As I awoke, I heard strange noises coming from beside me. I saw weird figures with two legs and two arms that stood straight up. And they spoke in weird languages I had never heard before in my life. As I kept on looking at them a small figure stared at me and screamed. I got startled and ran into the bushes. I kept on thinking, what in the world were those things standing right by my side? When I reached a nearby mountain I saw a small village. Another fox told me the village was called Marshall. I asked him what those two footed and two armed figures were? He told me, men who killed animals for their skins. They also traded with other people who came with barges each summer. I was getting more and more curious as to what he was saying.

I decided I wanted a better look at the village to see what humans would really do if they saw me. So one night I decided to sneak over while the people were sleeping. When I reached Marshall the first thing I smelled was a stinky pond with smelly bubbles coming out of it in one place. But I kept on walking and getting closer to huge houses with lights. As I stepped onto the road a spotlight flashed at me and a man hollered at me saying, get that fox! I got so scared I ran back towards the smelly pond. They were chasing after me with four wheeled objects, and when they started shooting at me with loud bangs my ears started to ring. When I reached the mountain I ran into the trees as fast as I could to get away from them. I thought I was going to get killed but I thought too fast. When I reached a small pile of rocks I slept under them. When morning came I woke up and searched for other foxes to tell them what happened. When I saw a couple coming my way I told them the whole story, and they warned me not to go down there. So I decided to keep my distance from Marshall until I really knew how to sneak around there. When I asked the other foxes how to get around that place, they told me, VERY CAREFULLY.

Carmen F. Pitka