Stormborn hadn’t specifically assigned tasks to anyone, so Paro waited until the meeting broke to head over to the main area of the cavernous burrow. She liked to work alone, enjoyed the feeling of throwing herself into a task and forgetting about everything else. More than once in her life, Paro had used tough labor to work through some issues weighing on her mind, and she had come to love the feeling of hustling her way through strenuous undertakings.
With her usual sense of quiet, Paro surveyed the burrow with her dark eyes and found a spot where the ground twisted and rolled like tiny hills trapped inside. She made her way over, patting the dirt, feeling the way the floor moved. This would be a good spot to begin. After a moment of feeling out the area, Paro dug her claws in and raked her paws through the earth. It was slightly packed, and there was a small tug against her paws before the clods of dirt started to move, a slight tension that felt good as it settled into Paro’s bones.
It felt good. The sense of purpose that came from choosing a particular task, the goal set at the end, it all felt logical to her. It felt somewhat like what she ought to be doing, short-term and fleeting though it was. And after all, wasn’t purpose what they all sought in this life? A calling, a sense of who they ought to be or where they ought to go? This was like one small step in the right direction, and every time Paro strained her muscles against the dirt, she felt like she was moving closer to finding something.
The dark rabbit worked quickly and efficiently, scooping dirt out of the ground and flinging it into a growing pile behind her. She didn’t shirk from the effort, throwing all of her strength into every movement. Before long, the little hills that lined her section of the floor and been smoothed to nothing and the ground lay flat before her. Paro almost didn’t notice until she took a pause, surveyed her handiwork, and gave herself a small nod. She made her way across the area, patting down any loose bits of dirt, smoothing it all out for make it as flat and usable as she could. It was hard not to feel a deep sense of satisfaction.
After a brief moment – she could appreciate her own hard work, but better not to spend too much time over it – Paro turned toward the pile of loose dirt that she had created. It was always best to clean as you went, so she made her way over and scooped up a load, moving toward the exit. As she began this second phase of her task, she started to think and to imagine – soon the burrow would be complete, and it was all thanks to the rabbits around her. A true sharing of work and labor, striving for the same lofty goals.
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