Introduction: Coyote wanted to prove
that he was the big boss of everything
and everyone. In fact, he was turning
into a big bully. Read about how he
got himself in trouble and what he
learned in the end.
This story was written back in 2006 by the new-
deceased Terry Gardner. He was a clinical social
worker all the way up to the time of his death. He
also was a published author. This Four Directions
story, as he called them, is shared in his memory
and with permission of his widow, Lin Gardner.
Ellen Eagle swooped and soared high across
the cloudless sky. She cocked her head and
heard Carl Coyote’s faint words, “I’m the
Master! I’m the BIG boss of EVERYTHING and
EVERYONE!”
Eagle saw Carl Coyote running around in circles. She
shook her head and said to herself, “I HAVE to check
this out.”
Eagle tightly tucked her wings and plummeted from
high in the sky toward Coyote.
Coyote saw Eagle diving toward him. He
picked up some rocks and began throwing
them at her as she threw open her wings to
brake herself.
Coyote yelled, “You wanna fight? NO ONE can beat
me!”
Eagle made a sharp turn and landed on a tree ten
feet from Coyote. She called to Coyote, “Hey
Coyote, why are you running in circles and trying to
throw rocks at me?”
Coyote yelled, “I’m tough and NO ONE can beat me
or boss me. I’ll show you!”
Coyote wound up and threw a rock hard at Eagle.
The rock whizzed ten feet from Eagle’s head.
A loud “Ha, ha, ha” rang from the nearby
forest. Coyote whirled and yelled, “Who dares
laugh at me, the BEST one around here?”
Ben Bear and Wendy Wolf stepped from the
trees. Bear called to Coyote, “Hey, Coyote.
We’re not laughing at you. We’re laughing at
what you’re doing. Do you really think you are
the greatest?”
Coyote said nothing. He just picked up two
rocks and swiftly threw them at Bear and Wolf.
The rocks missed Bear and Wolf by fifteen feet.
Wolf said, “His throws are as wild as his words.”
Eagle called to Coyote, “Why do you think you have
to be so mean to us? We like you. You don’t have to
prove how tough or great you are.”
Coyote picked up more rocks and began throwing
them at Wolf, Bear, and Eagle. Coyote yelled as he,
again, widely missed his three friends. “I’ll, …, I’ll show
you how tough I am!!!”
Coyote threw down his remaining stones and dashed
down the trail.
Eagle fluttered to the ground so she could talk
with her two friends. She said, “I wonder what
got into Coyote? He’s trying to be a real bully.”
Coyote dashed down the forest path. He said
to himself, “Those idiots! They’ll soon know I can
beat any of them. I’ll find someone I can really
beat up.”
Robbie Rabbit nibbled on some delicious
berries in a tangle of wild thorn bushes. He saw
Coyote dashing toward him and called out,
“Coyote, why are you in such a hurry?”
Coyote’s eyes screamed murder. His face and
mouth turned into a hateful snarl and he
leaped at Robbie Rabbit.
Robbie Rabbit screamed and dashed away to safety
deeper in the patch of thorns.
Coyote yelled, “I’ve got you now, Robbie Rabbit! I’m
going to eat you right here!”
Coyote jumped high into the air and arched toward
Robbie Rabbit’s former eating place. Coyote made
one BAD mistake. He didn’t notice the wild thorn
bushes.
Coyote plummeted to earth and he hit the hard
ground, SPLAT.
Coyote’s agonizing yell-scream echoed for five miles,
“YEOWWW!!!!”
Bear spoke very quickly to Eagle and Wolf,
“Let’s hurry up. I think Coyote got himself into
trouble again.”
Eagle spread her wings and screeched, “I’ll go
ahead and let you know.”
Wolf nodded to her friends, and they all left as
fast as possible.
Coyote screamed, “I’m dying, I’m dying! Those
thorns are killing me!” Coyote thrashed around
the brier or thorn patch.
Robbie Rabbit’s heart settled down some and
he SLOWLY poked his nose out of a pile of
branches. He looked at Coyote. Robbie Rabbit
saw he was safe for now.
Robbie Rabbit felt even better when he saw
Bear and Wolf lope into the scene. He noticed
Eagle swoop low and gracefully land on a
nearby branch.
Coyote tore at the thorns piercing his hide and yelled
to the three, “Help me! Help me!”
Eagle saw Robbie Rabbit with her ever-sharp eyes.
She called to the Rabbit, “Hi, Robbie Rabbit. You are
safe with us. What happened?”
Coyote’s agony caused him to scream, “Stop
talking and help me!”
Bear spoke firmly and simply, “We can’t help
you because you claim to be the Big Boss of all
the animal folk.”
Wolf encouraged the Rabbit, “Robbie Rabbit,
tell us what happened. Did it involve Coyote?”
Robbie Rabbit hopped out of his hiding place
and nodded his head. He reported to Wolf,
Eagle, and Bear, “I heard Coyote say he would
beat somebody up. Then he saw me and tried
to eat me.”
Coyote continued to rip at the thorn vines
digging into his hide. He yelled, “Will ALL of you
PLEASE help me?”
Wolf shook her head sadly and said, “We can’t
help anyone who thinks he is the Big Boss of all
the animal folk, acting all big and tough like a
bully.”
Coyote’s face darkened with anger and he
screamed, “I’ll get all of you! I’ll get all of you!”
Eagle screeched, “Do you think we should beat
Coyote up some and show him who is really the Big
Boss around here?”
Wolf grinned widely and her fangs gleamed as
she said, “I’d like to take just a nip or two out of
him now.”
Bear shook his head and growled, “I think we
best leave him alone. Hurting him like he wants
to hurt Robbie Rabbit and all of us won’t help
him. However, we’ll let Robbie Rabbit make the
decision. Coyote wanted to really hurt and
even eat Robbie. Robbie, do you want to hurt
Coyote?”
Robbie Rabbit looked puzzled and finally
understood Bear’s question. Robbie Rabbit
said, “We’re all okay. Coyote hurt himself but
no one else. Let’s leave him alone.”
Eagle looked very puzzled and worried. She
said to Robbie Rabbit, “What will you do if
Coyote tries to hurt you again?”
Robbie Rabbit answered Eagle by raising his
rear foot and stamping the ground very hard
three times. Fifty brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles,
nieces, nephews, mother, and father of Robbie
Rabbit instantly appeared.
Grandfather Rabbit called to Robbie, “What’s
going on?”
Robbie Rabbit answered, “Coyote tried to hurt
me. He said he wished to eat me.”
Grandfather Rabbit looked sternly at Coyote
and asked, “Did you really try to do hurt to
Robbie Rabbit?”
Coyote shook with fear when he saw all the
rabbits. He knew they could and would kick
him hard with their powerful hind legs if he
really tried to hurt Robbie Rabbit, and they
found out about it.
Coyote answered, “Ah, …, ah, …, yes. Please,
please, don’t hurt me.”
Grandfather Rabbit replied, “We won’t hurt
you now. But you better leave Robbie Rabbit
and all our other little ones alone.”
“Yes, Yes, and more Yes,” gasped Coyote.
“Please, please, help me with these thorns!”
Grandfather Rabbit stroked his chin and said,
“Do you still think you are the Big Boss of all the
Animal Folk?”
Coyote THREW back his head and strangled
out an answer, “NO, NO, NO!!”
Grandfather Rabbit looked around and
nodded to his many relatives. They all grinned
and hopped toward Coyote.
Coyote started to run; but he was so tangled in
the vines, he tripped on his feet and went
SPLAT on the ground.
All the rabbits reached Coyote and began
nibbling on the thorn vines.
Coyote’s terror changed to side-splitting
laughter. He yelled, “You’re all eating my fur,
but it tickles!”
Grandfather Rabbit ordered Coyote, “Stay still!
We can’t nibble the thorn vines off you unless
you are still.”
Coyote immediately lay down as the rabbits
swarmed over him. The rabbits quickly ate all
the thorn vines.
Coyote stood up and said, “Ah, I don’t know
how to thank all you rabbits.”
Grandfather Rabbit told him, “Thank all of us by
keeping your promise. You MUST leave Robbie
Rabbit and all our other little ones alone. Thank
Ben Bear, Ellen Eagle, and Wendy Wolf by
being a friend and not trying to be a bully.”
Bear told Coyote, “You did not do such as
good job at being a master of anything. You
can only be the boss of yourself.”
Coyote replied, “You’re all right. I’ll be a friend
to all of you from now on and not try to be
either a bully or a master.”