Coyote Fever

“Hello!” Racum heard a voice from behind him.

Racum turned around and took a look at the animal that was behind him. He was a very pretty animal with a whitish grey looking coat of fur. He looked like a wolf, only not quite as scary as a wolf.

“Hi!” exclaimed Racum.

“I was wondering if you wanted to be my friend,” said the voice.

“Sure,” said Racum. “But you’re not a wolf are you?”

“No,” said the voice. “I’m a coyote. My name is Katie Coyote.”

“Coyote,” said Racum. “That is interesting. I’ve never met a coyote before.”

“We are a lot like a wolf,” said Katie. “However, we aren’t as mean and scary as a wolf.”

“My best friend is a wolf,” said Racum. “His name is Mad Dog Wolf. He used to be very mean and scary when I first met him but he turned out to be very nice and gentle.”

“Really,” said Katie. “That is cool. You aren’t scared of me, are you?”

Racum did not feel scared being around Katie. Right off, Racum could tell that Katie would never hurt him and that Katie was nice and gentle.

“No,” said Racum. “I’m not scared at all. Should I be?”

“Heck no,” said Katie. “I would never hurt you at all.”

“Good,” said Racum.

“I think you are the first coyote that I have ever seen in the Big Dark Forest,” said Racum.

“Yes,” said Katie. “I just moved here. I was living close to the city but then too many people were moving in and it was getting too hard for me to find food. That is why I decided to move here. I hope you don’t mind that I live here.”

“No,” said Racum. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Good,” said Katie. “I think I’m going to like living here in the Big Dark Forest. It seems nice and peaceful and I’ve made a new friend already.”

“Yes,” Racum agreed with Katie. “And, I’d love to be your friend.”

“Hey,” said Katie. “You want to come mousing with me sometime.”

“Sure,” said Racum, not really sure what Katie meant by mousing, except that it did sound like fun.”

“Okay,” said Katie. “How about tomorrow?”

“Sure,” said Racum.

The next afternoon Racum met Katie in the Big Dark Forest. Katie explained to Racum what mousing was and how she would spend hours in a field waiting for a mouse to come along so she could pounce on it.

“Isn’t that mean to the mouse?” asked Racum.

“I don’t hurt them,” said Katie. “I just play with them.”

“Are you sure?” asked Racum. “I wouldn’t want to hurt them.”

“Just watch,” said Katie.

Racum watched Katie go mousing for about an hour and he had to admit that it looked like fun and Katie was right, she never hurt a single mouse. Racum decided that he would join Katie and go mousing too.

Racum wasn’t quite as good at mousing as Katie. For one thing, Katie seemed to have a lot of patience, being able to stand as still as a tree for hours on end. Racum also noticed that Katie could pounce quite high in the air and land on all fours. Racum tried this but he was very awkward and tripped many times.

“You are very good at mousing,” said Racum, that afternoon, while walking home with his new friend.

“You weren’t so bad yourself,” said Katie.

“You think so,” said Racum.

“Yes,” said Katie. “I do.”

Racum and Katie became best friends and quite often they went mousing together.