Every since she came to the states, Anne Cumbertin had never felt better. Quite literally as her body had been revitalized and made healthier than before. Being a skunk was a lot more enjoyable than she would have imagined it to be. Thankfully, she had complete control over her scent glands and couldn't spray unless she wanted to or was very startled. But that wasn't nearly as important as being able to be with her daughter again. Walter was quite a gentleman and Janice gave her full approval of him marrying her daughter. The only problem with Anne's new life...was what she going to do with herself?
Janice and Walter's modeling careers provided with a nice life and Janice was fine with her mother staying as long as he wanted until she knew what job she wanted to take. That was not so easy as Anne's experiences were limited mainly to cleaning and she was determined NOT to be another cleaner in America. Janice suggested that her mother could try her luck at the career center, which is quite a well-visited place these days. And even Anne did go there, there were still too many options for her to decide upon.
And while Janice did not mind her mother living her for a long while and would easily be able to afford it, Anne did not want to be loafing off her daughter forever. Janice was clearly her own woman now and she deserved to not have to take care of her own mother. And Anne's pride was fueling her not to squander this new chance of life she had been given.
But until the right opportunity came, Anne was not that frantic. She kept herself as busy as she can. Namely, she had taken up jogging in the park. She did not want her new body to lose its fit and curvy shape. One particularly warm afternoon, she stopped at a bench that was thankfully in the shade of a tree. One of the drawbacks of being a skunk is that the black parts of the fur absorbed heat so easily and the white fur was usually in the places were the sun didn't shine.
Anne took a long swig from her water bottle. She wished she could cool down faster, but not all Animalians had the ability to sweat, including skunks. Still, at least it was a nice place to rest. Presently, she heard someone coming and looked up. To her mild surprise, a male skunk Animalian was heading her way. He was noticeably thinner than Walter and his mop of curly black hair indicated he was once human, like her. He was also dressed to jog, wearing a tank top and running shorts.
The skunk stopped at Anne's bench to cool down. As he panted, he turned to Anne and said, "Pardon me, but are you new here?"
"I came France about a week ago," said Anne. She had been refining her ability to speak English. Her accent was still thick, but she was more understandable.
"Well, welcome to America. I'm Oscar," said the skunk, holding out a hand.
"I'm Anne," said Anne, taking his hand and shaking it.
"So, you've been jogging too?" asked Oscar.
"I'm making sure zis body doesn't lose its shape," said Anne, running her hands down its sides.
"I can understand that," said Oscar before forcing his eyes up, "Say, how about a race? Let's say...to that tree over there and back?" He gestured at a tree that was about 50 feet away.
Anne smirked and said, "I think I can work with zat." She stood up and stretched a bit in preparation.
"Ok, on your mark, get set, go!" said Oscar. Both he and Anne dashed for the tree. The two started out even but pretty soon Anne was pulling out ahead. When they got to the tree and turned around, Anne had a very clear lead. Unsurprisingly, it was her that made it back to the bench first.
"Victoire!" called Anne triumphantly. That dashing actually felt pretty good, pumping her up more than usual.
Oscar panted as he caught up. "Wow, you're fast," he said, "Have you considered signing up for the Animalian Games?"
Anne tilted her head and said, "Zat sounds like a good idea actually..."
==========
Thankfully, it wasn't too late for Anne to sign up. While her speed was remarkable, she wasn't sure she had the endurance for marathon running. But the baton pass seemed suited for her. It wasn't really a job, but it was a start at a new life. Oscar was particularly helpful with her training and even suggested that Anne should look into a career of hairdressing after she was able to straighten out Oscar's curls into a fashionable coif. Of course, it would take some time to be qualified as a hairdresser, but Anne had plenty of that now. And it was no surprise that she and Oscar soon became an item. It didn't matter to Janice that Oscar was chronologically much younger than her mother. She was just happy that her mother was making a new life for herself.