Last week was extraordinary.

First, we came back to school, resentful about a curtailed National Day holiday. We seniors got two days off while the freshmen had 7. Then, we sat our monthly exam, in which my performance could not have been rottener. Yesterday evening, I came home, virtually in pieces.

When I was walking in, head bowed, to my pleasant surprise, a cute creature caught my eye. At first glance, it looked like a big dog. Its beautiful bushy tail, however, reminded me that it might be a fox!

“It is a real fox,” Grandad confirmed my guess. Amazed, I would not believe my ears. “I must be dreaming!” I shook my head to make sure that I was in the real world. Seeing the cute animal pacing elegantly in front of me, I had to believe it.

Three days earlier, Grandad had rescued the fox from under sticks and stones. The animal had popped up around the residential complex for no reason. Some guys, out of curiosity, tried to set upon it. Others shot photos of it on their phones and shared the pics on social media. The scene was total chaos. Thanks to Grandad, the poor creature avoided becoming part of a menu and landing on someone’s dinner plate.

With the environment around Grandad’s improving, more animals will turn up, I bet. Many birds come to drink and splash at the pond every day. Some small mammals creep in and scavenge in the bins for a bite. In the right season, butterflies and bees flit among the flowers and blossoms in the yard.

Without pollution or interference, humans can co-exist in harmony with the fellow terrestrial residents. We should respect them. Not only do we inhabit land under the same sky and breathe the same air, we are as well nurtured by the one Mother Earth. In this sense, we are equals.

Hopefully, the fox Grandad fostered will go back to the woods, safe and sound, and be reunited with its brothers and sisters. Lightening my mood, it has created a unique weekend, and, hence I give the creature my best wishes.