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William, the Morose Marmot

William was very morose. He was lying on his side looking out the window next to his bed and wondering where his life had gone wrong. This was how he spent most of his days.

Of all the animals, little and big, who lived in the North Woods William was the one most inclined to self pity and existential despair. Even Theodora Toad, who had plenty of reasons to be depressed was nowhere near as sad a character as William. It just seemed to be in his nature.

William was so sad and listless that he didn't even bother to go to Billy the Badger's big party. That evening he stayed at home and listened to his old Air Supply albums. Surprisingly that didn't cheer him up.

One day right around the time of Billy the Badger's big party, William actually managed to leave his burrow and go out for a walk. He shuffled along the old west path staring at his little furry feet and thinking about how sad everything was.

Because William was so busy thinking about the general sorriness of his life that he did not notice that Robert the Cat was fairly quietly closing in on him.

Robert the Cat was a carnivore and he was a good deal larger than William. He was also pretty hungry. These three facts made William's predicament reasonably dangerous. If the morose marmot did not shake himself out of his funk and take a look around it was pretty certain that Robert would catch him and eat him. Look out William!

But William was so busy thinking about the meaninglessness of his life that he lost it. His life I mean. Robert leapt on him and tore out his furry little throat.

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