Still Life with Coyote
883 words long
Notes from the author:Coyotes don't make very good interview subjects. They like to brag, they tell tall tales, and they have an uncomfortable relationship with the truth. As a journalist, you have to proceed carefully, act a little stupid, keep your questions harmless and nonthreatening. And once the coyote hears itself reveal something maybe a little too close to the bone, the interview will be over.
This fictionette is brought to you by watchout4snakes, which turned up the random phrase "cushioned coyote," and Naomi Epel's The Observation Deck, which told me to conduct an interview.
[Switches on the tape recorder] Let’s get started. How did you end up living here?
[Sighs] Everyone starts with that question. What do you expect, some sob story about getting nabbed in a trap, breaking a leg, having it heal crooked, some shit like that? What makes you think I didn’t choose to live here, huh? Don’t you think, hey, maybe a coyote gets tired of dumpster diving, stealing from hen coops, racing cattle ranchers for his life? Look, see that dish in the corner? Food dish. For me. Got my name on it and everything. Not my actual name, of course. Name the old lady calls me. Still means it’s mine, no one’s gonna steal it from me, fight me for it, I can take my time eating it. It’s good stuff, fresh, no carrion, no flies on it hardly at all. No having to sniff it round for poison. I like it here, OK? Get the picture?
This has been an excerpt from the Friday Fictionette for September 4, 2015. Subscribers can download the full-length fictionette (883 words) from Patreon in PDF or MP3 format depending on their pledge tier.
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