I spot a horse ahead, then behind - or - rather - I spot a horse's behind, then it's head; I try to save a shrew; something interesting in the road

I was driving down Nelson when I spotted this horse ahead, wandering about with these three kids, giving no one a ride.

Very shortly, the horse was behind me.

In the afternoon, I ate some chicken soup out in the back yard at the picnic table. I did this mostly for Jimmy, so he could come out and romp around a bit while I ate. As I was eating, he caught another shrew. Usually when he does this, by the time I get to him the shrew is either dead or so hopelessly injured that I dispatch it as quickly and mercifully as I can, and apologize to it on Jimmy's behalf.

This time, I could see lots of life still in the shrew. The shrew looked to me to be capable of full recovery. So I pulled Jimmy off it and the shrew went free. Later, after I brought Margie home from babysitting. We went out again. He got another shrew. Killed it just like that. I thought it might be the same shrew, but it was smaller than this one.

It must have been a baby.

Late in the evening, I took a very short bicycle ride - about five miles. On the return, as I began to accelerate down Ward's Street, I saw this kid at the bottom of the hill, studying something lying in the road. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, I was going pretty fast. I did not slow down, I did not stop, I did not find out what had so captured his attention.

I decided to leave the question unanswered, to let it become just another of life's countless mysteries.

Comments

[twain12]

i rescued a few mice in our late cat's time...but i'm sure they where in the minority. Interesting tire tracks

[Mrs Gunka]

Perhaps the boy sees the run-a-way shrew? Perhaps a car was faster than Jimmy. By the look of those tracks, cars can go fast and crazy!