Mary Elizabeth Smith – AKA “Sweetie”
Sweetie is a coach and mentor for other little STINKY skunks. She had a rough start in life because she was an orphan. For the early part of her life, she really STANK. She struggled everyday feeling that the world was out to get her. For years she blamed everyone for her problems, and it wasn’t until she noticed that she REEKED of STENCH did she start to change things.
Then one day while foraging through someone else’s STINKY garbage she noticed something. Before crawling up to the trash can, she thought to herself, “I bet there isn’t a STINKING thing in the garbage to eat.” And she was right. In it, there was just a bunch of STINKY stuff that turned her stomach. Believe it or not, that was a defining moment for her because she realized for the first time that the very thing she thought about actually happened. Her gut, or intuition, led her to try an experiment. She decided that when she saw the next garbage can, she would use her mind to picture fruit and cake being in the trash can and nothing smelly at all.
Within a few minutes, she found a new trash can. Her first thought was, “This is a stupid STINKIN’ experiment.” However, she decided to go through with the experiment. She then changed her STINKIN’ THINKIN’ to picture fruit and chocolate cake just waiting for her inside that trash can. After a few minutes, she crawled up to the trash can and opened the lid.
As she moved the lid, she nearly passed out with the SWEET smell that poured out. As the trash can spilled over, she saw what was causing the strong scent. It was an unopened box of chocolate cake!!!! She then saw some apples that were lying right beside the box of chocolate cake. JACKPOT!
For the next few weeks Sweetie questioned herself and the experiment. She had just about convinced herself that it was all just a bunch of bologna when something significant happened that changed her life for good.
She and her best friend Twiggy were out playing in a park close to a lake. They were running and having a good time. Twiggy must have had some STENCH in her that day because when they both saw a picnic basket on a park bench Twiggy said, “I bet I can’t even get close to the basket, and I bet I get something thrown at me again.” Sure enough, Twiggy got exactly what she had imagined. As she lurked within a few feet of the basket, the father of the family hollered, picked up a stick, and threw it at her. The stick actually hit Twiggy right on the back, and boy did that cause a STINK to spew out! The family screamed, picked up their basket, and sprinted to their nearby car. What a SMELLY scene this was!
Sweetie thought back to her chocolate cake and apple experiment. They walked a while and saw another basket. Sweetie turned to Twiggy, “Watch and learn. I am going to walk up and get something SWEET to eat, AND I will even get a smile from the people.” Sweetie walked straight to the basket. Just on the other side of the basket was a 3 year old boy. The boy instantly said, “Kitty! Kitty!” The boy was actually calling Sweetie to him. She walked right up to him, and he started petting her very gently. The next thing you know Sweetie was doing tricks for the boy and rolling around. The boy laughed heartily as Sweetie flipped and jumped on the blanket.
Out of nowhere the boy’s parents showed up to see what he was laughing at. The boy’s mom and dad stopped dead in their tracks and looked as though they had seen a ghost. They moved ever so slowly and told the boy to back away from the Sweetie. The boy just kept saying, “Kitty! Kitty!” and would not move. After a few minutes the parents watched in amazement as Sweetie played with their son. Sweetie was having a blast and had forgotten that her initial goal was to get some food, but when the parents started packing their bags, they pulled out a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some strawberries and laid them out for Sweetie. SCORE!
Twiggy watched with astonishment as Sweetie came back and halved the sandwich and strawberries to share with her. Sweetie told Twiggy her SECRET, and neither of them have been the same since.
Now Sweetie teaches all the little stinkers in her neighborhood forest. She is making a major difference in their lives and always has a smile on her face and love in her heart.
