Profound Thoughts From A Dead Squirrel

It was a fairly normal Saturday evening that I decided to get some take-out for dinner. I returning to my dorm, bag of Noodles and Company in hand, and I almost walked into the most adorable little blonde-haired boy, with his even littler brother stumbling behind him. Whist thinking of all the ways I could say "Aww" and "Oh my goodness they're so cute" in my mind, by that time, the two boys and their parents had walked passed me, the father laughing and asking his little guy, "did you bump into that lady?" That family was so cute. Ah, I wish more families were like that. I want to have kids one day.

Oh wow, a dead squirrel.

Barely a minute later I found myself newly entranced at this deceased tree-rodent, with a tiny pool of blood congealed under its bleeding mouth. I was completely stopped in my tracks. A jogger passed by and looked at me funnily before realizing the obstacle ahead and awkwardly stepped around the grave site. I believe I stood there for a solid few minutes, staring at a dead squirrel on a sidewalk, listening to crows in the distance, "Caw! Caw! Free food! Look here!" It was then I realized the fragility of life and how it comes so suddenly to everyone, human and squirrel alike.

If I had viewed that dead squirrel without almost bumping into those stumbling boys, I don't think the train of thought I had that day would have been as profound. The stark contrast of life and death touched my soul! My inner not-quite-an-adult-but-gosh-I-like-to-think-I-am soul! I wanted to attend college because I wanted to get a job, and I wanted to get that job because I need to make money, and I need that money to sustain myself, and I need to sustain myself to sustain a family, and I need to sustain a family because my family is all I'll have left when I'm old and haggard and dying and dead.

It was like my whole life from now till I die flashed before me. All because of some kids I don't know and this random dead squirrel. Rest in peace, Squirrel. Your memory will live on forever in the mind of this newly enlightened college student.