The shaggy, long-legged prairie wolf stretched wearily and yawned. Thin black clouds flashed purple and crimson as the late afternoon sun hovered for an instant, then slid behind a jagged butte. Suddenly the horizon exploded in a brilliant array of red-orange, a final salute to the day's end, and slowly settled into the muted blue-gray of dusk. Yip-yip-yipping as if in approval at the spectacular show, the animal trotted off in search of food for his mate and their hungry pups.

Dusk slipped into darkness, but soon the full moon would guide his way. Tonight he won't have far to travel; food is plentiful this spring. Later, when the desert sands are scorched by the summer sun, the quest will be more difficult. Then the coyote -- called prairie wolf or barking wolf in the Southwest -- and his mate will travel hundreds of miles to find prey. Along the way, the pair will teach their survival skills to the pups. By the end of the year the young coyotes will be hunting on their own.

Entering a dry wash the prairie wolf spots a lone jack rabbit nibbling the tender, new shoots of desert grasses. Without pause he springs. The startled rabbit bolts and runs; the coyote is immediately in pursuit. Scrambling over the edge of the arroyo, the jack veers left, then right, leaps over a sagebrush thicket and dives into a burrow to safety. The thwarted coyote digs at the lair's opening, then, lifting his head upward, yowls his frustration at the Apache moon. A tiny elf owl, perched high on a saguaro arm, yelps a puppy-like chewk-chewk in sympathy. From neighboring saguaros, a great horned owl and an earless pygmy owl hoo and chook-took in agreement. A sparrow hawk, nesting in the buttes, shrieks its annoyance at the broken desert quiet. Tail drooping, the disappointed prairie wolf resumes his journey.

He stops and sniffs. Following the scent, he discovers a squat, growling badger digging at the entrance of a gopher hole. The coyote moves in ever smaller circles until he locates the "back door" of the den and waits. Suddenly, a pocket gopher flees from the hole and the coyote pounces. He strikes again as a second gopher darts from the opening. Leaving one catch for the badger, the coyote picks up the other in his powerful jaws and trots towards home. Tonight the pups with have dinner. The badger, grunting, waddles into a thicket to appease his voracious appetite. It is a strange fellowship, but the teamwork used by the two hunters is very successful.

At dawn the prairie wolf is on the prowl again. He pauses to poke at a turtleback plant, then backs off at the pungent smell of turpentine, rolling on the ground and rubbing his snout in the gritty dirt. For the moment he is vulnerable, helpless without his sharp sense of smell. Again he sniffs the air and with his tongue still burning, lopes towards a nearby desert pool.

The suffering coyote flops into the pond, biting into soothing mouthfuls of the cool water. A frog, half hidden in the muddy shallows, watches, croaking curiously. The coyote splashes after it, chasing the protesting frog into the reedy undergrowth. At the pond's edge, the coyote shakes the water from his matted, coppery fur, spraying the delicate lavender blooms of a desert Calico bush. Behind him swirling dust devils twist erratically around the huge saguaros and across the dunes.

Prodded by hunger, the coyote roams the vast saguaro forest pursuing prey. A Gila woodpecker busily drills a hole in the ribbed, pulpy trunk of a saguaro, while a gilded flicker, nesting in the woodpecker's abandoned hole, peers at him from the opening. Perched on the rim of a large, bowl-shaped blossom, held aloft on a saguaro arm, a cactus wren vies with a purple-throated Costa's hummingbird for nectar. At the base of the saguaro, an agave beetle deftly carves a pit in which to lay its eggs. Overhead, a hissing black vulture dips and soars in it's endless search for carrion.

The coyote's attention turns at the slight movement of a firewheel plant; the gentle sway of the yellow-tipped, red rays suggests quarry. The coyote slips around a chaparral shrub and into an arroyo. The clear, maracas warning of a rattlesnake sounds and he stops to find its location. A sharp, clattering announces another skillful hunter has already found the snake. Creeping closer, he watches as a brown, crested road runner boldly dances around the rattler. The Indian "medicine bird" darts and jumps, deftly avoiding the strikes of the angry snake. Quickly, the road runner grabs the snake by the neck and beats it repeatedly on the ground. The prairie wolf, backs away and begins seeking easier prey. Circling the chaparral, he sees his quarry: a bevy of plump Gambel's quail.

Returning to the den with his catch, the prairie wolf is greeted by the shrill yipping of his pups. He drops the bird by his mate and makes the trek back for the remaining quail. One by one he brings his catch back to the den. His family fed and secure he curls next to his mate for a well needed, if short-lived rest. Later, the hunt will begin again.

© September 1993-99 CV Brown
This story was used with the permission of the author.
You can email CV Brown or visit
"The FictionWriter's Homepage"

Saul needs to know how many feet a caterpillar has. He didn't even have to think about it. He went straight to the public library with his question.

He walked straight up to the young man at the big desk in front of the library. "I have a question about caterpillars," Saul said. "Are you the right person to talk to?"

The friendly young man smiled and said, "Not really. My job is to sign out books from the library. The best person to talk with would be someone at the reference desk. They will surely help you find an answer to your caterpillar question."

So Saul sauntered over to the reference desk in the other room and walked right up to the desk. "I have a question about caterpillars," Saul asked politely.

The reference librarian smiled and said, "Tell me your question and I'll tell you how to find an answer." The reference librarian really looked as if she knew a lot about a lot of things. She looked as if she knew the answer to hundreds and hundreds of questions.

Saul spoke up loud and clear, "I'm writing a report about caterpillars for school. I need to find out how many feet a caterpillar has."

"Hmmmmmm," said the librarian. "That sounds like an interesting question. I bet we could find the answer to that question if we looked for it together." Saul was so glad that she was going to help him find the answer to his question. Sometimes the library seemed like such a big place that a little boy could get lost forever in between two big stacks of books.

"Let's go over and look at the encyclopedia first," said the helpful librarian. "We can look in the encyclopedia with the letter 'c' on it. Since the word caterpillar starts with the letter 'c', the best place to look in the encyclopedia would be in the 'c' book."

This sounded like a fine idea to Saul. He was secretly hoping to find a big color picture of a caterpillar, but he didn't say anything to the librarian about his secret wish.

So the two of them walked over to the shelf with the encyclopedias. Saul helped the librarian find the book with the letter 'c' on it. The librarian helped Saul lift the heavy book off the shelf. Together they were going to find the answer to Saul's caterpillar question.

As the librarian flipped the pages of the encyclopedia, Saul could see the book had many, many color pictures. The book also had lots and lots and lots of writing beside the pictures.

"Here it is!" shouted the librarian. I found the place about caterpillars in the encyclopedia.

And sure enough, right there on the page were three whole paragraphs about caterpillars. And a picture too! A color picture of a caterpillar.

You could even see the caterpillar's face. Would you believe the caterpillar's face looked like old Mr. Olgar at the grocery store? Of course you had to use your imagination to see the resemblance.

Now while Saul was dreaming of imaginary caterpillars and grocery stores, the friendly librarian was carefully reading everything the encyclopedia had to say about caterpillars. "Here's what we've been looking for," the friendly librarian said. "It says here that a caterpillar has twelve different parts, and that each part has three legs. Gee, that sounds like a multiplication problem to me," she said.

"But I'm afraid my arithmetic is a little rusty these days. They completely forgot to teach multiplication at library school. Perhaps you could help me with this part?"

Saul thought it over and decided he could lend a hand at this point. Besides, he was pretty handy at doing math problems in the classroom.

In no time at all Saul whipped out his trusty pencil. He yanked a piece of scrap paper out of the trash can beside the desk. He wrote the multiplication problem exactly as it was supposed to look.

Then he took a deep breath and got to work. The friendly librarian peered over his shoulder as if she might be able to learn a little arithmetic, too.

"Thirty-six!" Saul blurted out. "A caterpillar has thirty-six legs."

And with that, the librarian slammed the book shut and walked off with a big smile on her face.

Saul was feeling might fine himself...

Copyright 1995 by Phil Shapiro All Rights Reserved.
This story may be freely copied and distributed for noncommercial purposes. In particular, it may be freely used for any freeware or shareware software projects.

Index:
Chapter One: Understanding Dana
Chapter Two: "Good" and "Bad"
Chapter Three: Surprises
Chapter Four: Revelations

Chapter One: Understanding Dana

I have an older sister named Dana. She's seven years older than I, and has the mental capacity of a three year old. When she was 2 months old, she stopped breathing for six minutes. The doctors were able to bring her back to life. They called it a miracle. However, when she grew older it was apparent there was brain damage. That small period of time when there was no oxygen to her brain, would change Dana's life forever. And mine.

When I was small, Dana was a wonderful playmate for me. But when I started to grow up, she began to lose me. I played with her every day, but she could sense the changes in me. I sometimes think Dana knows more than she lets on. I liken it to a secret garden locked inside her mind. She lives there every day, and when I see her, she's looking through a keyhole. I struggle to see the whole Dana, but all I can see is her eyes. I know she wants to come out and meet me, but the gate is locked.

O, God, show me the key to Dana's garden!

"The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us." (Deut. 29:29)

Let me relate an incident that makes my family shudder, even to this very day. Two years ago, when Danny, (my nickname for her), was twenty-six, we took her shopping at a large mall. It was just Mom, Danny, and myself . Danny was strapped into a wheel chair, for she had the child-like tendency to wander. Five-foot-four inches of curiosity. Mom went into one store without us because it did not accommodate a wheelchair. She left me with, "Terri, watch your sister. Dana, your sister is in charge." Ten minutes had passed before Danny said, "I wanna get up. Tired of sit. Wanna stand."

"No, Danny. You must sit. At least you can. I have to stand, and my feet are killing me."

"Wanna stand!"

"No. Must sit," I said firmly.

"Danny want stand!" She was growing impatient and people started staring.

I tried to look as if everything was okay. Under a hushed voice, I whispered "Danny want to be bad?"

"Danny not bad!" she shouted.

More people started staring, but I could not let Danny stand. She was bigger than I, and I couldn't control her physically.

"If Danny stands up, then she will be bad. Wait for Mom. Be a good girl." I tried to say this in the most soothing voice I had.

"Danny good! Danny good!" she yelled.

"Hush. Yes, Danny is a good girl." However, the threat of "bad girl" still rang in her ears no matter how much I told her she was good. Her arms started waving wildly. I struggled to secure them under her harness, but the palm of her hand struck me on the back of my head, causing me to go unconscious. The rest I relate to you as my mother told me. Dana had gotten free of her harness and was running through the mall yelling, "Dana good! Dana good!" Mom came out of the store five minutes later to find me unconscious, lying on the floor.

A security guard found Dana okay, but it became obvious to my parents and to myself that a bigger issue was at stake here. The fact I could not control Danny, bothered my parents. It had been decided when I was small, that when my parents died, I would care for her myself. An agreement I always went along with. But now it became painfully apparent I could not do it alone. Danny was too big and too strong for me. (It had taken her a long time before she learned to walk, so most of her life she was underdeveloped. But when she got the hang of walking, her muscles grew rapidly.) A trust fund was put aside for Dana, so a full-time helper would always be around to help me help Danny. It was a decision that put our minds at rest. We thanked God for giving us wisdom.

"My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding." (Ps. 49:3)

Chapter Two: "Good" and "Bad"

"Danny, eat."

"No!"

"Open your mouth, honey."

"No!"

Mom made a frowning face.

"Danny, go stand in the corner."

"I eat. I eat."

"Good girl. Danny's a good girl."

You always had to use small words with Dana. Normal things you and I do everyday without thought, took Dana twice as long to do. She has the basic concepts of good and bad down, although I don't think she understands why. Not to eat was "bad." Why? She has no idea. We have tried to teach her the basic concepts of God, also. She understands there is a God, that He loves her, and cares for her. But the extent of her knowledge is very vague. However, sometimes she surprises us with a glimpse of the whole Dana.

Take, for instance, the manger scene on her dresser. After Christmas, Mom and I went around the house taking down all the Christmas decorations. When we came to Dana's room though, she started screaming.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Don't take Jesus!" Her eyes grew wide.

Mom was the first to understand. Dana had grown attached to the manger scene sitting on her dresser. She had correctly identified the baby as Jesus, without anyone telling her.

"Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart." (Ps. 44:21)

Chapter Three: Surprises

The morning sun shone brightly through my bedroom window, waking me up. I turned over, bumping into something. Dana had crawled into my bed while I was asleep.

"Terri! Where's Dana? I can't find her anywhere!" Mom's voice made Dana turn over and put her fists in her ears.

"Don't wanna get up," she mumbled.

"She's with me, Mom," I said.

Mom stood in the doorway smiling.

"I forgot, Pumpkin. It rained last night."

Dana hated rain. I guess because she could not understand it.

Whatever she could not understand, bothered her. Maybe that was the key to her secret garden. Explain things to her in detail. If necessary, use big words. It was worth a try.

"Danny, wake up. It's time to get up now."

She rolled over onto her back.

"Danny, why did you want to keep the manger scene on your dresser?" I said this as distinctly as I knew how.

"Baby Jesus."

"How did you know it was baby Jesus?"

A big smile came over her face.

"Secret."

I was surprised. She understood the concept of 'secret'.

"Danny, what is your secret?"

"Secret," was all she would say. I tried again the next day, but with the same results. She would not tell me her secret.

Chapter Four: Revelations

I wanted very much to know my sister's secret, hoping it would give me the key to her garden. That garden locked inside Dana's head. I spent the whole day reading my Bible, researching the word 'secret,' and a variety of others.

" Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret." (Dan. 2:47)

"The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant." (Ps. 25:14)

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Ps. 91:1)

"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD." (Jer. 23:24)

After much prayer and research, I came to a God-given revelation. Dana's garden was no secret. Not to God. He was there in her mind. No wall could separate her from God.

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:39)

I might not be able to see the whole Danny, but someday in Heaven I would. God sees her. He will tend her garden. I started to gather promises. Promises that bound God, (in faith), to keep her in peace and safety.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." (Is. 26:3)

That day, I came to peace with my sister's world. In the following days, we grew to understand each other more and more.

The End

Copyright 1998 Judith Bronte - All Rights Reserved

David had many fierce battles to fight for King Saul against the enemies of Israel, and he won them all. Then, later, he had to fight against the king's own soldiers, to save himself, for King Saul grew wickedly jealous of David's fame as a soldier, and tried to kill him. Twice, when David had a chance to kill the king, he let him go safe; but even then, Saul kept on trying to take his life, and David was kept away from his home and land as if he were an enemy.

But when King Saul died, the people chose David for their king, because there was no one so brave, so wise, or so faithful to God. King David lived a long time, and made his people famous for victory and happiness; he had many troubles and many wars, but he always trusted that God would help him, and he never deserted his own people in any hard place.

After a battle, or when it was a holiday, or when he was very thankful for something, King David used to make songs, and sing them before the people. Some of these songs were so beautiful that they have never been forgotten. After all these hundreds and hundreds of years, we sing them still; we call them Psalms.

Often, after David had made a song, his chief musician would sing with him, as the people gathered to worship God. Sometimes the singers were divided into two great choruses, and went to the service in two processions; then one chorus would sing a verse of David's song, and the other procession would answer with the next, and then both would sing together; it was very beautiful to hear. Even now, we sometimes do that with the songs of David in our churches.

One of the Psalms that everybody loves is a song that David made when he remembered the days before he came to Saul's camp. He remembered the days and nights he used to spend in the fields with the sheep, when he was just a shepherd boy; and he thought to himself that God had taken care of him just as carefully as he used to care for the little lambs. It is a beautiful song; I wish we knew the music that David made for it, but we only know his words. I will tell it to you now, and then you may learn it, to say for yourselves.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Once upon a time . . . in a great castle, a Prince's daughter grew up happy and contented, in spite of a jealous stepmother. She was very pretty, with blue eyes and long black hair. Her skin was delicate and fair, and so she was called Snow White. Everyone was quite sure she would become very beautiful. Though her stepmother was a wicked woman, she too was very beautiful, and the magic mirror told her this every day, whenever she asked it.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the loveliest lady in the land?" The reply was always; "You are, your Majesty," until the dreadful day when she heard it say, "Snow White is the loveliest in the land." The stepmother was furious and, wild with jealousy, began plotting to get rid of her rival. Calling one of her trusty servants, she bribed him with a rich reward to take Snow White into the forest, far away from the Castle. Then, unseen, he was to put her to death. The greedy servant, attracted to the reward, agreed to do this deed, and he led the innocent little girl away. However, when they came to the fatal spot, the man's courage failed him and, leaving Snow White sitting beside a tree, he mumbled an excuse and ran off. Snow White was all alone in the forest.

Night came, but the servant did not return. Snow White, alone in the dark forest, began to cry bitterly. She thought she could feel terrible eyes spying on her, and she heard strange sounds and rustlings that made her heart thump. At last, overcome by tiredness, she fell asleep curled under a tree.

Snow White slept fitfully, wakening from time to time with a start and staring into the darkness round her. Several times, she thought she felt something, or somebody touch her as she slept.

At last, dawn woke the forest to the song of the birds, and Snow White too, awoke. A whole world was stirring to life and the little girl was glad to see how silly her fears had been. However, the thick trees were like a wall round her, and as she tried to find out where she was, she came upon a path. She walked along it, hopefully. On she walked till she came to a clearing. There stood a strange cottage, with a tiny door, tiny windows and a tiny chimney pot. Everything about the cottage was much tinier than it ought to be. Snow White pushed the door open.

"l wonder who lives here?" she said to herself, peeping round the kitchen. "What tiny plates! And spoons! There must be seven of them, the table's laid for seven people." Upstairs was a bedroom with seven neat little beds. Going back to the kitchen, Snow White had an idea.

"I'll make them something to eat. When they come home, they'll be glad to find a meal ready." Towards dusk, seven tiny men marched homewards singing. But when they opened the door, to their surprise they found a bowl of hot steaming soup on the table, and the whole house spick and span. Upstairs was Snow White, fast asleep on one of the beds. The chief dwarf prodded her gently.

"Who are you?" he asked. Snow White told them her sad story, and tears sprang to the dwarfs' eyes. Then one of them said, as he noisily blew his nose:

"Stay here with us!"

"Hooray! Hooray!" they cheered, dancing joyfully round the little girl. The dwarfs said to Snow White:

"You can live here and tend to the house while we're down the mine. Don't worry about your stepmother leaving you in the forest. We love you and we'll take care of you!" Snow White gratefully accepted their hospitality, and next morning the dwarfs set off for work. But they warned Snow White not to open the door to strangers.

Meanwhile, the servant had returned to the castle, with the heart of a roe deer. He gave it to the cruel stepmother, telling her it belonged to Snow White, so that he could claim the reward. Highly pleased, the stepmother turned again to the magic mirror. But her hopes were dashed, for the mirror replied: "The loveliest in the land is still Snow White, who lives in the seven dwarfs' cottage, down in the forest." The stepmother was beside herself with rage.

"She must die! She must die!" she screamed. Disguising herself as an old peasant woman, she put a poisoned apple with the others in her basket. Then, taking the quickest way into the forest, she crossed the swamp at the edge of the trees. She reached the bank unseen, just as Snow White stood waving goodbye to the seven dwarfs on their way to the mine.

Snow White was in the kitchen when she heard the sound at the door: KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Who's there?" she called suspiciously, remembering the dwarfs advice.

"I'm an old peasant woman selling apples," came the reply.

"I don't need any apples, thank you," she replied.

"But they are beautiful apples and ever so juicy!" said the velvety voice from outside the door.

"I'm not supposed to open the door to anyone," said the little girl, who was reluctant to disobey her friends.

"And quite right too! Good girl! If you promised not to open up to strangers, then of course you can't buy. You are a good girl indeed!" Then the old woman went on.

"And as a reward for being good, I'm going to make you a gift of one of my apples!" Without a further thought, Snow White opened the door just a tiny crack, to take the apple.

"There! Now isn't that a nice apple?" Snow White bit into the fruit, and as she did, fell to the ground in a faint: the effect of the terrible poison left her lifeless instantaneously.

Now chuckling evilly, the wicked stepmother hurried off. But as she ran back across the swamp, she tripped and fell into the quicksand. No one heard her cries for help, and she disappeared without a trace.

Meanwhile, the dwarfs came out of the mine to find the sky had grown dark and stormy. Loud thunder echoed through the valleys and streaks of lightning ripped the sky. Worried about Snow White they ran as quickly as they could down the mountain to the cottage.

There they found Snow White, lying still and lifeless, the poisoned apple by her side. They did their best to bring her around, but it was no use.

They wept and wept for a long time. Then they laid her on a bed of rose petals, carried her into the forest and put her in a crystal coffin.

Each day they laid a flower there.

Then one evening, they discovered a strange young man admiring Snow White's lovely face through the glass. After listening to the story, the Prince (for he was a prince!) made a suggestion.

"If you allow me to take her to the Castle, I'll call in famous doctors to waken her from this peculiar sleep. She's so lovely . . . I'd love to kiss her. . . !" He did, and as though by magic, the Prince's kiss broke the spell. To everyone's astonishment, Snow White opened her eyes. She had amazingly come back to life! Now in love, the Prince asked Snow White to marry him, and the dwarfs reluctantly had to say good bye to Snow White.

From that day on, Snow White lived happily in a great castle. But from time to time, she was drawn back to visit the little cottage down in the forest.