The Opossum and Raccoon

The raccoon and the opossum were great friends. They talked, they went on walks together, they explored together, they played together, they worked together and they got along quite well as good friends normally do.

One day they were out exploring when they came across an old apple tree. It was late fall and most of the apples had fallen and been eaten by deer and bears. There were, however, four apple still hanging in the tree. They climbed the tree and began helping themselves. The opossum ate a little faster than the raccoon, or perhaps his apple was a mite smaller. In any case he finished first and started on his second apple. The raccoon finished his a moment later and went for the last apple on the tree. He climbed out the branch that the apple was attached to but the branch grew very small at the end and would break under his weight. He climbed the branch above it but he couldn't quite reach far enough down. He reached from the branch below but he wasn't tall enough. He reached from the side but his arms were just too short. The opossum, who by this time was finished with his last apple, notice the predicament the raccoon was in. He climbed out onto the branch above the apple, wrapped his tail around the branch and hanging from his tail he easily grabbed the apple and gave it to the raccoon.

"That's quite a useful tail you have there," commented the raccoon.

"Thank you friend 'Coon," replied the opossum.

Later that day as they were playing in the creek, catching crawdads and such, the opossum, who was not such a great swimmer, happened to step into a deep hole in the creek-bed, stumbled and fell out into the swift water. He was swept downstream and since he was not a strong swimmer he was unable to reach shore and was in great danger of drowning. The raccoon saw what was happening and plunged into the deep water and swam after the opossum. He, being a much better swimmer, soon caught up with the opossum and helped him to shore.

"Thank you for saving my life," gasped the opossum. "I thought I was done for. You're quite a swimmer by the way"

"Why thank you mister opossum. That's quite kind"

The next day the two were sitting side by side on a log beside the creek.

"Speaking of your tail by the way," said the raccoon, "what's with it?"

"What's wrong with it?" asked the opossum. "It looks like a perfectly normal tail to me."

" Why it's so ugly!" answered the raccoon, "It's so long and thin a-a-and there's no hair on it. Just take my tail for instance. It's so soft and furry and those beautiful stripes on it are quite handsome don't you think? Yours is just scaly and hard and stained with persimmon juice."

By now the opossum was quite angry. "Why you horrid 'coon! My tail is perfectly fine the way it is. But your face on the other hand looks entirely ridiculous. You look like a robber or something with that stupid looking strip of dark fur over your eyes. Why am I even hanging out with such a sketchy looking person?"

This now made the raccoon quite angry and they began to insult each other until they were both so angry they jumped off the log and went their separate ways.

The next morning they were still both quite angry and instead of meeting at their usual spot they both went their own way and spent their day alone. The raccoon happened upon a trail he had not been on before and decided to follow it. He soon came across a freshly dug hole in the side of the bank and from the hole came the most delectable scent of molasses, sweet corn, licorice and honey. He was feeling a bit of empty in the stomach anyway so he thought he would just quickly grab himself a bite of whatever wonderful snack there was apparently residing at the bottom of the hole. However, as he trundled up to the hole he began to smell the scent of a man and he stopped to scratch his head for a minute. "What was it his mother had told him many years ago about the scent of man? Ah! yes. Don't go near where there is the scent of man. It could be a trap." And so he picked himself up and headed on down the trail.

He hadn't gotten far when he saw a persimmon tree off in the forest and quick as a wink he was off the trail and on his way to the tree. In his hurry to reach the tree he failed to notice the old well and one foot slipped over the edge and he tumbled into the bottom of the well. The well was not very deep anymore, having been mostly filled over the years by leaves and sticks and such but the sides were very hard and straight offering no place for his claws do catch a grip and he was unable to jump high enough to grab the top rim of the old well. "If only the old 'possum would be with me," he thought. "He could hang his ugly tail over the side like a rope and pull me out." However, since the opossum wasn't there he took to squalling at the top of his lungs in hopes of attracting someone's attention

The opossum, meanwhile, was coming down the same trail. This was a trail he was familiar with, being not so far from his house. He soon began to hear the raccoon's squalls and chuckled to himself. The squalls were coming from the direction of the old well. "I bet his ugly face fell into that well and the rest of his ugly self went with it. Well he can just sit there for awhile and think about all his sins. Serves him right. The scoundrel." And he chuckled to himself again. About this time he became aware of a wonderful scent coming from a freshly dug hole in the bank next to the trail. "Molasses, sweet corn, licorice and honey. Yum! I'm feeling a bit hungry anyway," he said to himself. "I'll just go ahead and help myself. If I go pull the 'coon out first he'll think he has to have half of it and he doesn't need it. He's too fat anyway." and, chuckling to himself he trotted right up to the hole, his nose not being so sharp as the raccoon's and stuck his foot right into the trap.

"Snap"

When the trapper arrived some time later he was quite pleased to add not one but two furs to his collection in his fur shed. The fact that his good fortune resulted from a quarrel made no difference to him.