Sometimes possums, sometimes rats

When I'm waiting for a bus beside Hyde Park after dark, I'll often spy a furry critter scurrying between the fig trees or skirting the retaining wall.

Observed further, it may reveal itself to be a possum, with a nervous demeanour and wide eyes that tell me, "I just want to be left alone."

Alternatively, it will be a rat, also hesitant in the spotlight, but with a different message in its beady stare: "I would hurt you if I could."

I'd say that's a serviceable metaphor for life.