The Budding Taxidermist

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 9

** NOTE: The italicized font is creative non-fiction. Based upon the stories of my mother and uncle it is my creative writing of their memories. **

“Mason, Mason where are you?”  Mother’s voice rang out from the kitchen, “time for lunch.” Mason heard the voice, but was too intent on her project to respond. Oh, I do hope daddy will be surprised when he gets home, Mason thought to her self; I want this to be beautiful.  Mason was a “daddy’s girl” through and through, whatever daddy ate, Mason ate. Bear, deer, moose, it didn't matter if daddy liked it, so did Mason. What ever daddy did, Mason wanted to do.

Mason loved the animals daddy kept up back of the house, she loved it when daddy brought down the baby fox and let her hold it. She would cradle it like a baby and stroke it soft, red fur. Unfortunately, the fox took a nip at her and daddy said it was now too old to hold, Mason was saddened by that but had moved on to pushing the kittens in a baby carriage. In fact, she was planning on pushing the kittens in an upcoming town parade.  Daddy also had some baby raccoons in the pens out back. A day or so ago Wells posed for a picture with the raccoons with a neighbor girl. Those little raccoons were so cute! Mason thought about how later, after daddy got home, they would go Sculpin fishing to get food for the raccoons. What ugly fish they were, but the coons loved to eat them.

 

Okay, enough day dreaming, I have work to do! Mason set back on her task more intently than before. In fact, she was so intent she didn’t hear her mother come out the door calling her name. “Mason, Mason where are you?  Mason! What are you doing?” Mason’s mother had come around the corner just in time to find Mason gutting a mouse. “What?” was Mason’s innocent question, “I just wanted to stuff this mouse like daddy did to the squirrels.”  So ended the career of the budding taxidermist.

"The Squirrels"

A Sculpin