This story and these characters are inspired by the book Coyote America by Dan Flores, though the characters are all my own. Apologies if the character seems a little misogynistic, but this is the Coyote.
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Serafina stared at the blank wall of the holding cell. It was painted a uniform grey that seemed perfect for its purpose. The utilitarian color was the result of a disinterest in the conditions of the prisoners, and served the purpose of boring most of them into submission. In her case though, it served as a tableau, a blank slate upon which she could focus and weigh the conditions by which her life had taken this strange turn.
"One man's revolutionary is another man's traitor," she thought to herself. This had been true of so many before her, and while it was true for her, it was unlikely that she would get the same respect for her actions. After all, eco-warrior and eco-terrorist are often spoken of in the same breath, even if they are very different in outlook. She considered herself both, or neither. She had simply had enough of watching the environment take secondary importance to everything else that was happening in the world.
Living is southern California seemed to only be about the stuff that was of secondary importance to people. Movies, music and television seemed to dominate what should otherwise be common sense imperatives. In the middle of a huge drought in which the planet seemed to be crying for some sort of help, people were still only interested how some random bombshell looked in a dress, or who that bombshell was now sleeping with. It was not Serafina's way, and it never was.
Her life had taken a form that she might have not thought possible at a younger age. She had been raised in relative poverty, having been raised in a hippie commune. Even so, she had learned more from them than she would have in a traditional upbringing. The hippie commune gave her not one parent but many, and the people that ended up in such a place tended to be from all walks of life, be it a burnt-out physics professor to a military veteran. Among all of these people was her mother, a free spirit of the freest kind. Her mother had treated her own body as some kind of living representation of a fertility goddess, foregoing societal norms and public shaming, to act as a mother figure to many. In the commune Serafina was the oldest of her mother's children, but there was little knowledge as to who the fathers had been, aside from them being from among the commune somewhere. Among them all, Serafina knew that she was special in a way, as her father was from a tryst from before her mother had joined the commune. As a teenager her mother had traveled to Arizona and lived among the Navajo for a time. This was essentially all that Sera knew of her father, as her mother had described him as a "great Navajo warrior."
Despite this odd and enigmatic upbringing, Sera's life was not too different from that of most other young people her age. The first year at university had been a strange one of discovery, where she had discovered otherwise foreign concepts like makeup and flirting, but since then she had become more or less indiscernible from other young women. Walking down the streets of Los Angeles in the usual attire, the random onlooker would probably think her as nothing more than a tanned and gorgeous SoCal beauty. She had boyfriends that had broken her heart, and she had broken the hearts of others, and aside from someone that would have asked about her upbringing, her life seemed fairly regular. She had been unable to find any real work in her field of environmental science after her Ph. D. and now worked a variety of jobs to pay the bills. She taught yoga, she served coffee and she taught night classes at a community college.
The only difference for Serafina was that of her friends and what their interests were. While she had some regular and normal friends, she was also close to another group whose interests were far different. This group tied a lot more closely into the dialogue of her earlier life. Their was not one easy word to describe them, as they came together from different interests, but eco-warrior could apply to some, anarchist to others, marxist to others, and counter-cultural to all of them. It was this group that had decided on an ambitious plan. Among the group was a young man who paid the bills by being a gardener for one of the celebrities that was living in a seaside mansion. There was a statement to be made, and that was the mansion was excessively green in the midst of a drought-fed desert. The celebrity had simply decided to pay the lofty fines for using so much water as to create a green oasis in their own backyard. While the rest of the state was conserving water wherever they could, once again the rich made the statement that it didn't matter about rules if you had fame and money. This gardener had pointed out the painfully obvious. As a gardener he had access to both fertilizer and to fuel, and had good reason to have both on this property. For a time he had been bringing in slightly more than her needed, and now had enough to create a strong enough bomb. "What better way to make a statement," he had asked, "than to blow that mansion into smithereens."
It was the perfect kind of plan for such a group, but as with most groups, it was not one which many got behind. Despite a lot of talk, many of the members lacked the actual willingness to take part in such an action, including the gardener that had planned it.
"No worries," Serafina had said, "just tell me when no one will be there, and I will do it myself."
She refused to kill anyone to spread the message, but this act of destruction was designed to spread a greater message of need to partake in a vigilance for the environment. She had been there and set off the bomb, just no one had any idea of the destruction that she would cause. The initial explosion was pretty small, a lot smaller than she had assumed it would be, but there was much about this mansion that few could have guessed. The mansion had been built on a cliff above the shoreline, but the underlying rock was weak, and in this case particularly vulnerable to anyone type of jostling, especially after the most recent earthquake. Thus while the mansion stood for a time under the impact of the explosion, the ground below it fell away within a matter of minutes, and caused a massive cave-in of the surrounding coast, causing the loss of essentially the whole property as it fell into the sea.
It had not taken long for the police to find Serafina, and now she sat in this cell, pondering what her future might hold. She didn't even know enough about the law to know what she could be charged with, but she was probably looking at several years in prison at least, if not a lifetime. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she had not even noticed the guard that approached and now stood standing outside her cell. He was as most would assume a guard to be, a bulky white man with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, who hated those that broke the law, but probably most hated the hippies and freaks that came through these corridors and cells. He was standing looking at Sera, not saying anything, but with a gaze that was almost too concentrated.
"Can I help you?" Sera asked him, as he stared at her.
He did not react at first, but instead just scratched behind his ear, before opening his mouth to speak.
"It was an impressive explosion," he said, "tell me did you plan it that way?"
"I am not sure about how interrogation is supposed to work," Sera said, "but you guys will probably need to do better than this."
"Interrogation," the man said looking upwards at the ceiling as if searching for answer before seemingly finding it, "what a funny concept, I will have to look into that some day."
"Are you feeling all right?" Sera asked.
"You have no idea," the man said rubbing his forehead, "I have just woken from a long nap, and, well ... you know. My mind is a bit blurry."
"Maybe some coffee would help?" Sera asked.
"Coffee?" the man asked, once again looking around for some answers, "oh really, coffee is a still thing? I wasn't really sure that it would catch on. Then again give a human something weird from a plant and they can't seem to get enough of it. But to answer you question, no, I do not need coffee thank you."
"I wasn't exactly offering it," Sera said, "I don't really have the means, unless you guys want to put a coffee maker in here."
"A coffee maker?" the man asked, "You mean in your culture you have dedicated people to make this ridiculous drink? If you are asking for a companion in there maybe you should ask for someone better. A nice young man perhaps? I am sure that you could pass the time together in a more meaningful way."
"Are you threatening me?" Sera asked, "With putting a male prisoner in here? That would be an easy way for me to get out of here for you violating my civil liberties."
"I am not sure what civil liberties are," the man said, "but why else would I be here except to let you out of here. You woke me up, and I got to watch that awesome explosion, and then that horrible structure fell into the ocean."
"I don't really understand what you mean?" Sera said.
"Oh of course," the man said, "I kind of skipped a couple of steps. What was your name again?"
"Serafina Littlefeather," she replied.
"Ah yes," the man said, "I remember seeing that on the news on that thing that you call television. It is a somewhat entertaining means of entertainment, I particularly think that I would enjoy what seems to be called reality television. What can you tell me about Keeping up with the Kardash ..."
"I don't understand what is going on here," Sera interrupted, "are you trying mess with me?"
"My apologies," the man said, "I do tend to get a little sidetracked when carnal pleasures are involved. Anyway it is nice to meet you Serafina Littlefeather, my name is Coyote."
"Coyote, is it?" Serafina asked, "That is some kind of joke?"
"Well sometimes," Coyote replied, "I guess that it depends on how I tell it. Or are you trying to be funny?"
"No," she replied, "so Mr. Coyote, how do ..."
"Not Mr. Coyote," he replied, "just Coyote, surely you have heard of me?"
"I think you might be crazy," she said.
"So you have heard of me," he said triumphantly.
"What?" she replied, "No!"
"But you are of the Navajo," he replied, "surely your people have told you about me. The Creator, the Trickster, the Guide, the Warrior. Incidentally I also make an awesome flatbread."
"So let me get this straight?" Sera asked, "You are telling me that you are a powerful deity, and not a prison guard?"
"I am not sure about powerful, it is all kind of relative isn't it?" he said, "But I guess at least as powerful as those weirdos from Greece. What is his name? Zaus or something like that."
"You mean Zeus?" Sera asked.
"Oh right," he answered, "so you know him as well? How is he doing these days? Last time I saw him he couldn't stop complaining about the weather."
"I don't know Zeus," Sera said, "I just know of him from the mythology textbooks that we read in university, but you are really not making much sense. I think either you are on something or I am."
"Oh right," he said, "there I go getting distracted again. So to answer your question, yes. I am telling you that I am a deity, and not a prison guard. Or I mean technically, I am a prison guard right now because I have inhabited the body of this simpleton, but I came to witness a great warrior, and maybe to make a deal."
"So you are telling me that you are not really the guard, but someone else inside the guard?" Sera asked.
"Why do you keep verifying every sentence which I speak," he asked, "if this is how we are going to talk it is going to make for some long and repetitive conversations."
For the first time in this whole strange incident Sera did not know what to say and stared back at the guard.
"I like that better," he said, "you seem to be a bit more interested in what I have to say now. So seeing as you are not very familiar with me, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Coyote, I am the creator of the world, and its protector. I also love a good battle, and a pretty woman. Usually I like one and then the other, but in this case it seems as though both are in the same form."
"I know of Coyote," Sera said, "I have read the stories of the Navajo."
"Oh so you have been playing dumb to try to be funny," he said, "just remember that I like a good joke, but that you have to work on your material. Playing dumb is the first lesson of humor and the most obvious."
"I am still not really sure what you are saying?" she said, "Or even if this is not a hallucination."
"What I am saying is that you woke me from a long slumber," he said, "not only by the crash, but because of the actions. No one does such actions to stand up for the world of nature, at least not enough to wake me. Now that I am awake I need a companion, and coyote travels only with the most famous of warriors. And women ... but you are both, but I already told you that."
"So you want me as a companion," Sera said, "but sorry to tell you, I am a prisoner, and it is not easy to get out of jail in this country."
"Yes I know that as well," he said, "but that is why I am here. You take me as a companion, and I will get you out of here. There is nothing like an escape to solidify a new friendship."
"Well," Sera replied, "I would like to see how exactly you plan to do that."
"These are only doors holding you in?" he said sardonically, "As far as a trap goes it is pretty easy. I just need to be on the side of the door that opens right? And then let you out? It is not as though I would need to turn you invisible, or to teleport you from one place to another. Those are kind of cheating I think though anyway. Always use the least amount of effort as possible I say. Even if I can literally move mountains. So shall we go?"
"I agree," she said, still somewhat skeptical, "if you can get me out, then let's do it."
"Sure," he said, "here take this." He handed the baton that the guard carried at his side to her through the bars of the cell.
"Why?" she asked.
"For protection," he said, "it will now be known as the Staff of Power, with all associated powers attached to it by my own doing."
"And what powers are those?" she asked.
"It will be revealed in time," he said, "now follow me." He walked to the end of the passageway and hit a button to release the door to her cell. Still not exactly believing what was happening, she poked her head out of her cell with hesitation before stepping out gingerly.
"Come on warrior," he said, "why such hesitation? This will be fun."
She turned and walked towards the guard, still not sure if this was some kind of dream, or hallucination, or something worse.
"This place is quite a maze," he said, as she fell into step behind him.
"I think that it is designed in such a way to make it hard for us to pass freely," she said.
"Nothing stops Coyote from passing freely," he said, as they approached another security door which swung open in front of them.
They proceeded through two more doors, but after doing so they passed another guard, who seemed far more suspicious than others that they had seen along the way.
"Where are you taking her?" the other guard yelled, "That is the eco-girl."
"Just out for a walk," he replied, "I will bring her right back."
"Wait a minute, stop!" the guard yelled.
"That is it," he replied, "let's get out of here." Sera watched the original guard who had been speaking with her this whole time, and for the first time he seemed to have a change in appearance, as though he were shaking off some kind of inebriation. He turned to look at her and she could see the anger in his face.
"Use the staff of power," she heard someone say, as though it were an echo inside her own head. She reacted quickly, slamming the baton into the guard's stomach, and then driving her elbow into the other guard's face.
"How does this thing work?" she asked aloud as to the meaning of the impressive sounding name of the supposedly magical device he had given her.
"What do you mean how does it work?" the echoing voice answered back in her head, "it is just a stick of some kind. Staff of Power sounds more impressive though doesn't it?"
"You mean it is just a stick?" she asked.
"Why would you think it was anything otherwise?" the voice answered back, "Oh wait because of the name? I get it now."
"Are you going to help?" she asked as the two guards were now standing in front of her and closing in. They didn't seem too happy that she had attacked them and were now looking for some payback.
"Just ask them to sleep?" the voice said.
"Sleep?!?!?" Sera said aloud, not sure that she had heard the voice correctly. With that word the two men fell to the ground, seemingly passed out.
"What the hell?" Sera asked.
"Are you coming or not?" the voice asked.
"The doors are still locked?" she said.
"Are they?" the voice answered back, "oh yes, of course. Right, right! I forgot about that part." The door in front of her clicked open, as did the next, and before she knew it she was standing in the front of the jail. She had not noticed before, but it appeared to be in the middle of nowhere.
"Where to now?" she asked.
"I think that I would like to try one of what your modern people call a hamburger," he said.
"I mean right away," she said, "where are you?"
"Just run into the darkness," he said, "I will find you." She looked to her left and right. Other than the access road, there seemed to be nothing at at all in her surroundings and thus she ran into the darkness in the direction she could determine was as far away from anything else.
"You can stop running now," the voice said. She stopped and tried to catch her breath. This entire ordeal had been surprisingly exhausting for her, even if she was otherwise in great shape. This caused her to fall to the ground, where she now sat trying to catch her breath. She didn't see it at first, but out of the darkness there were a pair of eyes reflecting what little light was available. The eyes came forward and revealed themselves to belong to a scrawny looking coyote. She stood up to greet him.
"You didn't believe," Coyote said, "now maybe so?" It looked weird to her that the coyote was talking to her. It looked somewhat like what one would see from movies where a dog was made to talk.
"I am not sure if believe is the right word," she said, "but present evidence would seem to indicate otherwise."
"That's the spirit," he said, "now about that burger?"
"I don't know where to find one?" she asked, "Plus I can't really go into a burger place wearing prison clothes."
"Oh excellent," Coyote replied, "perhaps you would like to wear this?"
"Wear what?" she asked before looking down at herself, and realizing that all of a sudden that she was wearing a string bikini.
"How did you?" she started to ask, "You know what forget it, I am not wearing a bikini."
"As you wish," Coyote said. She felt different again all of a sudden and realized that she was now wearing a minidress and wearing high heels.
"You will not tell me how to dress!" she yelled at Coyote.
"My apologies," he said, "I am just dressing you how I see women on the television dress. What would be more appropriate?"
"How about a t-shirt and yoga pants?" she asked.
"Very well," he said, " a little on the boring side, but fine. Now can we go get a burger please?"
"Lead the way," Sera said.
"As you wish," Coyote said, "if you will run beside me, we will get there more quickly."
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