Jane of the Jungle is my ultimate second chances story. Not the winding down of life, but a second life:
"I wandered for a while and had a few minor adventures. One was exceptional and showed me that my new life would be something I had never expected. I had driven into the woods on an old logging road and was eating my lunch on the soft spring ground when I became aware of a red fox staring at me. For some reason he seemed to have no fear of me, so I threw him a piece of my ham sandwich. “That’s kind of you, but no thank you,” he said. “I just ate.” I looked at the sandwich: it did not appear to be spoiled. I tried to recall if I had inadvertently taken some of my husband’s pills with my brandy last night, but I was certain I hadn’t. “Never seen a talking fox, eh?” he said to me. “Uh…no, now that you mention it,” I replied. “Never.” The fox laughed. “Most people haven’t,” he said kindly. Suddenly the whole world seemed to fold in on itself like a piece of soft bread. “Holy shit,” I mumbled to myself. The fox laughed again, not unkindly. “It is a shock at first, but I think you’ll get used to it.” “Why me?” “You have spirit.” “I do?” Personally I had always thought of my “spirit” as an anger problem. “You are about to embark on a very adventurous life,” the fox said. “Don’t forget me.” And then he was gone."
"I wandered for a while and had a few minor adventures. One was exceptional and showed me that my new life would be something I had never expected. I had driven into the woods on an old logging road and was eating my lunch on the soft spring ground when I became aware of a red fox staring at me. For some reason he seemed to have no fear of me, so I threw him a piece of my ham sandwich.
“That’s kind of you, but no thank you,” he said. “I just ate.”
I looked at the sandwich: it did not appear to be spoiled. I tried to recall if I had inadvertently taken some of my husband’s pills with my brandy last night, but I was certain I hadn’t.
“Never seen a talking fox, eh?” he said to me.
“Uh…no, now that you mention it,” I replied. “Never.”
The fox laughed. “Most people haven’t,” he said kindly.
Suddenly the whole world seemed to fold in on itself like a piece of soft bread. “Holy shit,” I mumbled to myself.
The fox laughed again, not unkindly. “It is a shock at first, but I think you’ll get used to it.”
“Why me?”
“You have spirit.”
“I do?” Personally I had always thought of my “spirit” as an anger problem.
“You are about to embark on a very adventurous life,” the fox said. “Don’t forget me.”
And then he was gone."
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