It was hot for the middle of May, more like the end of July except the Florida humidity had not yet arrived and the 90 degree heat did not come with a higher index.  Clouds were building in the east as young Jacob Kern and his dog, Rusty, walked along the south bank of the Little Econlockhatchee River looking  for anything of interest.

     Jacob was an ordinary 14 year old, carried a B+ average, had a girlfriend who was also in the ninth grade, and played football on the junior varsity team.  He was an FFA member, sang in the youth choir at the Church of Christ, was well liked by his classmates and well respected by the adults in his middle-class neighborhood.  Little did he know he was about to become the laughing stock of the entire community.
     It was about a half hour before sundown when he first got a whiff of it.  Something didn’t smell good; a dead animal perhaps.  Then it got worse–then really bad.  The stench was so overpowering the boy became nauseated and vomited violently.  He felt lightheaded and weak, cold perspiration matted his blond hair to his forehead.  He sat down on a patch of dried cattails to rest a moment.
     That’s when the odor became almost too much to bear and he looked up–and saw it.  The legendary Skunk Ape.
     No Lassie nor Rin Tin Tin, afraid of thunder and his own shadow, Rusty lit out for the house leaving Jacob to bear witness to the phenomenom alone.   The pooch was leaving a trail of doggie pee pee along the way.
     Jacob was spellbound.  He had read about the Skunk Ape along  with other legends such as Yeti and Bigfoot and, like his peers, laughed them off as silly folklore.  This seven-foot stinker was no folk lore.  It was the real deal, Lucille.  He arose and followed Rusty as fast as he could run.
     He kept what he had witnessed tohimself for awhile, afraid no one would believe a young teen but, unable to hold it in any longer, he confided in his sweetheart, Rebecca.
     “Becky, if I tell you a secret, will you promise never to tell a soul, ever?  Promise,” he asked, pleadingly.
     She smiled demurely.   “You know you can trust me, Jake.  What is it?”
     Jacob told her of his encounter with the Skunk Ape and once again begged her to keep this just between them.  She agreed.  The next day it was all over Lincoln MIddle School and the following day it was all over town.   Thank goodness summer vacation was almost here.
     Deputy Buford Collins was dispatched by Sheriff Tucker to take the boy’s report.
     “You come back here with a report that says the kid must have been smokin’ somethin’ that made him see things,” Tucker instructed his deputy.  “Don’t come back here with anythin’ that tries to back up his story, you hear?  We don’t want folks thinkin’ there’s anythin’ out there in that swampy area besides skeeters, snakes and gators.  You tell that Kern boy to stay on the north bank where the ground is solid.  Safer there.”
     Deputy Collins chatted with Jacob at length and returned to the office.  “Sheriff, talking to that youngster is just like having a conversation with an adult,” he said. “I just can’t believe a kid that steady would make up a tale like that.”
     “Buford, what’d I tell you?” the sheriff barked.  “The damn kid was on somethin’…hallucinatin’…that’s all there is to it.  No go write up that report.”
     “Sheriff, I went out there.”
     “Went out where?”
     “To the south bank of the Little Econ where Jake said he saw the thing and, I swear Sheriff, I smelled the Skunk Ape.  It was awful.  I got sick.  Puked all over my shoes and pants legs and…”
     “Goddammit, Buford!”  Sheriff Tucker was furious.  “Do you want to disgrace this entire department–me, you and ever’body else here?  Is that what you want?  You didn’t smell a diddley damn thing but your own breath blowin’ back in your face, you hear?”
     “But, Sher…”
     “Sit down, Buford.  Im gonna tell you somethin’ I’ve never told another livin’ soul and once I tell you, you ain’t gonna tell no one, neither, you hear?”
     Buford nodded.
     Tucker  continued.  “Dammit, Buford, I know what’s out there.  My own daddy saw it when he was just a kid.  He couldn’t keep his mouth shut neither.  Liked to cause my grandpa and grandma to have to leave this town they was so shamed.  That’s why this thing ends right here and now.”
     “But what about the Kerns,” Collins asked?  “What will they do.  Jake has been grounded and Becky’s folks won’t let her see him.”
     “I don’t know,” the sheriff replied, “nor much care.  They very well may have to leave town.