That ol' Funk

The students of the Westley School of Performing Arts were abuzz with excitement as they made their way to the music room for their next class. As they entered the room, they were met with a pungent odor that immediately made them cover their noses.

"Ugh! What's that smell?" Tamika demanded.

"I don't know, but one thing is for sure, it stinks!" Kim replied, holding her nose.

"Whew! I wish I didn't have a nose right now!" Kam said as he walked behind his sister fanning the air.

"My nose is gonna fall off!" Lil D exclaimed dramatically while shielding his nose with both hands.

The kids went inside the room and couldn't help but complain about the terrible stench that filled the air as they sat down in their seats.

"Wow, that is really bad," Madison said, pinching her nose shut.

"I don't know how we're supposed to concentrate with that smell," Eddie added.

Suddenly, Sunny entered the room and stopped short at the overwhelming smell.

"Great Stankonia, what's that stench?" He exclaimed with his eyes widened and his hand fanning his face.

Everyone was holding their noses from the potent smell permeating throughout the classroom. Sunny looked around the room and spotted something small and striped darting out from behind one of the instruments.

"Looks like we have a visitor," he said cryptically.

"A cute little skunk!" Madison giggled while pointing to the creature as it scurried across the room.

But before anyone could react further, there was a sudden spray that sent everyone recoiling in disgust.

"Pee-yew!" Kim cried out, trying to wave away the stench.

As they all retreated towards the door, Sunny shook his head with amusement.
"I think our friend here is a bit scared." He then proceeded to calmly close all of the windows before returning to face his now coughing students who were dispersed throughout various corners of the room.

Kam timidly asked: "What are we supposed to do?"
Sunny scratched his chin in contemplation before replying reassuringly:
"Well let's not panic yet. We just need to calm him down somehow so he doesn't feel threatened."
"Easier said than done," Eddie grumbled as he held up his heavily perfumed shirt sleeves protectively over his mouth and nose. Lil D had been silent during this entire conversation but suddenly spoke up decisively.

"Maybe we can lure him out with some fruit?" Lil D suggested.

"That's a good idea, Lil D," Sunny replied. "Which of y'all has some fruit?" Eddie had a fruit basket he carried with him for the day and offered to give some of the fruit to the cute little creature. The situation in the classroom became unpleasant due to the potent smell.

"What are we going to do about the smell, Sunny?" Kim said holding her nose.

"Well...let's focus on one thing at a time first, Kim," Sunny calmly replied.

"That smell is making it hard to concentrate though," Philly Phil used a fanning device. Eddie started luring out the skunk with some fruit.

"Here, skunky!" he called softly. As Eddie lead the skunk out with the fruit, there was a sudden crash from one of the instruments leaning too right-angled against the wall. He let out another spray. The smell worsened and the students covered their noses once again.

"Watch out!" Sunny called out to everyone.

"Yuck!" Kam said nauseated and fanned the air around him.

"Pew! Not again!" Philly Phil exclaimed.

"Let's go outside for some fresh air y'all before we all wind up smelling like our guest," Sunny added with a laugh. The class agreed in unison. The class had to abandon the room to seek fresh air due to the skunk's spray. They arrived outside and breathed in the fresh air as they waited for the spray to dissipate in the classroom.

"Ahhh, much better," Tamika said contentedly.

"Mmm, I smell a barbecue," Lil D said twitching his nose, "But I suddenly lost my appetite," He added with a chuckle.

"How can a tiny creature make such a huge stink?" Eddie said aloud. "It's how they protect themselves," Philly Phil replied.

"The smell that came from it, ugh!" Tamika responded fanning her face.

"Y'all we gon' need to find out how we gon' get the little guy back home to where he belongs," Lil D advised. "We don't want Principal Luna finding out about the unwelcome guest!" The students all nodded and echoed a chorus of "yeps" in agreement.

"Ooh! Since we're gonna be with him for a while, why don't we name him?" Madison suggested.

"Hmm... how about... Stripes!" Philly Phil suggested.

"That's a great name, now we can make sure we get him back home, safely," Sunny said scratching his head.

"Oh I got one! McSprayFace!" Madison chimed in a little late.

"OK, let's give him a last name too," Sunny said with a chuckle.

"Yay!" Madison exclaimed. "Stripes McSprayFace!"

"Yeah, I like that," Lil D responded. Everyone responded in agreement and now welcomed their unwelcome guest Stripes McSprayFace. They called him Stripes for short. The music class returned to the classroom. They all fanned the air to get rid of the lingering smell and exchanged a chorus of "phews", "ughs," and "ewws".

"Still a little smelly," Eddie said.

"Well, it takes a little longer to dissipate than 20 minutes," Sunny explained.

"We've been out there for 20 minutes?" Madison asked.

"Yes, we have," Sunny replied again.

"Alright we need to think of a plan to get Stripes back home to his natural habitat," Lil D pondered aloud. The rest of the class tried thinking in the classroom on how to get the skunk to leave.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else in the school, it still is a bit hard to concentrate with the smell," Tamika suggested.

"Affirmative!" Philly Phil replied.

"Roger that!" Kam said.

"Fiddle-dee-dee!" Madison happily replied. The kids left the classroom to think up a solution to their skunk problem. Kim asked,

"Hey, remember Momo from the other year?"

"Oh yeah!" Lil D said. "He was a great drumming gorilla."

"How did we get him back home?" Philly Phil asked.

"Ooh!" Madison raised her hand. "I know, we took him on the ship!" Kam offered his hand and said, "Sunny said that his natural habitat was not Africa, but the zoo!" While the class was brainstorming an idea, Sunny was coaxing Stripes into a cage with some fruit from Eddie's basket.

"That's true!" Philly Phil recalled. "We can...take Stripes to a possible...wildlife center for skunks?"

"But what about how he got in here in the first place?" Kim asked.

"Well, Kim, skunks are wanderers and Stripes might have found his way in our class, by mistake," Philly Phil explained.

"He came from the wild, think about it y'all, when we approached him, he was very nervous," Lil D reminded.

"Yeah, that's true too," Kam remembered. "He must have been startled by a predator near our school!"

"A predator, but who would want to eat such a stinky creature?" Eddie remarked. The class put their hands on their chins and thought for a moment. They were in deep thought. After a few minutes, Lil D spoke up and suggested, "Maybe it came from Sunny's home and some forest creature chased 'em."

"Maybe a fox!" Kim added.

"A coyote!" Kam suggested.

"An owl!" Philly Phil proposed. "Specifically, a great horned owl, they have no sense of smell and would not be deterred by a skunk's scent!"

"Wow, I didn't know that," Eddie answered. "Yep!" Philly Phil replied.

"Whatever it was, we need to figure out a way to rid of Stripes before our classroom becomes forever stinky!" Lil D suggested. Tamika thought for a moment and said, "What about animal control?" The class nodded in agreement with Tamika's suggestion.

"Oh, I just knew you'd come up with a solution at some point, my darling," Eddie complimented Tamika with a charismatic grin. Tamika responded with a grimace. The kids returned to the classroom. Kam fanned his nose while furrowing his brows and said,

"Phew! Is it me, or does the room smell a little stronger than when we left it?" The other friends sniffed around and agreed that the smell was becoming stronger. Sunny approached his students with a clothespin on his nose.

"Hey, y'all! We have a problem," He said sounding funny with the clothespin on his nose. "Yeah, I know right? We can smell it!" Kim teased. The kids were all nodding in agreement. "Let's first open up a window," He said and went to go open the windows to let the fresh air inside.

"Here y'all I found some clothespins lying around in the art studio," Sunny said. "These will ease all our discomforts until we can take further action with the skunk." The class took the clothespins from Sunny to alleviate their sense of smell.

"Ahh, that's better," Lil D sighed with relief.

"Hehe, Lil D! You sound funny" Madison laughed.

"Yeah, the clothespins on our noses are making us sound funny because they're blocking our sniffers!" Philly Phil explained. The class couldn't help but burst into laugher after hearing Philly Phil's voice. "What?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Oh nothing, Philly Phil," Tamika said in between fits and giggles.

"Yeah!" The twins laughed. Sunny chuckled along with them. "So y'all have any plans to escort Stripes, here?" Sunny asked the class redirecting their attention.

"We was thinkin' to call animal control and get ol' Stripes here back to safety," Lil D explained. Sunny nodded in agreement. Sunny went over to his desk, picked up his flip phone, and called animal control. He told them to come incognito because he did not want the principal to find out about the skunk in the classroom. Just then, Principal Luna entered the hallways! Sunny hung up and hid his phone in his satchel.

"Uh guys, we have a problem!" Tamika said in a worried tone. "What are we gonna do? How are we gonna explain the smell to Luna?"

"Maybe we can say that there is a gas leak?" Philly Phil suggested.

"How about a skunk?" Madison replied.

"A skunk? No, that's what we tryin' to hide, girl!" Lil D said.

"Let's just greet him and see what he says," Eddie said.

"Then what? That smell can knock you off your feet!" Kim said concernedly.

"Let's just say that the cafeteria smells a bit worse than usual and the smell was lingering since morning," Sunny suggested. The class agreed and took off their clothespins while trying not to gag. They took air fresheners and sprayed them around the room.

"Blech! This is terrible!" Tamika coughed.

"Now, it smells like the skunk is going on a vacation to the Bahamas!" Eddie joked. Sunny used his hat to fan the spray from the freshener to disperse it in all different directions. Principal Luna toggled the doorknob and entered the classroom. Upon entering the room, he greeted his students.

"Good afternoon, fellow students!" Principal Luna said cheerfully.

"Good afternoon, Principal Luna," the class replied in unison with forced smiles. Principal Luna sniffed the air. "UGH! What is that horrible smell?" The students looked at each other nervously and Sunny spoke up quickly.

"I think something burned in the cafeteria, whew! Something awful, right? Take a whiff!" Sunny lied. The class nodded in agreement.

"Well, Ms. Squattenchowder did make that special onion and cheese casserole perhaps it went wrong and I didn't even notice?" He said. The students chuckled nervously.

"Oh for sure," Lil D chimed in. "I can smell her cooking from my house sometimes! Stiiiiiinnnnkkk-y". He waved his hand in front of his nose.

"Me too, it certainly doesn't smell like raspberries and cream soda!" Madison laughed.

The class exchanged a chorus of "Yeah it's really bad" "That's for sure" and "Yup". Despite Principal Luna coming in unexpectedly, the students managed to cover up the smell and come up with a plausible explanation. "Well, that's OK, not everyone can cook something great every single day!" Principal Luna reasoned. "Well Señor Bridges, it looks like you have everything covered. I will see you later," Principal Luna bid him ado.

"Phew, that was close!" Kim exclaimed after Principal Luna left.

"I'll say!" Eddie agreed.

"Well y'all, I called animal control about relocating Stripes and they are on their way," Sunny said with a girn.

"Awesome!" Lil D said. Eddie went over to check on their furry black and white companion. "Hey guys, come here!" He urged. They rushed over to him. "Why is Stripes in pain?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah! Wait, why is he heaving?" Kam asked with concern.

"He's...he's dying!" Madison shouted in horror. "Nooooo!" She started to cry.

"Wait, Madison, I don't think Stripes is dying," Philly Phil kneeled down and examined Stripes. "His stomach just seems to be inflated a little."

"Don't cry, Madison!" Kim said offering her a tissue.

"Thanks, Kim," She said in a choked voice. "No problem," She smiled.

"Y'all...I don't think Stripes is dying, but we need to escort him as soon as possible!" Sunny urged. All of a sudden, Kim heard a car pulling up outside. "You guys, look!" Kim exclaimed.

"Animal control!" Philly Phil exclaimed.

"I got an idea, let's take Stripes outside so they don't have to come into the classroom," Sunny suggested.

"Right!" His students answered like soldiers responding to their commander. Sunny grabbed a blanket but making sure to cover Stripes' butt so he wouldn't get sprayed. While they rushed outside, Sunny was singing to him quietly to calm him down. When they got outside, animal control was there to take Stripes.

"Here you are, this is Stripes," The music teacher demonstrated.

"Yeah, and we just saw now he's in pain!" Madison started to tear up again and Kam offered a tissue. "Here you go, Madison."

"Thank you, Kam!" Madison sniffled and blew her nose.

"So tell me how did this start?" The animal control officer asked.

Sunny and his students explained what had happened and how they found Stripes in the music room this morning. The animal control officer listened attentively.

"I see, so you guys suspect he's a victim of an unknown predator attack?" She asked.

"Yes." Eddie replied. The animal control officer examined Stripes.

"I hate to tell you guys this, but...Stripes is actually a female skunk!" The officer said.

"What?" They all said in unison.

"I can tell because she smells like one," the officer explained.

"Oh wow, we didn't even know that!" Kim exclaimed.

"So what can we do to help her?" Philly Phil asked with concern. The animal control officer advised them that they needed to take Stripes to a wildlife rehabilitation center that had experience with skunks.

"Hey that was what our first plan was!" Lil D said.

"Yeah, but animal control was also a fine solution," Kam added gesturing his hand.

"Oh my, she's gonna have kids right now, let's give her some privacy," Sunny said. She gave birth right on the blanket! The group was surprised to see that Stripes was giving birth.

"Aww!" They all cooed.

"Look at all of them! So many little stinkers!" Kim said with joy.

"Pee-yew! Man, they stink right out of the womb too!" Kam held his nose and stepped back. Everyone chuckled in response.

"Yes, skunks are smelly creatures," The animal control officer said.

"Well, I think they cute," Tamika said. "I kinda wish we can keep one."

"Hmm, how about you visit Stripes and she'll remember you," The officer said.

"I think that's a great idea," Sunny replied. The class waved bye to Stripes as the officer took her and her babies away to a nearby rehabilitation center that Sunny was familiar with. The kids were all having a bittersweet moment. It felt great that they helped a living creature back to safety. They knew Stripes would be right around the corner from their school and that made them go from sad to happy. They went back to the classroom still being able to smell their furry friend.

"You know what? We can keep it like this for a few days!" Lil D said. "I don't mind the smell," He removed his clothespin and slightly gagged. "Ech, OK maybe a little."

"Yeah! Stripes' smell will live on...for a few days!" Madison declared.

"Free cheers for Stripes!" Lil D chanted. "Free cheers for Stripes!" Everyone echoed.

"Well, I'm used to it already!" Eddie said.

"My sniffer has too," Kam said. Everyone removed their clothespins and took a deep breath, but they all slightly gagged with their eyes wide.

"Ech! YECH!" The class gagged and laughed

"Long live Stripes!" They chanted. Sunny chuckled.

"Y'all were amazing today. It's great that y'all were able to relocate Stripes back to her own safety," Sunny encouraged. "Yeah Sunny, we couldn't have done it without yo' help!" Tamika said. "Aww 'preciate it, girl, you kids are the greatest bunch!" He patted Tamika's head.

"Alright y'all let's get back to learnin'!" Sunny declared as he grabbed his wand.

Everyone went to their respective instrument stations and played in honor of their new friend. They even wrote a song in her name. As for Stripes, let's just say she's a mommy now!