Life, and Death, and Squirrels

"God damn it Melody, get it together!" She said to herself, as she spilled used coffee grounds around the perimeter of the trash can. She hastily cleaned them up with a Clorox wipe and thought about how she wished she was less clumsy. Melody assumed that she'd be better at mornings by now, but she was truly a night owl and that was never going to change. However, this particular Sunday, she had promised herself, and her dog that she would get outside at a reasonable hour and do something constructive with her time. She parted the curtains and opened the sliding glass door to her patio. "Well shit, it's a beautiful day Charlie! I think we should go to the beach, what do you think?" The eyes of her wide eyed mutt got even wider and his whole body wiggled with excitement. Charlie knew the word 'Beach' and it had been quite a while since he had gotten the chance to go. He was kind of a big dog who didn't bark much, but when he got worked up he would crouch down low and begin running up and down the stairs of the apartment, making sounds of intermittent thunder.

"Okay, okay! I have to get ready. Let me put a swim suit on and something beachy. And then we'll go. Five minutes, I promise." She skipped off to the bedroom to get herself together. Charlie loyally followed. She threw on a pink, paisley bikini and grabbed a black, light weight dress with sunflowers on it. She pulled it over her head and took a quick look herself in the mirror. Her thin, light brown hair was as messy as ever, but she didn't really care. Charlie was staring at her with a tennis ball in his mouth, so she quickly grabbed a backpack, a towel and other few beach essentials. "Okay, lets go!" She shouted, and the two of them raced each other down the stairs. 

The dog friendly beach was only a few miles away, but weekend traffic was sure to make the drive a bit longer and more irritating that usual. She needed some music to ease the agitation but he radio wasn't very impressive. So Melody shuffled through a stack of slightly scratched CD's and popped in a in a copy of Loaded, by the Velvet Underground. As they got closer, the ocean air began to breeze through the windows and Charlie's excitement could not be contained. Suddenly the car began to to stink. "What the fuck, Charlie! Please tell me that was gas and not one of your rogue turds sneaking out?!" Charlie almost never had accidents, but once in a rare blue moon, a tiny stink nugget would sneak it's way out of his back side when he was overly thrilled about something. Melody took a quick glance at the backseat and saw Charlie grinning from ear to ear.  As she turned her eyes back towards the road, a squirrel scurried out in front of her brand new car. She swerved in a panic, hoping that she had missed the poor, helpless creature. 

Melody reluctantly looked in her rear view mirror. And there she saw a tail, twitching rapidly in the wind. "Oh God, No!" She screamed. She gasped for air and the tears began to flow. She had never run over an animal before, and it had always been one of her greatest fears. The idea of this sad, little squirrel dying or suffering because of her was almost too much for her to bear. The parking for the beach was just a few yards away, and there was almost always a Sheriff there on the weekend directing traffic. As she approached the lot, she leaned towards the window to speak with the Officer. "I'm so sorry, Officer." She confessed with tears streaming down her face. "I think.... I think I may have ran over an animal! Oh god!" The Sheriff looked at her and dutifully asked what kind of animal. "I'm pretty sure it was a squirrel. Please tell me there's someone I can call to help it, I'm worried that it's suffering!" She sobbed. 

"A Squirrel? Excuse me Ma'am but you need to pull over and get yourself together. There is nothing to worry about as long as you are Okay, and your dog here is Okay." He motioned towards Charlie who was now looking quite confused. "Ain't no body going to come out here for a damn squirrel, so please pull over in the grass here and get yourself together." Melody obliged, but was saddened by the apathy of the officer towards this upsetting situation. Who was he to decide which lives mattered, and which ones didn't? She thought for sure that there would be someone she could call, a number somewhere of someone who might help. 

She scrolled through her phone and found the contact information for a local wildlife center. She impatiently waited as the phone rang. Finally, a woman answered, "This is Cynthia with South Florida Wildlife, what can I help you with today." Melody, explained her situation, and the woman responded with compassion. "Yes, if you think the squirrel is injured, we can help you. But you are going to have to bring him in. Do you happen to have a box, or a towel or something in your car?"

The idea of going back to see if the squirrel was savable made Melody want to cry even more. "I just... I don't know if I'm capable of doing that!" She began to cry again, but the soft voice of the woman on phone comforted her. "Do you think you can call someone to help you? As long as you can get the animal here, we will do everything we can to try to save it." 

"Okay, I will try. Thank you for your help." Melody hung up the phone and took a deep breath. Even though she was squeamish and the sight of blood made her want to puke, her conscious prompted her to go back and see what she could do. She turned towards the backseat to give Charlie a soft little pat on the head. He now looked even more confused, and slightly disappointed. "Alright, Buddy, we can do this. You're gonna have to be a good boy, okay?" She put the car into drive and started to slowly make her way back down the road. When she approached the scene of the incident, she was surprised to see that there was nothing there. No squirrel. No blood. She put her hand on her heart, and let out a huge sigh. "Sweet Jesus!" She laughed. Melody wasn't religious, but maybe the God she wasn't so sure about heard her silent prayer and the squirrel recovered from being stunned, and simply scampered away unharmed. 

At this point, Charlie was getting restless so Melody drove a bit further to a walk-able area and parked the car to let him out. The wind whipped her hair around and the sun felt good on her bare shoulders. As she opened the back door and attached Charlies leash, there she saw it. A small, perfectly round turd, nestled between two seat-belt buckles, in all it's singular glory.