You sneaky devil, you sure like my roses!

                 On a beautiful summer afternoon I saw a badger in my rose garden. He appeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of an alley. He seemed to be in a hurry, because he was walking really fast, keeping his head down at all times. When he had sensed that I was right behind him, he stopped and gave me a most intriguing look.  I smiled at him because I didn’t want to scare him off. Apparently I didn’t succeed in not scaring the gentleman for he started running really fast so I began following him. These badgers sure are quick! He seemed quicker than the rabbit I used to have as a childhood pet.

             While I was chasing him, the badger has stopped and smiled back at me. His very serious badger face was suddenly illuminated by that huge grin smeared all over his little face. The big smile on his face looked so funny that both of us burst into laughter. I never knew that the badgers have such a great sense of humor. It was for the first time in my life that I had seen a badger smile. He was hilarious! We were both exhausted and could barely catch our breath after all that running, but there we were laughing our hearts out. The sound of his laughter was really goofy and funny and instantly reminded me of Billy the Chipmunk, my colleague from the 6^th grade who laughed more like a donkey than a chipmunk always showing his way too big two front teeth.

          Suddenly enchanted by the surroundings, he stopped his funny laughter and started sniffing my garden and all the rose bushes around him. He seemed to like the smell of bloomed roses because on his little badger face you could read happiness. He started mumbling some music dancing the waltz through the rose bushes, sniffing each and every single rose he could encounter. His little badger eyes were smiling at me and I was standing there, in the middle of my beautiful rose garden, watching him singing and dancing for my roses. I smiled at him and whispered softly:

"We have so much in common, Mr. Badger! I love them too!"

The little fellow turned his head and smiled again, while waving his little badger head:

 “Yes, young lady, we love them. I come here every summer to smell the roses at least twice a week. This is the first time you see me. I must be getting old... these old bones cannot sneak like they used to!"

"Mr. Badger, you can come whenever you want in my garden, I would love your company! There's no need for sneaking anymore!"

          And then I realized I was talking to myself. Nobody was around me, but the sun above and its mild rays of light. The roses were all bloomed, joyfully spreading around their most wonderful scent. The badger was gone and I was all alone in the middle of the garden. Apparently he was still good at sneaking. 

     Sometimes I think of him. The funny smile on his face still makes me laugh. I hope we'll see each other someday. Whenever I have tea with my friend Grace in the gazebo of the rose garden I hope I’ll hear his laughter and see his goofy face once more.