Compassion

Let me tell you a true story about a baby rabbit I stomped to death out of compassion when I was about 13. I was walking down this street that had no sidewalk, but did have a deep curb. I come upon the baby rabbit, only a few weeks old, who had gotten himself in the road, and could not climb out over the curb. It was in my idea to catch him, lift him over the curb, and set it free. 

With this in mind, I sped up to gain on him, licked split we were both running with me being the fastest by a little. When I had almost cough up with him, he stopped dead in his tracks, and before I could stop my foot struck him in the head, knocking out one of his eyes. He no longer tried to get away, I picked him up, and looked at his damaged eye as I contemplated what to do. 

I was not going to take on the burden of taking him home and trying to care for him, it was beyond my ability to give his that kind of care. I also knew that if I turned him loose that his changes of a slow, lingering painful death were much better than his surviving to adulthood. So I put him back on the road and stomped his real hard and went on home. 

I have killed many rabbit since then intentional, and not of them stay in my memory like this guy does.