The Coyote

There’s a coyote in the neighborhood. I’m not sure if he’s watching me, or if I’m watching him, but I’ve run into him a few times in the last month. The first time I saw him, her, it’s hard to tell if it’ a male or female, it was morning. I was sipping my coffee when I saw something move outside. It was the coyote sniffing about. I stood perfectly still and watched him through the window. He raised his hind leg and started to scratch. He had flees, I moved ever so gently to get a better look at him, and he took off running when he hard the sound of wood under my feet. I saw him a few days later running up the hill. He had something in his mouth, a squirrel or some kind of rodent. I couldn’t tell he was moving so fast.

One night I came home drunk and heard an awful murder. I figured the coyote finally caught up with the possum that was running free range in the backyard. I saw the possum one night sniffing my barbeque. He’d come out once the sun went down. He was sneaky, but not that sneaky. I could hear him trudging through the leaves. I was trying to sleep it off when I heard the murder. There were two or three coyotes. They ganged up on the possum. The possum was cornered. I probably could have put a stop to it. For a moment I imagined my drunk-self waving my arms and yelling hey, hey, hey, but realistically, I was in no condition to stop a murder.

            I saw the coyote again yesterday. I was walking up the hill and he was walking up another hill, and our eyes met. He ran into a field when he saw me. I walked over to the field just to let him know that I was on to him. He was sitting in the shade under a tree. I looked at him, and he looked at me. I walked away from him feeling somewhat righteous. A short time later I was at my computer when I heard the leaves crackling outside. I knew it was the coyote. Sure enough there he was outside my window. I saw him but he didn’t see me. He was sniffing around. I had been outside racking leaves earlier in the day. He was sniffing me. He was right at the spot where I was racking. He sniffed a few more times and shook his head and put his paw to his nose to wipe the scent away. He didn’t like the scent of me. Why I've never.