This morning started out normal enough. I didn't want to get up to get ready for work, but Sprocket kept insisting that I do so by getting in my face and purring loudly. His motives probably had more to do with being fed than seeing that I get to work on time. Anyway, everything was fine until I backed out of my parking space to drive to the bus parking lot. As I put the car in drive, I noticed a little baby rabbit sitting in the middle of my now empty space.

Immediately I knew something was wrong. The rabbit looked too tiny to be out of his nest, and he was sitting very still. I parked my car in another space and got out to check on him. He was alive, but he seemed to be coughing. His right eye, although open, seemed to have a hint of blood on it. I immediately called my dad. Once I assured him that I had not wrecked the car but was just concerned about a baby rabbit, he told me to move him out of the sun under a bush. In case his mother was nearby, I grabbed a towel to move him with so he wouldn't get a human scent on him. But when I reached down to pick him up, he tried to jump away from me. He didn't succeed. His leap landed him on his back, and it took a moment for him to right himself. Eventually he gave up and let me pick him up. I held him for a few minutes, talking to him and wishing I could do more to help him. When he started getting squirmy, I found a shady place under a nearby bush and placed him there.

This whole thing has made me feel so helpless. There's a baby bunny dying in front of my house right now, and there's nothing I can do about it. As my daddy said to me, I've got to let nature take care of itself. Apparently the little guy had been hurt, most likely by some cat who had some fun with him before getting bored. I wanted to do something for him, because I could tell he was injured. His breathing was so shallow and pitiful. But I can't save him.

Once, when I was little, my daddy and I stumbled across a nest of baby rabbits. We found the mother rabbit- she had been killed, I think- so we took in the little babies. I had fun holding them and feeding them with a bottle. But eventually they all died. I never forgot that. We couldn't save them, no matter how hard we tried. It's the law of nature, I guess.