Rodolfo y el Coyote. Week 2 Story

El Cerro del Muerto, Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Image from: https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_del_Muerto

El gallo canto, signaling the beginning of a new day. It was a chilly, yet refreshing, Thursday morning. Rodolfo rubbed his eyes, yawned, and got out of bed. Empezó el dia con his daily chores by milking and feeding his vacas. While he was milking the fifth vaca, noto el cadáver de una cabra al otro lado de su cerca de alambre. He went to investigate. It looked like the work of coyote, but something didn’t look right.

Rodolfo had never seen this goat before, and he didn’t know anyone else that raised goats besides himself within a 5 kilometer radius. Decidió seguir el rastro de sangre para averiguar de donde vino la cabra. The path led him into el cerro del muerto and five kilometers up the mountain. Ahí, encontró una chabola vieja and inside there was an old man crying. “Usted quien es?” Pregunto el viejo with tears in his eyes.

“Soy Rodolfo Guadalupe Ruiz Ramos, my family has owned the ranch at the base of this mountain for generations. Who are you? Y porque lloras?”

 “My name is Juan Manuel Loera, I herd goats and make cheese from their milk to sell en el centro. Hace cinco meses, a coyote began to slaughter my goats. Now I only have 5 left. I’m ruined.”

“Yo me encargo de tu problema. But I will need a goat.”

“Okay, I would appreciate it so much.”

Rodolfo left the shack and went back to his home. He grabbed some tequila and his knife. He went back to the shack, grabbed one of the goats and cut it into five pieces. To each piece he dipped in tequila and let it marinate. Then he set the pieces out and went back to the shack to wait.

When the sun fell over the mountain and the stars appeared in the sky a great silence over came the desert landscape. The moon layed a gentle white blanket over the earth and there was peace.

The coyote howled, breaking the peace. It drew nearer, in the search for a fresh meal. It smelled blood, and was drawn to the pieces of the goat. One by one the coyote devoured each piece. After the coyote had finished its meal, it was overcome by a great drowsiness and layed to rest. Rodolfo came to check on the carcass and saw the coyote in its deep sleep surrounded by the bones of its meal. He drew his knife and in a single movement he sliced the coyotes throat. It’s crimson red blood poured over its sleeping body.

Authors Notes:

This story was based off the Japanese myth of Susanoo and Orochi. I was really captivated by the detail in the story and tried to keep the same level of detail. I kept a similar plot but changed the location and characters to be more representative of Mexico, specifically Aguascalientes where my families is from. As the son of immigrants I wanted to tell the story in a way that imagined it told to me, which is why there is a mix of English and Spanish through out the story.

Bibliography: Susanoo and Orochi. Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).