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Once it was determined there was no actual emergency, Jared was put in a hospital gown and wheeled on a wheel chair to an examination room. It was on the way that he grabbed the attention of every single person he passed. Children pointed at him to the admonishment of their mothers who were just as enraptured. Conversations halted. Phones were discreetly drawn from pockets so that pictures and videos could be taken. The first image that dropped on Twitter was a blurry, out of focus shot containing only a portion of Jared’s upper half as he passed by on the wheel chair. The caption emulated the photographer’s confusion.
Yo aguy lookin like a skunk just went past me??!!?? 😳🦨
That photo hardly gained any traction, but it was the first out of what would grow into an absolute deluge of attention Jared never asked for. He was pulled into a hospital room on an upper floor for a more thorough examination. He was questioned as to what happened. He answered honestly. He was told that he would have to deliver a police statement, but he knew very well that whatever he told them wasn’t going to help. Leland was long gone. God help whichever town received him next.
They ran him through an X-ray and an MRI. They revealed nothing but a human skeleton that was slightly modified to fit a more skunky mold. His brain was normal. His reflexes were normal. His blood pressure was normal. He was as healthy as a horse, a horse that just so happened to be a skunk. The doctors had to break the news to him that there was nothing they could do. They found absolutely no barrier between suit and flesh, or any sign that there had ever been a suit of any kind in the first place. All they could do was print the results and wish him good luck. They gave him back his clothes, though he only bothered to put on the pants and hoodie. There was no point in hiding anything after so much had been revealed.
His sister wheeled him out as was protocol. As he stood up from the wheelchair to walk to the car, more people spotted him. More pointing, more photos. Those who browsed social media saw it for their very eyes. The skunk man was real. Neither brother nor sister knew it yet, but Jared’s fame was already buzzing to life. Clearer images were being spread, videos too. “Skunk man” was a budding viral sensation. People were already trying to debunk the evidence. Just as many were swearing that it was real, they had seen the man in the flesh. Just as someone would incorrectly cite use of CGI or deepfakery, another image would pop up. Too many different accounts were claiming the same thing and posting the proof to back it up. The skunk man is real.
Maria drove him back to his apartment building where he sulked his way up to his floor, not bothering to hide any of his new features. Longtime neighbors of his looked in horror as he walked past. Adding to their shock was hearing Jared’s voice come out of it, greeting them with their names. It was one of his neighbors who knew him personally that dropped the name Jared online. Jared the skunk man, hometown cryptid, the man, the myth, the legend. He went right to bed and fell asleep, too exhausted by the day’s trauma to deal with a second more of it. His sister stayed the night with him to keep him company. His parents called to talk to him. She had to tell them he was sleeping.
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 12 December 2022
