6.You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late even once more, you are fired. Do you take the time to save the dogs life? Why or Why not?
Ahiru let out a soft sigh. Her lips seemed to tug at a smile as she began to speak. "I would rescue the dog in a heartbeat. I wouldn't be able to live with myself to know I let it die. Even though I know what would happen with my boss, it is nothing compared with the guilt of letting ones life go away, even if it just some dog."
16.Excluding romantic love, when was the last time you told someone you loved them. Who were they to you?
She began to smile wider as she thought of the time. "I said that to Rosemary. When, I don't remember, but it was before all of this." Ahiru pushed some of her bangs away as she thought of the second part of the question. "Rose is....she's my everything. Even though I worry sometimes about borrowing her, I would not be where I am without her. She sustains me when no one else can. And....I can comfortably call her my best and most loyal friend. Without Rose.....I would be worse than I am now. I don't know what I would do without her."
She glanced away for a moment.
"I'd probably couldn't take living if she died."
19. You are holding onto your grandmother’s hand and the hand of a newborn that you do not know as they hang over the edge of a cliff. You have to let one go to save the other. Who do you let fall to their death? What was your rationale for making the decision?
She felt her throat run dry as she tried to process the question. Deep down, she knew how it would work out, and even as her mind played the thoughts, Ahiru didn't want to admit to herself.
The three of them were locked in position, though Ahiru could feel the ground around her tempting to give way and send all three of them to their watery graves. She felt what little strength she already had slipping away fast, but she did her best to dig her nails into the soft, wrinkly skin of the wrist of her left and around the tiny, smooth wrist in her right. Her vision blurred slightly as she fought back the tears that wished to join the ones that already were falling into the grass under her chin. Ahiru turned her pleading gaze back to the left.
"Please don't make me do this!"
Her grandmother's gaze stared intensely back at her granddaughter, her own fear and nerves hidden under years of practiced expressionless responses.
"There is no other way, Ahiru."
Ahiru swallowed hard. "But...what....what about the baby?"
She couldn't bear to look at the little thing, crying as loud as its small lungs could bear. Really, Ahiru wanted to too.
"Ahiru, think about it rationally. The mother doesn't want it anymore. It's alone, no father, no mother. no one willing to take it in. It would grow up unloved, and maybe even unable to be loved."
She looked at Ahiru tenderly. "Ahiru, you know how this world is. She was thrown away like trash. Would you really want to subject her to living a full life in complete misery in this world?"
"Let the baby go, Ahiru."
Ahiru tore her gaze away to the wailing infant in her other arm, rubbed her thumb against the tiny hand grasping her own.
The desperate wails echoed down the cliff even as she pulled her grandmother away from the edge and to safety. The elder turned to look at her young charge and hugged her.
"You did the right thing..."
Ahiru began to wipe the tears she didn't know were rolling down her cheeks. She softly mumbled, "Please don't make me answer that..."
