“Well, sweetheart, I don’t want to make accusations, but have you looked at yourself lately?” A chubby possum waddled, back end first, out of the hole.

“Where are you going?”

“To get some fresh air. It’s a little too hot in there!”

The possum turned right in front of Roscoe’s hooves. He flinched and looked up.

“Hi, George!” Roscoe smiled.

George collapsed instantly. “George, you know better than to go out at this time of–” Maxine emerged, saw her husband lying in front of the strange quartet, and thunk! Down she fell beside him.

“Look at that! You smell worse than I thought, Roscoe,” Clementine exclaimed.

“Yeah, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say they’re both playing possum.”

“Don’t be afraid, friends,” Paco said. “We mean you no harm.” One of George’s eyes barely opened. “Besides, we can wait all night if we have to.”

“We can?” the disappointed pig asked. Paco glared at him.

Two frightened foxes raced by. “It’s coming! It’s coming! We heard it out there!”

The possums jumped up in panic. “Who are you?” Maxine asked Paco. She looked at Benjamin and her eyes grew large. “What are you doing with a human?”

Benjamin took a few steps back. “I’m sorry. I–”

“Calm down, calm down,” Paco said hastily.

George took Maxine by the hand. “Look, buddy, we can’t stay out here and chat all night!”

“I’m Paco,” he said gently. “This is Clementine, Roscoe, and our king, Benjamin.”

“Yeah, Peter, Clancy, Russel and King somebody, terrific! You ready to go back in, Maxine?” George nervously walked his wife toward the hole in the tree.

“Wait!” Clementine said. “Why are you so afraid? We’re not dangerous.”

A crazy little laugh came out of the possum, “Are you kidding? Buddy, do you have any idea what’s out there?!”

“Come on, honey,” Maxine tugged at him but George wouldn’t budge. “Let’s get inside. I was just joking about you being fat… Now please, let’s go!!”

“We’re not familiar with these woods,” Paco said. “We’re looking for the creek.”

George’s eyes darted this way and that. “Now that would be stupid, my friends!”

“Why?” Benjamin asked.

“It’s out there. And they say it likes to wander close to the creek.”

“What is it?” Clementine asked in alarm.

“Nobody knows.”

“George, let’s get inside!” Maxine moaned.

“You get your big, fat bottom back in there!” the frustrated possum yelled, “I can’t live with four horrible deaths on my conscience. I’ll be there in a minute!” Maxine ran to the hole. “Anyway, as I was saying, nobody has seen it, but it’s big. Those who’ve gotten close enough never survived. Nothing was even left of ‘em.”

“How do you know it’s big if no one’s seen it?” Roscoe asked. “It smells bad from far off and destroys everything it walks over.”