Ol' Coyote, A Lotus Flower, and Other Things....

Hi,

Now, Coyote, that Ol' Coyote, walked through the
desert night towards a large butte directly beneath
the North Star. He figured this was correct, as its
light illuminated only the crest of the butte.

Still, this wasn't obvious to the average observer.
Only Coyote eyes and, perhaps, those of crow or
raven, could discriminate between the light of
individual stars.

As Coyote approached the butte, he saw the
shadow from a Lotus flower. The shadow was faint,
being reflected by starlight alone.

Ol' Coyote marvelled at the perfect Lotus shadow
outlined over the desert floor.

"I must follow the shadow to the Lotus flower,"
he said, aloud.

"I must follow the shadow to the Lotus flower,"
his voice echoed.

"Be quiet, Echo, I don't want my words repeated,"
Coyote said, grinning.

"Be quiet, Coyote, I don't want my words repeated,"
came the reply.

"Wait! Something's not quite right here?" Coyote
said.

"Wait! Something's not quite right here?" came the
echo.

Ol' Coyote pulled a small flask of mescal from his
jacket pocket, and gulped it down. "There," he
thought, "now, perhaps things will be clearer."

Coyote moved closer to the butte, but the lotus
shadow had disappeared.

"The shadow's gone. It must have been an anomaly."

"The shadow's gone. It must have been an anomaly,"
came the reply. "And, by the way, get the hell off
my rattle, before I bite you!"

Now, Ol' Coyote, that Ol' man Coyote, said to
himself, "I'm pretty sure I didn't say that." He
looked at the empty mescal flask, and felt his
forehead -- "potent stuff," he said, under his
breath.

"Please, get the hell off my rattle!" the voice
said again.

Coyote stepped forward.

"That's better."

"What's better?" Coyote said. Then, looking
around, he spotted Rattlesnake in strike position,
grinning.

Rattlesnake wore a Lotus flower hat.

"Oh, for land's sake, how does your Lotus flower
hat make such a perfect shadow, Mr. Rattlesnake?"

"It required some calculations, Mr. Coyote."

"Indeed, so. You tricked the trickster, Mr.
Rattlesnake."

"Indeed."

"Did you know that the North Star is directly
above that large butte, tonight?"

"It never dawned on me. How could you tell?"

"I saw its light on the crest of the butte, before
those thunder clouds arrived."

"Ah yes, Coyote eyesight. . . ."

Just then, there was a sharp flash of lightning,
and a clap of thunder. Then, the rain came. Oh yes,
rain. . . such heavy rain.

Rattlesnake scurried away to hide from flash floods.

Coyote found a small opening in the west side of
the butte, and crawled inside.

Ol' Coyote fell asleep, and dreamed of mescal. He
saw mescal walking in the rain. He saw himself as
a shadow behind the mescal. He laughed. Yes, as a
shadow, he laughed. How strange. . . . Yet, he was
conscious of himself curled up inside that small
cave . . . that butte. He felt contented that he
was safe and warm.

Walking behind mescal, Ol' Coyote felt the rain
and heard it hitting the desert floor.

Deep inside, there was joy.

Good medicine always,
LaurieC