Or a queen,
And that includes the animal kingdom.
Some have a male heir,
Some have a female heir,
It all depends on when and where.
For this tale,
The when is long ago,
And the where is Besondere forest.
The forest had many kings and queens in residence,
It was a noble wood.
Amongst the royals that dwelled,
There was the Skunk Queen,
Leader and ruler,
Of the black and white striped creatures.
The skunks were much loved animals,
Loved for their kind nature,
And beautiful fur.
Their fur was so desired,
That the men of the nearby village,
Began to hunt them for it.
Every season,
More and more skunks were hunted,
Until their numbers became low,
And they were endangered.
The Queen was displeased,
She was furious with the humans,
For not only hunting her kind,
But for making the others scared of everything,
And everyone,
And so she went deeper,
Into the centre of Besondere forest,
Where she found a wandering druid.
“Wise one…” she pleaded,
“Transform me so that I,
Can walk amongst the men,
So I may seek justice.”
The druid gazed,
And consulted a nearby tree,
Plucking a silver leaf,
He brewed a tea,
And gave it to the Queen.
“Be warned…” he said,
“This will not last long,
And a pong will linger…”
The skunk wasted no time,
And rushed to the village of the men,
Where,
She did transform,
Into a royal human,
With black and white striped hair.
Late at night,
And stole from the barber shop,
A bottle of foam,
And a sharp razor blade.
She entered the home,
Of every hunter,
And whilst they slept,
Shaved their hair.
When they woke in the morning,
They yelled and shouted,
And ran out of their homes into the street,
Where they did see,
The Skunk Queen.
As they ran towards her,
Angry,
Hair clumps clenched in fists,
She began to panic.
The worry made her heart race,
And as it beat stronger,
And as it beat quickly,
The potion began to wear off,
Until she was back to her normal form,
A small skunk.
Oozing from her came an odor.
A stench most foul,
That made all the hunters fall to their knees,
Made them sick,
Stung their eyes,
And made them flee.
And from that day on,
Whenever a skunk was scared,
Or frightened,
They would remember what happened to their queen,
And let out the foulest stench.