a life in the day of a. #15
if alyosha could be any animal, he would be a groundhog.
despite their gregariousness - with which he cannot sympathize - alyosha always pictured himself as a rodent (though preferably not the plague-bearing kind), and the groundhog is his usual choice amongst the rodents due to the following experience:
a number of years back, alyosha spied a lone groundhog grazing under a tree in his backyard. he watched it for a time, admiring its skittish behaviour; it would constantly dart its head up between bites of leaves and nervously glance left and right (always in this order), eyeing any potential threat. hoping to get the creature's attention, alyosha gently tapped on his window, only to watch as the rodent - without even so much as a glance in the direction of the noise so as to ascertain its source - dashed into the cover of the nearby bushes. the ridiculousness of this action - that is, turning-tail and running without even attempting to investigate whether any true threat existed - coupled with the creature's comically awkward, waddling gait caused alyosha to become enamoured with the animal. this kinship has lasted to this day.
despite their gregariousness - with which he cannot sympathize - alyosha always pictured himself as a rodent (though preferably not the plague-bearing kind), and the groundhog is his usual choice amongst the rodents due to the following experience:
a number of years back, alyosha spied a lone groundhog grazing under a tree in his backyard. he watched it for a time, admiring its skittish behaviour; it would constantly dart its head up between bites of leaves and nervously glance left and right (always in this order), eyeing any potential threat. hoping to get the creature's attention, alyosha gently tapped on his window, only to watch as the rodent - without even so much as a glance in the direction of the noise so as to ascertain its source - dashed into the cover of the nearby bushes. the ridiculousness of this action - that is, turning-tail and running without even attempting to investigate whether any true threat existed - coupled with the creature's comically awkward, waddling gait caused alyosha to become enamoured with the animal. this kinship has lasted to this day.