One morning, Sally Dalton, a speechwriter, was walking down a path when she heard the bark of a dog. She thought nothing of it until she came upon a baby hare 1 seemed to be struggling. The animal, no longer than the width of her hand, 2 (lie) on its stomach with its eyes open and its short, silky ears held tightly against its back. The most likely explanation for its 3 (expose) position was that it had been chased, picked up and dropped by the dog she’d heard, and had ended up lost on the track. Dalton was at a crossroads. She knew that 4 (pick) up the animal might do more harm than good, but leaving it there might lead to an equally unwelcome outcome. She picked it up.

Dalton thought she would tend to the animal’s immediate needs and then release 5 outside. But once the hare 6 (bring) inside her house, she became first its caretaker and later its protector. Hares are not meant to be pets. And Dalton never forced this hare to become one. When the hare was well enough to return to the outside world. Dalton let it go.

The hare kept coming back. Dalton left her door open 7 the animal could come and go like an adult child with a driver’s license. The loose arrangement created an unusual bond: the hare became so comfortable in Dalton’s home that it gave birth 8 baby hares behind a curtain in her study.

Dalton and the hare learned to respect each other’s boundaries, which allowed them 9 (coexist) peacefully. And it was difficult for Dalton not to see admirable human qualities in her woolly housemate: patience, dignity, calm and strength among them.
These qualities are in conflict with 10 the hare is typically described in children’s literature. Think, for instance, if the animal’s overconfidence in Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare. Dalton’s story is a deep dive into the biology of the animal and an insightful look at its role in the animal-human world.

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