Rats have the worst deal of all. They build their nests in culverts, where they are drowned by rainstorms without any kind of forecast. They are compelled to hunker down in freezing cold and in searing heat. They are despised and detested. They are hunted like foxes by pranksters. They are torn apart by ferocious cats and dogs. They steal food because they are hungry. They feast on the poison you lay out, trusting that they are finally, kindly fed. Their internal organs collapse. They crawl under heavy objects to compress the vacuum inside their bodies, or they lay down to die on a stair step for you to find the next day, and as though to say, "Here I am, you have killed me at last, and this is how I looked like when I died."

How many rats have you encountered in your life?