Not /Quite/ A Desert... Certainly Not Dessert

I almost killed it. I didn't mean too, and managed to save myself in time, but it almost died. And it couldn't have been considered my fault, noone would have blamed me. Some may have even applauded me, but it sure wouldn't have. It didn't applaud me for letting it live either.

I didn't really expect it to, though. I doubt that it even noticed how close it came to death. Doing so would require understanding the concept of "death", so I'm fairly certain that it didn't know. But I could be wrong, it may have been applauding in its mind. If it understands the concept of "applause".

I was glad I didn't kill it. Even without the (admittedly unexpected) applause, I felt good. I didn't allow myself to affect the cultural evolution of a lower race. It could have been the king of a tribe, for all I know. Its death could have caused decades of war and strife as the offspring fought to have the crown. If there was a crown to be had.

I tend to doubt it, though. That there was a crown anyway. And that it was the king, I suppose. Kings are generally more protected, if it were a king I wouldn't have almost killed it. And I did. Almost.

I received no applause. It had no hands. I didn't have to worry about a crown, it had no head. I did manage to stop my foot in time and watched the worm wriggle around for a while before I headed back to work.

I learned something today. And I didn't have to kill anything to do so. It probably died anyway, though. I've never seen a worm on the sidewalk before. Well, not when it hasn't rained for months anyway.

I wonder if it's still alive.