Week 11 Story: Coyote Pulls an All-Nighter
When Old Man Above, Chareya, told the human men that they could choose the ranking of the animals in nature, coyote couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe what his pointy ears had heard. Why should men, who were the last to be made by Chareya, get to choose how everyone else lives their lives? Men were the slowest and the least intelligent. Coyote knew he could do a better job.
But there was no arguing with the Old Man Above, so everyone just had to go with it.
Word spread about Chareya's decision, and soon the men had chosen a method they would use to give the animals their rankings. Of course, thought coyote, the men would choose a method that left the rankings up to chance, instead of actually THINKING about something for a change.
The men decided that they would make a set of bows, one for each kind of animal. Each bow would be different in length, and would be handed out from longest to shortest to each animal. The animal with the longest bow would be the highest rank, and the animal with the shortest bow would be the lowest rank. The men arranged a meeting with the animals the following morning at dawn, where they would hand out the bows as the animals arrived. And, all the animal who wanted the highest rank had to do was get to the meeting first.
This meant, of course, that this animal had to be awake in order to get to the meeting.
Coyote was overjoyed to hear this news. It was no secret that coyote was the most nocturnal animal of the bunch. He slept all day and stayed up all night, much to the chagrin of his neighbors. And he wasn't exactly quiet, either.
This is going to be so easy, thought coyote. All I have to do is stay up all night, so I can get to the meeting before everyone else. In the morning, all the little animals will wake up to find that I am superior-- not that this will be a surprise to them.
That night, when the sun went down around 8 PM, all but one of the forest animals crawled into their homes and fell asleep. Coyote had gloated to them about his imminent success as they readied themselves for bed. His attitude usually earned him a few eye rolls from his neighbors, but this time they just smiled at him and nodded along. Coyote couldn't understand why his neighbors were being so supportive all of a sudden. Maybe it was because, once he was the highest ranking animal, they wanted to make sure they had a good relationship with him? Nevertheless, he shrugged this off and went along about his night.
Eventually 5 AM rolled around, and coyote was running out of things to do. He had cleaned out his den, picked up fallen branches in the forest and placed them in a tidy pile for a fire, raked fallen leaves into a large pile and jumped in it multiple times, and howled at the moon (followed by being yelled at by any animal nearby who was trying to sleep). He sat quietly on the hillside looked around himself into the dark woods, trying to think of things to do. He had to keep himself occupied to stay awake when dawn came at 6.
Who knew anticipation could be so.... boring.
As coyote sat on the hillside, he lifted his gaze to the stars above him. Coyote had always been fascinated by stars; he had often wished he could jump onto one and fly away. He yearned to see where the stars went during the daytime.
So coyote decided to lay down and stargaze for a while, picking out each constellation and telling himself the stories related to each one.
"There's the big dipper," coyote said to himself, lifting a paw and pointing it out in the sky. "I have no idea why someone would make a constellation of a spoon, but to each their own, I guess."
He moved his paw slightly to the side. "There's his brother, little dipper," said coyote to no one. "Because one spoon," coyote yawned, "just wasn't enough."
Coyote let himself relax into the dirt, staring lazily (and a little sleepily) up at the stars.
Maybe I could shut my eyes just for a second, thought coyote. I could rest my eyes for a minute or two and then push through until dawn. No harm in that.
Coyote shut one eye, and then the other eye, absently contemplating who decided to arrange stars in the sky in spoon shapes.
When he opened his eyes again, the stars were gone and the sun was beating down on his face.
Coyote sat up, in disbelief. As he looked around, panic and rage grew in him. He immediately sprinted towards the meeting grounds, hoping that even if he didn't get the longest bow, he at least wouldn't get the shortest one. He blew past some of his neighbors, who were loitering near their homes. He thought he heard them chuckle at him as he tore past them, but he didn't have time to retaliate. He HAD to get that bow.
When he neared the meeting grounds, the area was almost deserted. Dread filled coyote as he neared the men waiting around the fire. They turned when they heard him coming, and stood when he came close. The one standing closest to coyote reached out a hand to him. In his fist was the smallest twig coyote had ever seen, with the smallest string tying the two ends together. It was a bow fit for a mouse. Maybe even too small for a mouse.
"Well.... good luck coyote. You're going to need it," said the man. He turned to his fellow men and they all laughed as they put out the fire, grabbed their belongings and headed for their teepees.
Coyote vowed that he would exact his revenge. On the people, on his neighbors, and on the stars if he had to. He would show them who had the lowest rank.
Coyote. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hey everyone! I hoped you liked my story for this week. This week, I read myths from the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. They had quite a few stories that focused on coyote, and this was one of them. I didn't change much about the story, I just told it from coyote's point of view and added a little more of his thoughts and dialogue to the situation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, Especially of Washington and Oregon," by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source: Untextbook.
But there was no arguing with the Old Man Above, so everyone just had to go with it.
Word spread about Chareya's decision, and soon the men had chosen a method they would use to give the animals their rankings. Of course, thought coyote, the men would choose a method that left the rankings up to chance, instead of actually THINKING about something for a change.
The men decided that they would make a set of bows, one for each kind of animal. Each bow would be different in length, and would be handed out from longest to shortest to each animal. The animal with the longest bow would be the highest rank, and the animal with the shortest bow would be the lowest rank. The men arranged a meeting with the animals the following morning at dawn, where they would hand out the bows as the animals arrived. And, all the animal who wanted the highest rank had to do was get to the meeting first.
This meant, of course, that this animal had to be awake in order to get to the meeting.
Coyote was overjoyed to hear this news. It was no secret that coyote was the most nocturnal animal of the bunch. He slept all day and stayed up all night, much to the chagrin of his neighbors. And he wasn't exactly quiet, either.
This is going to be so easy, thought coyote. All I have to do is stay up all night, so I can get to the meeting before everyone else. In the morning, all the little animals will wake up to find that I am superior-- not that this will be a surprise to them.
That night, when the sun went down around 8 PM, all but one of the forest animals crawled into their homes and fell asleep. Coyote had gloated to them about his imminent success as they readied themselves for bed. His attitude usually earned him a few eye rolls from his neighbors, but this time they just smiled at him and nodded along. Coyote couldn't understand why his neighbors were being so supportive all of a sudden. Maybe it was because, once he was the highest ranking animal, they wanted to make sure they had a good relationship with him? Nevertheless, he shrugged this off and went along about his night.
Eventually 5 AM rolled around, and coyote was running out of things to do. He had cleaned out his den, picked up fallen branches in the forest and placed them in a tidy pile for a fire, raked fallen leaves into a large pile and jumped in it multiple times, and howled at the moon (followed by being yelled at by any animal nearby who was trying to sleep). He sat quietly on the hillside looked around himself into the dark woods, trying to think of things to do. He had to keep himself occupied to stay awake when dawn came at 6.
Who knew anticipation could be so.... boring.
As coyote sat on the hillside, he lifted his gaze to the stars above him. Coyote had always been fascinated by stars; he had often wished he could jump onto one and fly away. He yearned to see where the stars went during the daytime.
So coyote decided to lay down and stargaze for a while, picking out each constellation and telling himself the stories related to each one.
"There's the big dipper," coyote said to himself, lifting a paw and pointing it out in the sky. "I have no idea why someone would make a constellation of a spoon, but to each their own, I guess."
He moved his paw slightly to the side. "There's his brother, little dipper," said coyote to no one. "Because one spoon," coyote yawned, "just wasn't enough."
Coyote let himself relax into the dirt, staring lazily (and a little sleepily) up at the stars.
Maybe I could shut my eyes just for a second, thought coyote. I could rest my eyes for a minute or two and then push through until dawn. No harm in that.
Coyote shut one eye, and then the other eye, absently contemplating who decided to arrange stars in the sky in spoon shapes.
When he opened his eyes again, the stars were gone and the sun was beating down on his face.
Coyote sat up, in disbelief. As he looked around, panic and rage grew in him. He immediately sprinted towards the meeting grounds, hoping that even if he didn't get the longest bow, he at least wouldn't get the shortest one. He blew past some of his neighbors, who were loitering near their homes. He thought he heard them chuckle at him as he tore past them, but he didn't have time to retaliate. He HAD to get that bow.
When he neared the meeting grounds, the area was almost deserted. Dread filled coyote as he neared the men waiting around the fire. They turned when they heard him coming, and stood when he came close. The one standing closest to coyote reached out a hand to him. In his fist was the smallest twig coyote had ever seen, with the smallest string tying the two ends together. It was a bow fit for a mouse. Maybe even too small for a mouse.
"Well.... good luck coyote. You're going to need it," said the man. He turned to his fellow men and they all laughed as they put out the fire, grabbed their belongings and headed for their teepees.
Coyote vowed that he would exact his revenge. On the people, on his neighbors, and on the stars if he had to. He would show them who had the lowest rank.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hey everyone! I hoped you liked my story for this week. This week, I read myths from the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. They had quite a few stories that focused on coyote, and this was one of them. I didn't change much about the story, I just told it from coyote's point of view and added a little more of his thoughts and dialogue to the situation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, Especially of Washington and Oregon," by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source: Untextbook.
That was a really interesting story. I was intrigued throughout and was always wanting to continue and learn more and more about what was happening in the story. I love how the coyote interacted with the men of the story and knew that he was going to have to do something to prove his worth to them. The final paragraph was awesome as it wrapped the story up nicely and setup up the "potential," next story if there was one.
ReplyDeleteHi Abbi! You are a great writer. I loved the way you utilized italics and capitalization to emphasis specific parts of your story. I am totally going to take note of that for my personal stories or even my storybook. You left the story as a cliff hanger too. I wonder how the coyote will show them who has the lowest rank. It is definitely an interesting thought. Maybe he will steal something from them. Who knows, but great story.
ReplyDeleteHi Abbi! I really loved reading this story, and I have read your writing before; it never disappoints. I really liked how you used italics to show what individual characters were thinking. This is a technique that I try to use, as I think it adds a lot to the story. The plot itself was quite interesting as well, and I honestly want to read about what happens after! I can't wait to read more of your stories!
ReplyDelete