A small beast, a tree dweller.

Giver of nuts.

Entertainment and a harmless creature on the whole.

I spy the dog focused over it, twitching in his tail…

Off! I command.

The dog drops and waits for his next order.

Was he the cause or merely the sentinel who alerted me to the small thing, twitching in the yard.

He crawls to put a fence post between me and himself…

Eying me with defiance.

I know that this is not normal for a squirrel.

Yet he crawls.

I cannot see if it is a leg (or worse).

Defiant.

Aggressive even.

Yet definitely not for long.

His eyes dimming before me.

Nothing I can do save grant him the dignity of death on his own terms.

I elect to leave him be.

A creature of the wild.

About to return to his maker.

The same as me…

Only the time is his rather than mine.