She noticed the stiff rodent’s body as she was walking down the street one day, and it startled a soft cry out of her.

Her eyes became heavy with sadness and she tentatively bent over the dead body. His, or her, she didn’t really know, eyes were closed and he almost looked asleep.

Except that squirrels don’t sleep in the middle of the road, their tails and limbs all stiff.

Now her brain was sent into the frenzy- did she leave it there? Pick it up? The last thought sent a chill through her.

No. But as she stood up straight to leave it she knew that she couldn’t.

So she came back a few moments later, gardening gloves on her hands.

She bent over it and gingerly grabbed it around the middle, closing her eyes as she did so.

Then she brought it to the side of the road, grabbed the shovel and dug a little hole. The squirrel was almost lovingly set down into it and then covered.

She pulled off her gloves and tossed them into the trash.

There, it was done.