Saving Rosetta



          I grew up in the city.  We didn't see many animals outside of a few neighbor's cats and dogs,

squirrels in the park, and an occasional visit to the Bronx zoo.  So I didn't develop much of a feel for

animals.  My wife Joyce, on the other hand, was from a rural area and loves all things living.  I tell you

this to better understand what follows.

     We were watching television on the flat screen in my basement when we heard a thumping.

Joyce thought it was ice falling against the house after a severe winter storm.  I harbored more

sinister thoughts.  We located the source of the disturbance outside the egress window.  (The basement

had no door to the outside.)  The window would allow us to escape in case of fire.  A large rabbit

had fallen into the well, some four feet deep from the outside.  The beast was frantically trying to

escape but there was no way it could do so.  Nor could we reach it from inside.  Joyce ran out but

couldn't lift the plastic dome cover, which was frozen shut.  It was the coldest night in about twenty

years and seven inches of snow (now ice) lay on the ground.  "Leave it until morning when it is light "

I prompted, from beneath my down comforter.   "It will freeze to death out there" Joyce countered.

"Give me your comforter."  I know better than to protest when Joyce uses a certain tone of voice.

She grabbed my favorite TV-watching cover, ran out again and threw the blanket down the well.

"This should help it survive the night," she explained.  Joyce was up all night, checking on the

furry creature, for whom she had now assumed total responsibility.  I slept pretty well, considering

that she kept hopping out bed to check the beast.

     "She's still alive," Joyce reported in the morning.  "How do you know it's a she?"

"She gets things done and never complains.  Her name is Rosetta."   I figured we could call the Fire

Department.  They have ladders.  But by 7:00 AM she had gone out again, climbed down into the

well, wrapped Rosetta in my comforter, placed her in a large plastic tub, and brought her into the

 house.  She had  also placed some lettuce and carrot greens and a cup of water in the tub.  I suggested

a heating pad to warm up my blanket.  We did that and after an hour or so Rosetta was warmer but still

immobile.

     At 10:00 AM Joyce called the local vet who had just had surgery and begged off.  She suggested a

shelter for wild animals. The vet at the shelter praised Joyce for her compassion for animals and offered

to take the animal.  She was treating a very sick dog who was lethargic and paralyzed.

Joyce, knowledgeable about such things, suggested that the dog may have swallowed some antifreeze.

"Wait, replied the vet.  I'll check."  A few seconds later she was back.  "You're right.  I smelled his

breath and it reeks of antifreeze. " "How did you diagnose that?"  I asked.   "It's that time of year."  I

knew I had married a nurse but not a witch.  Meanwhile we had Rosetta to deal with.  The roads were

icy and the shelter was an hour and a half away in good weather.  Our driveway was a skating rink.

The rabbit was stuck with us a while longer.

     Wild animals cannot be domesticated.  Rosetta lay staring, confused and apparently in shock.  She

would neither eat nor drink.  Joyce managed to get some water into her using a syringe from our

granddaughter's doctor kit.  Still no change.  Then, Joyce had an epiphany.  Rosetta wanted to be left

alone.  She removed the animals from the bin and placed her in the laundry room with the door

closed.  Rosetta, now freed somewhat from captivity, perked up and began hopping around.  She still

would not eat or drink on her own but did approach a dish of maple syrup Joyce had hung from a sink.

We left her there that night, somewhat hopeful that she had turned a corner.  The next morning we

found her hiding in a corner behind a cardboard carton.  She seemed a lot better.  Joyce called the

 animal shelter once more.  "You'll have to let her go now" the vet advised.   "She will die in

captivity.  Place her somewhat near where you think she came from.  Don't follow her or she won't

go to her den."

     When the sun came out Joyce carried her up the snow- covered hill adjacent to the woods and

placed her down in the snow.  Rosetta did not move.  Joyce left, fearing the worst.  Could she now

 survive on her own.?  A few minutes later Joyce climbed back up the hill.   Rosetta was gone.  I'm

sure, that like Pi in the film, she did not look back.  Hopefully, she has found her den.

       Joyce is proud that she may have saved the rabbit but is also very sad to have said goodbye.  Me?

 I guess I will miss her too.

   
                                                            ADDENDA

     I doubt that we will ever see Rosetta again.  If rabbits have some way of communicating with each

other, Rosetta had some story to tell:

     "I fell into a trap and was captured by humans.  They manhandled me, placed me in a box,  and for

fed me.  Fortunately, I managed to escape.  I'll never go near that place again.