Coyote Mother wiped away the tears of her little one,
holding his small face in her hands.
"You know it took a lot of courage to tell me the
truth about what happened," she said as she patted the frumpled hair on the top of
little coyote’s head. "It is always wise to tell the truth, there is strength
and power in the truth that no one can take away from you and it makes you a better
coyote."
She walked across the room and stretched on her back legs
to reach the top shelf dug into the side of the den above her old wood stove. Slowly
Coyote Mother lowered a small rectangle box from the shelf. Little Coyote could not
remember ever having seen this marvelous magic box before. Coyote Mother held the box
firmly between her paws and little Coyote could see curious symbols scratched around every
side of the rectangular box and across the lid. These symbols reminded him of the
beautiful things he saw everyday when he went out to explore. Some of the symbols looked
like swirling circles in the pools of water along the riverbed and others looked like the
lightening marks that crackled as they fell from the sky.
"Mother coyote’s keep something for just this
occasion when they are very proud of their children and in what they have done, and I am
very proud of you."
Little Coyote began smiling and jumping up and down on his
little legs, giving a little coyote howl of delight.
"Do you know that I can only show it to you once and
then it will not be a surprise anymore, but I think that this is the right time to share
it with you. Would you like to see the magic inside?"
Little coyote’s eyes widened, waiting.
What was it that was waiting inside just for him?
COMMENTARY:
There are times when we need a special moment in our lives,
something that says there is the heart of love and understanding in the magic we bring one
to another, and in some future time, we also will be called upon to share that magic we
have learned with others, who may be in need of the reassurance that there is someone who
cares. This story is dedicated to just such a person.
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