Coyotes: Denis

Chapter 1: Prey for Dinner

  

   I felt as though I had been trapped there for hours, staring at the carcass below me. The Sun was blistering my back, and the heat of the sand was biting into my paws. Under me, the ground was contrasted by crimson spatters, and I felt queasy as the
dull eyes from the slain creature looked up at nothing.

   My little tail swished behind me, moving reflexively with my intense line-of-thought. My chest was heaving for breath. Taking out the creature wasn't hard, just a swift run after catching it sunbathing. It was the aftermath, where I felt like a monster.

   My thin arms finally moved, and I scooped its scaley body up. A quick maneuver put it into the sack tied across my back. After kicking fresh sand over the blood, I was ready to bring my haul back to my family, and leave behind the guilt that plagued me.

***

   It wasn't too dark by the time I made it back to the village, thankfully. I saw a fire by my home, and rushed to make it over so my mother wouldn't have to wait any longer for her ingredients.

   All around, the afternoon bustle was quieting down. Only a few children were out kicking around their leather ball, farmers were tending their small plots with what little daylight was left, and families like mine were settling in for dinner.

   In the distance, the barking and bellows of our elders could be heard as they bid goodnight to the Sun. However, their cries could not drown out the spitting criticisms of my mother as I approached our yard.

   "How many hours does it take a young lady to catch a meal? I'd put you on the spit with the lizards and birds, if I had any cooking over the fire!" Her words were harsh, and I couldn't help but lower my ears in mortification. I know the neighbors could hear her, too.

   I untied my pack, and set it down carefully. From the bag, I showed my mother the prickly pears, a few scorpions, aloe, and the large lizard I had managed to harvest. Her face lost all its bite, and she put an arm around my shoulders and a kiss to my cheek.

   "Next time, hurry home before you make your mother starve to death!" She put a wink at the end, letting me know that all her words were just teasing.

   I kissed her back, and made my way inside to shower with whatever water was left in our bathing bucket before dinner.

   After the sweat, sand, and aches of the day were washed away, I could almost taste the aloe juice that was waiting for me with our plates.

   "Denis!" I heard my mother call out. Dinner was ready, and I didn't waste a second more answering the summons.

   I went to the fire, finding a place on a dry branch to sit, and waited for my plate. It was taking my mother a moment to get settled, as she was calling into the evening air for my younger siblings to come back home.

   She and I shared a knowing glance with each other that the pups would be bounding back home any second, and we began to dig in.

   And come they did, yipping and nipping at each other's heels to be the first one to grab a plate from mom.

   Once everyone was settled, we ate in relative silence, and I had a moment to take in the evening. I could feel some heat rash creeping on from the Sun, making my skin itch. It always popped up when I was outside for too long, and it showed by leaving bald and thin patches where I scratched.

   Above us, the curtain that made up the cover for our porch rolled around with the breezes, and all around the nightlife of the desert came to life. It created a sense of us being suspended in our own little world.

   Or, atleast, I /was/ until one of my siblings began to pester me.

   "I wanna go hunting with you Denis!" The middle brother exclaimed, eyes shining at the thought. "I want to catch a rattlesnake."

   I opened my mouth to tell him why that was an awful idea, but my mother beat me to it.

   She snapped her jaws at him and bared her teeth, a warning. "I would never forgive you if you went and got bit because you were /looking for it/. That is why you're not allowed to go out to hunt with your sister, Antoine. Too young, too careless."

   I knew that her malice was a front for the concern and fear she had, but the younger pups had recoiled in anxiety at the scolding, as if it was directed at all three of them and not just little Antoine.

   I cleared my throat, trying to lighten the air. "Y'know, it's not that great. You get hot, tired, sore, and killing stuff is pretty gross... I'm still not very good at it, but there's only one mentor left in our tribe."

   My youngest sister giggled. "Maybe if you got married off, you could find a teacher in another tribe." I shot her a sour look. I hated when they all got to teasing me, as if it was supposed to help somehow. It just made me feel bad.

   "Hush Marion," My mother advised between giggles, "Denis doesn't want to marry outside the tribe... I think she's just too nervous to be around our big, strong, handsome Hunter."

   My family erupted in scattered cackles, while I tucked my ears down and buried my flushed face into my cup. I took a few gracious gulps, because the cooking fire suddenly felt hotter on my skin. How embarrassing could they be?

   Mother changed her seat to be right next to me, and she put an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry Denis, I don't want to bring your personal life to the dinner table. What goes on between you and Benoit is none of my business..." She left off with a lighthearted little cackle.

   I was at a loss for words. This kind of teasing has become so much worse as I've gotten older, and Benoit was the only male Coyote close to my age in our tribe. Of course they would decide that we'd be some kind of match, with no real substance behind it.

   I quickly threw my dishes into a wash bucket, and retreated inside the house. I couldn't wait to get some sleep, and go far away from my teasing family on a other hunting trip.

(A/N: Thank you for joining me, and the Coyotes for this slow burn romance. What do you think of Denis' family? Can you relate to their merciless teasing of her? I'd love to hear your feedback!)