Chasing Game — On One’s Own Terms

I was watching as three coyotes appeared on the horizon and remained there. The activity was minor. Suddenly, one of them shot down the hill in a frenzy — as if he might have flipped out — there was a swishing sound and suddenly he was down at the bottom of the hill. The others gazed at him seemingly dumbfounded — probably as dumbfounded as I myself felt. What the heck was going on? Then this coyote raced up the hill again with great exuberance and pure gusto. He just wanted to play! His frenzied activity worked. Invitations to play lately have been met with cruel put downs by his sibling. This time, he ran in, but didn’t give the other guy a chance to dominate him. It was almost a dare. This fellow whizzed by his dominating sibling, and the dominating fellow felt compelled to go after him. Ah! The long awaited game finally was happening. Mom got excited and joined in. And less-dominant guy led the whole thing, smiling exuberantly as he did so!! Finally, out of breath, the two followers ascended to the top of the hill, still with their full attention on this guy, and he, the force behind the show, remained below, panting hard but obviously happy. He had had his game! The chase game lasted less than two minutes.