in form , the cocky baby , should it ever have decided to emerge , which of course it wouldnt , but if it had , it would have resembled a feathered platypus crossed with a furry rooster , though i was never certain which parts would have been the feathered platypus ( perhaps it was the hindquarters ) and which part the furry rooster ( perhaps the head ) ; i was not sure whether i intended the whole result to be cute or ugly ; maybe at age three esthetic judgments were vague ; but my eyes burned into the heart of the clods that i propped on the shelf and i began to believe profoundly in the itty-bitty cocky baby , almost to the point of worship .