Theresa Lewis

ARCTIC FOX

Several years ago, during a vacation to Prince Edward Island, my husband and I went to an Indian village. In one of the shops we went into, my husband spotted a pure white stuffed Arctic fox that had been mounted on a log. He had to have it. I didn’t want him to get it because to me, there is nothing beautiful about having a dead animal on display in my home. I found it morbid and even disgusting.

Several years earlier on a trip to India, someone had given him a pair of stuffed chipmunks. I kept those dead critters for a while then I told him they were full of bugs so I tossed them out. Now, I had a dead fox to deal with. To tell you the truth, it gave me the shivers. Still, my husband got his way and the white fox took up residence in a choice spot in our parlor.

Life went on and I tried not to look at the thing when I went into the parlor. Both my husband and I were smokers as were many of our friends who came to visit. Over time, the white fox collected dust and smoke stains, but I just ignored it.

One day, someone mentioned that the fox was looking really dirty. Common sense would have said that we should have taken it to a taxidermist to have it cleaned, but that’s not a thought that ever entered my head at that time. I had two Samoyed dogs who were pure white and I bathed them regularly. I didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t bath the fox.

I removed the fox from the log and took it into the shower with me. When I was finished with my own shower, I washed the fox with baby shampoo, just like I did for the dogs. I was surprised at how clean and white it became. Now all I had to do was dry it off.

I didn’t bother getting dressed first. I just took the hair dryer into the bathroom and put the fox on the counter beside the sink and started drying it. It was taking a long time, but then the dogs took a long time to dry also. Doing a tedious monotonous job that took a long time caused my mind to wander to all sorts of different things. I wasn’t really paying too much attention to what I was doing.

I had the back of the fox facing me and I could see its face in the mirror over the sink. At one point,as my mind was wandering, I thought I saw the fox snap its mouth open and closed. It really startled me. My logical brain said it was dead and it couldn’t have done that. I put it down to the fact that the creature gave me the willies at the best of times. I continued drying it, but I have to say that I kept a sharp eye on its mouth at all times.

Once I had the back dry, I turned it around to face me. Just as I was drying its neck under the chin, it happened again. The mouth opened and snapped shut. This time I was sure of what I had seen. I shrieked and jumped back. To say it gave my mind a whiplash is putting it very mildly.

My first thought was that the creature must be possessed. If I had had my clothes on, I would have headed for the hills at that exact moment. Instead, I stood plastered to the wall like a piece of wallpaper. I was too terrified to move. I began to sweat heavily as the terror of it made my breathing fast and shallow. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears. I didn’t know what to do. One thing I did know for sure, there was absolutely no way I was going near that possessed dead creature again. Laugh if you want to, but I did pray for deliverance from whatever entity had taken over the dead fox. You would think that with all my experiences with the paranormal, I wouldn’t freak out over something like this, but I never had an experience like that before. There was nothing in my past experiences that had prepared me for this.

After a quick prayer, I got up the courage to open the bathroom door. I made a beeline into the bedroom to get dressed. While I dressed, my mind raced. I wanted to cut the fox up into a million pieces then throw it in the garbage.

Once I calmed down, I went back into the bathroom and shouted at the fox and at whatever entity had taken residence in it. I told it that by the power of God, I was in control. I snatched it up with the intention of destroying it forever. That’s when I noticed that the mouth had been glued shut and I guessed that the heat from the hairdryer had melted the glue so that when I touched it under the chin, it would cause the mouth to open and close. That was a huge relief. And yes, or course, I felt like an idiot.

After that, I put the fox in a black garbage bag and hid it in the basement. Months later, my husband asked me whatever happened to the fox. I told him it was old and had disintegrated. All he said was, “I see.” I threw it out with the garbage the next day.

Note to self; no more dead animals in my home and if one should come in, no more baths for it.

The End