Counting Potatoes

Rodent Skywalker

He looks down on me as I sit by the table to fix my daily coffee. Sometimes he bares his ass as if to mock my helplessness, sometimes he just sleeps there as if he owns the place. I think He knows I won’t dare shoot him with the airgun.

I call him Rodent Skywalker. The very first rodent in our house that dared to conquer the skies (or at least the transparent plastic water drainage system we have fixed on our ceilings as storm back-up). As a result, all of us are treated with a daily glimpse of the hidden world of rodent life, its almost like watching a boring national geographic special where all the animal does is sleep and scratch itself.

Rats, one of nature’s most tenacious survivors. They, or at least ancestors that looked much like them, have been around so long that they've even seen the fall of the dinosaurs. They have endured through the post impact winter that followed the mass extinction, have survived the new breed of predators that followed, adapted to the dangers of modern society and according to Stephen Baxter, will probably outlast us in the future.

Now he fixes his bed near the light bulb to draw warmth and to protect himself from the 22 degree cold. He has even collected wood chips, paper and other things to make himself more comfortable in his newly discovered home.

In a sense, he is a pioneer trekking through un-chartered landscapes pushing the boundaries of his known world. Away from the mainstream of his overcrowded society , scared at every turn, wishing for security but longing for something more, he is giving his little experiment the best he can in order to find a new way to survive. He looks lonely, but aren’t all visionaries the same? It’s after all, a small price he has to pay for following his dreams.

Who knows, maybe in time, he’ll even get lucky and convince another adventurous she-rodent to share this new world with him and build a family. In time, he might even become a legend in his own pack as the one who first to venture forth and conquered the sky.

Rodent Skywalker. My finger itches to pull the trigger but something holds me back. Maybe it’s his pioneering spirit and how I, myself am trying to do the same in a world of bits and bytes. Maybe it’s his fears, as it is the same fears I confront everyday as I try to push our own experiment onto solid ground. Or maybe it’s his courage, as I know mine has and will waver as I follow my dreams in the years to come.

Sleep tight Rodent Skywalker. I’ll leave the lights on for you tonight.

	Rodent Skywalker