A Mixed Bag

I got tired of driving my car. So I donated my car to a charity. It was a charity to help displaced porcupines. Normally when a porcupine is lost in a city and can’t find its way back to its woody home, it faces heavy discrimination. People are intimidated by the porcupine’s spiky needles. This makes the porcupines distraught and bitter. When I watched a documentary about this on PBS, it broke my heart.

Yesterday I was walking down alleyways to my job. I like alleyways. I’m pretty shy and am adverse to facing people as they walk past me on the sidewalk. Well, I came upon a porcupine trying to hide behind a trash can. I could tell it had been crying. It was sniffling and rubbing its eyes. Plus I could sense the sorrow.

I said, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

The porcupine said, “I can’t believe you are risking talking to me.”

I said, “Normally I would been afraid, but then I saw the documentary.”

The porcupine said, “I heard about it. I haven’t yet seen it though…But to answer your question, I need help getting back to the woods.”

I felt kind of stupid for having given away my car because I could have used it to drive the porcupine to the woods. But then I remembered that I had the number for Soft Needles, the Porcupine Relocation charity. I called the number and gave them our location. They were there within minutes. The porcupine put its paw over its heart in my direction as they drove away.

I felt fantastic as I continued my walk to work. It’s true that it feels good to give. Then there was the sound of thunder followed by a tremendous downpour. I was soaked in seconds. I started to feel differently.