. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” Flopsy was unsure how to take his response. Blacky was acting a whole lot more glum than he usually did; however, she still led him to Oak Pass hoping things would still go well.
As Blacky followed Flopsy, he had a lot of time to think. He thought about how really dreadful his birthday had been. He thought about how everyone avoided him. He thought about how he had to eat cereal instead of cake–and not even the sugary kind! All these things really bothered him.
As Flopsy stepped up to the great oak tree that centered Oak Pass, she could see all her friends waiting in hiding ready to spring up at her signal. Blacky was entirely none the wiser. She was just about to wave her paws when Blacky suddenly shouted, “I have something to say to you, Flopsy!”
Flopsy had not expected this. She said, “Can it wait just three more seconds, Blacky?”
“No!” said the skunk. “I need to get this off my chest right now. You see, ever since I woke up today–on my birthday–all I wanted was a little consideration for it. I didn’t want much–maybe, a little cake–but at least, you or someone else could have just spent time with me.”
“Blacky,” said the bunny worriedly as she wrung her little paws.
“No, just listen to me!” snapped the skunk. “I know I may be grumpy, but I thought you and everyone else in this town were my friends. Even Walnut ran away from me! I guess I really don’t have any friends after all. I’ve decided to go back to my room and just sleep for the rest of my life. Maybe, my mom can bring me candy every now and then while I just lay there wasting away because I don’t have any friends who care about me.”
Flopsy turned and waved her paws. Suddenly, everyone in the town–and I do mean everyone–jumped out of hiding yelling out the words, “Happy birthday, Blacky!”
Blacky continued, “And one more thing: what is so wrong about getting a little cake on my birthday? Is that too much to ask? All my life, everyone keeps telling me that I’m going to get fat or something! Well, I wouldn’t mind getting fat if I could eat cake at the same time!” He paused and looked at everybody without any change of expression. Finally, he asked, “Happy what-now?”
Everyone crowded around the skunk wishing him a happy birthday. A banner was raised in his honor. Food was given out, and everyone began to laugh and have a good time. Some even shook the skunk’s paw and patted him on the head with congratulations on his new year. Blacky just stood there with a frown while all this happened to him. Flopsy, Goober, and Gumdrop approached him carefully. Goober said, “We were planning this the whole day. I provided many of the party supplies which I keep in my trunk.”
Gumdrop added, “It was all my idea. Don’t you like it?” Blacky still said nothing.
Flopsy said to him, “We tried really hard to keep it a secret from you. It wasn’t our fault you went around trying to be social with everyone suddenly. We didn’t expect that.”
Blacky–after even more grumpy silence–finally asked, “You planned a surprise party for me?”
“Yes, Blacky,” said the bunny.
“And you didn’t make a cake?”
Mister Hooty came up suddenly with cake for the grumpy skunk. Blacky took the plate and looked at it. It was chocolate–his favorite. “Here you go, birthday boy!” hooted the owl. “Your own mother made the cake. It is quite delightful–if I do say so, and I do.”
The skunk took the fork and said, “Okay, I forgive everybody.” And he walked ahead stuffing his face full of cake. Flopsy smiled at her friends. Goober gave everyone a thumbs up. Gumdrop was perfectly content.
A little while later–after Blacky had rather engorged himself on chocolate cake–Walnut the squirrel boy came up to the skunk. He sat next to his friend with a blush. Neither of them spoke for a bit, but Blacky–after observing something–said, “I think your tail is almost as big as mine.”
“Really?!” asked Walnut pressing his tail against Blacky’s. Really, they did seem like they were almost as big.
“Yeah, look at it,” nodded the skunk. “Maybe, in the month or so…”
“I can’t wait!” cried the squirrel. Walnut embraced his best friend. Blacky patted him on the back.
The skunk asked, “Want me to get you some cake?”
“Sure! You can have a bigger piece than me since it’s your birthday, Blacky.”
The skunk stood up and said, “Good idea.” Walnut followed him there. As it turned out, everyone had a very good time at Blacky’s birthday party. Although, nobody actually saw him smile, everyone agreed that they had never seen the skunk so happy.
The end.
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