Extinct, or Just Elusive?

Although it may seem fairly straightforward and simple, I’m finding that heat is a relative term. At home, lounging in my comfortable air-conditioned bedroom, I thought it was terribly hot out- Sweltering, even! God forbid I actually venture outside and subject myself to the full force of that brutal, heartless sun! Now, enclosed in a dorm where my only “air conditioning” comes from a tiny, desk top fan that only moves hot air around, those “hot” summer days before were truly more like a temperate summer dream. With few options to aid the situation, I’ve been tempted more than once to squeeze myself into the mini-fridge at night to sleep. Opening a window at night lets in more sounds of drunken partying than cool air, and when morning comes it seems as though I must have gone sleep-swimming, judging by the pools of sweat surrounding me.

Truly, it’s inconceivable that anyone would actually be able to suffer through this sort of heat on a regular basis, and even more impossible that it might be an ideal habitat for some. Even ice cubes frozen solid don’t last long in temperatures such as this, but unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of sitting in front of the freezer all day; Eventually, it becomes evident that I might actually have to attend classes.

Marching outside to find the correct building, the bag slung over my shoulder becoming heavier by the minute, I can feel every follicle screaming under the sun. Eyes glazing over, it’s hard to know where I’m going, even if I had known the campus well in the first place. It must have been some strange mirage or the result of sun-stroke, but glancing over from the paved path, I could have sworn that a sandy desert stretched out before me, and it truly seemed appropriate to find in this sort of heat. Now, while the sudden change of landscape didn’t alarm me in the least, sitting serenely on a rock was the strangest creature I had ever seen.

Not only was it strange to find any sort of wildlife on campus, brave enough to walk alongside rowdy students, that dodos were completely extinct in the first place! If only I had any wits about me I might have been able to make more sense of this, but simply writing this odd sight off as a mirage or figment of my imagination, I gathered up what strength remained in my over-heated and tired mind and pushed on towards class, mopping the sweat of my brow and squinting just to see through the sun’s glare.

At this point, I could have seen a dirty puddle and imagined it to be a clear, cool oasis of drinking water and tried to slurp it up, so perhaps this dodo had been no more than common pigeon in real life.

A real dodo in Massachusetts, back from extinction? I guess we’ll never know…