Transliteration

It had five eyes and three legs, which was about one leg and two eyes more than I was used to. I didn’t quite like the way it looked at me, but I suppose with five eyes it must be difficult to control your sightline.

We’d already been driving for ten miles and blurry trees can only provide so much entertainment, so I decided to test the waters.

“It’s good weather, isn’t it?” 

“I guess so, but all squirrels have tails.” The middle three of its eyes blinked lazily.

“Well, what do you mean?” 

My companion gave no response, but even in the absence of words I could tell I had made a faux pas. The weather, in fact, was gloomy and had been ever since we’d left the apartment; I considered remarking as such, but I could tell my observation would not be well received.

After a few more minutes of weighty silence, I ventured another attempt at diplomacy.

“Are you nervous?” This was maybe too intimate a question for the chilliness between us, so I was surprised when I received a response.

“Aren’t we all? It doesn’t matter too much, if every star is a ball of gas.”

I mulled this over as we passed by the interstate and continued toward the clearing. Certainly, I was nervous enough for the both of us. The past few months had been nothing but chaos. Cookies in the dryer, spiderwebs in the fridge, the odd mandible discarded here and there. For someone who counted each bite before swallowing, I’d allowed my apartment to become home to a surprising amount of moth-filled DVD players.

And, of course, there were the arguments that never seemed to resolve. I would come home to a sink full of bloody mouse traps and spend the next few hours stomping around the halls. “I’m putting my feet down!”, I’d say with conviction. “I demand that you put a stop to this behavior!” Really, I would have accepted even an empty promise to do better, but instead I was rebutted with the incontrovertible truth that, as a matter of fact, not every puppy will lay an egg.

“Well, yes, I know that!” I’d cried, offended at the thought that I could be so unknowledgeable about canine obstetrics. “But that doesn’t mean you can treat me like this!”

Five eyes gazed sadly back at me, full of a pity that I didn’t understand and yet somehow deserved. It tapped its third leg and hobbled off to let me absorb its wisdom in peace.

But even as the memory filled me with a righteous indignation, I felt a twinge of guilt when we rolled into the laboratory parking lot. I exhaled slowly as I took my foot off the brake and removed the key from the ignition.

“Do you think you’ll be alright?”

I hadn’t expected an answer but was still hurt when none came. 

“Please, it’s the last time we’ll see each other. Do you think you’ll be alright?”

The passenger side door opened and I heard the clacks as three heels hit the asphalt. 

“Not sure. But you know what they say — even the best bunnies can’t fly far.”