Raccoon

             “Mom, it looks like the raccoons came again last night.” Emma had just cleaned up the trash that had been strewn all over their lawn. “Our garbage cans were tipped over again.”

            Mom sighed. “Why do they have to come every night?”

            Emma shrugged. “We’re closest to the forest and right next to the creek. I bet it’s easy for them.” She got her backpack ready for school.

            “One day we’ll have to do something about it,” Mom said.

            As Emma left and started walking to school, she thought about the raccoons. She didn’t mind so much if they got into the garbage; it was the mess they made afterward. There had to be a way to trap them or something to get rid of them.

            She tried to think of how to catch a raccoon, but she couldn’t think of an easy way to do it. Maybe if I saw it, I could throw a box on it or something. She didn’t love this idea, but it was the best she could come up with. Today was Friday, so she could hold a stake-out tonight and wait for the raccoons to show up.

            School passed slowly for Emma. Now that she had a plan, she wanted to put it into action. Her mind was definitely not in class with her. Her teacher kept having to repeat things since Emma obviously wasn’t listening.

            As soon as Emma got home from school, she told Mom her plan. “It’s supposed to get a little chilly tonight.” Mom looked thoughtful. “Let’s set up the tent so you’ll be able to hear them, but you can still stay warm and get some sleep.”

            After dinner, Emma set up their little two-man tent on the grass close to the house. She made sure to situate it so that the door of the tent opened up to a view of their garbage cans, which were a few feet away. As soon as it got dark, Emma was in her tent with the door open, keeping watch.

            At first, Emma enjoyed waiting for the raccoons to appear. She felt like a spy on a mission. Mom had given her snacks, and she munched on them happily. A big cardboard box lay near at hand for when the garbage thieves appeared.

            Several hours passed, and Emma wasn’t having fun anymore. It must have been close to midnight, and she was tired. She snuggled into her sleeping bag as her eyes slowly closed.

            A loud “Clang!” sounded and Emma jerked awake. She was disoriented for a second, but she hurriedly grabbed the box when she heard another clang coming from the garbage cans. Trash was everywhere and the cans were on their side. Something moved among the spilled garbage. Moving as fast as she could, she threw the box over the dark shape.

            Yes! The box completely trapped the creature and Emma hurriedly sat on top of it to keep it from moving. Excited to finally catch it, she suddenly realized she didn’t know what to do next. Small yips and whines were coming from the box as it shifted under her. What was she going to do? She couldn’t stay here forever.

            Wondering what to do, she suddenly heard a loud bark come from inside the box. Do raccoons bark? The barking continued until Emma became convinced that it was a dog trapped inside. She’d had a dog until it died the year before. She missed it and felt bad for the dog now trapped in the box.

            Slowly standing up, Emma carefully lifted a corner of the box. A white paw shot out then disappeared, followed by a small yip. Soon a black nose on a white muzzle appeared and sniffed curiously at the opening. Now sure it was a dog, she lifted the box away, revealing a mangy white dog with big black patches on its back. “Oh, poor thing!” she cried.

            The dog jumped up to lick Emma’s face, and her heart melted. “Hey there, uh…boy.” She started petting him and he immediately rolled on his back for a belly rub. “So, you’re our garbage thief, huh?”

            The dog barked happily in answer. His fur was all matted and dirty, and Emma could see several ribs outlined on his side. He was obviously a stray. “I’ll take care of you, boy.”

            “That’s the raccoon?” a voice said sleepily.

            Emma wheeled around to see Mom in her pajamas, holding a flashlight. “It’s a stray dog, Mom,” she said as she continued to pet him. “Can we keep him, please?”

            “Ugh, I’m too tired to deal with this right now.” Mom rubbed her eyes. “It’s one in the morning. Just get him into the garage for now, and we’ll talk about it when I’m more awake. You should go to bed too. There’s no reason now for you to camp out here anymore.”

            As Emma stood up, the dog immediately jumped up to stand beside her. She walked into the garage, and he followed her without any hesitation. She found an old blanket and set it down for him. Mom immediately went back to bed, but Emma stayed with the dog for at least an hour, petting him and making sure he had food and water. The longer she stayed with him, the more attached she became.

            Soon, the night caught up with her and Emma felt her eyes beginning to close. She motioned for the dog to stay as she stood up to go to bed. “You stay here, Raccoon.”

            And so, Raccoon stayed. Emma always loved to tell the story about how Raccoon got his name and became part of the family.