Coyote Skin

So I have been hit by a inspiration to begin writing a new story (new for those familiar to my other blog and new for those who don't know what I am talking about). I have written the first chapter and decided to post it here until I can make a new blog specific for it.

So the basic premise of the story follows Robby Brown, a young teenage Native American boy from a small town in California. He lives a normal, boring small town life. That is until one day his world changed forever. While he was out at a party, he learns that a fire has started on the reservation. He rushes home to make sure his family is safe. He discovers someone has broken in and trashed the place. He finds his mother dead and his grandfather lying on the ground dying. With his dying breaths his grandfather reveals a that there is a family secret that he must learn. That secret will change Robby's world forever. Robby is a skinwalker, someone with the ability to change forms into an animal. Robby must now learn more about his family's history while also seeking down the people who killed his family. Along the way Robby learns that there is much more to the world that he could have ever imagined. Join Robby on his journey in Coyote Skin.

Take a read and let me know what you think. Is this something that sounds interesting? An interesting concept? Do you want to read more? Please let me know. Thank you and Enjoy!

Chapter 1

            Sand flew in the air as the wind blew through the desert night. The air was warm. It was always warm in the summer even if was September. Lone Pine sat in the high desert of California. It was uniquely situated between the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mt. Whitney, and the lowest point in North America, Death Valley. From where he stood Robert Brown had a wonderful view of the eastern face of Sierra Nevada mountain range. Robby, as he liked to be called, always enjoyed the way the mountains looked at night. He loved the dark greys and dark purples his eyes created when he looked upon the granite.

            The wind continued to blow around Robby as he stood in the middle of the sandy field covered with sagebrush and tumbleweeds. There were a couple of trees around the area. Robby noticed that they seemed to stand a little taller than they used to. He began to walk towards them to get a better view. As he walked up to the tree, a howl came from behind him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on their ends. He turned slowly. Through the darkness he could make out three shapes coming moving towards him. As the shapes moved closer his eyes began to focus on them. Robby then realized that he was staring right at three coyotes.

            The moonlight glistened off of the coyotes' fur and shone off their yellow eyes making them especially terrifying. Robby’s heart began beating fast. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Pounding and pounding. Robby was frozen by fear. Coyotes normally shy away from humans, but Robby remembers being told by his grandfather that coyotes are not to be taken lightly. They are adapt at running in their desert environment and fierce when the pack is threatened. Robby assumed that he was looking at a guard unit of the greater pack.

            He began to slowly step away; very careful not to move too fast and startle the animals. But the coyotes only continued to watch him. Robby took another step and the coyotes did not move. One more step and this time the lead coyote let out another howl. He couldn’t take it anymore. He turned away from animals and started to run; hoping to make it back home or at the very least find a spot where he could hide until he thought it was safe. Robby sprinted away. As he did the three coyotes gave chase. Robby ran through the sage and thickets. His legs were being scratched and scraped but he couldn’t worry about that now. The only thing he could think of was RUN.

            Robby ran and ran all the while the coyotes remained behind him. They would split up and then come back together while chasing. It almost as if they were playing with him. Robby just kept on running. He would look back at his pursuers every so often and whenever he did the lead coyote would let out another howl. Robby ran faster than he had ever run before. He thought to himself that he was running unusually fast. He couldn’t recall ever running like this. So smooth were his steps. More often than not Robby was a clumsy runner, never quite the fastest but it was always good enough to him. But he had no time to linger too much on this fact. He could think more when he was safe. For now he was just grateful that this speed was there.

            Robby kept looking around for a place that he could use to hide away from the coyotes, but nothing was jumping out at him. There was nothing more than bushes and a few isolated trees. Nothing that would keep him safe for long as the coyotes would surely circle him if he tried to climb a tree. While looking around Robby forgot to look at what was actually ahead of him and had to come to an abrupt stop. He tried so hard to slow himself, but it did no good. He slid through the dirt and his feet tripped over the edge a deep ditch that was in front of him. Robby rolled down the side of the ditch; rolling in the dirt, rocks, and thistle.

After rolling all the way to the bottom, he came to a stop lying down along a stream that ran through the ditch. Feeling battered Robby looked up to the lip and saw the coyotes looking down at him. The leader let out his howl for one last time and turned and walked away. His two guards followed alongside. Relieved and exhausted, Robby laid flat against the warm desert dirt. He could hear the water rushing by his head. He dragged himself up to the stream to clean off some of the dirt from his face.

The moonlight light up the blue water on this summer night. The water shone like a mirror. Robby could see the reflection of the moon and that of lone tree standing somewhere behind him at the top of the ditch. But there was another reflection; something very much closer than the moon or ever the tree. In the spot in the water where his face should have been all he saw staring back was a coyote.

Robby startled himself and startled himself out of his sleep. He jumped up to a sitting position in his bed. His alarm clock blared on the night stand next to him. He reached his hand out and slammed it on the top of the clock to shut it off. He grabbed for his glasses on the nightstand and put them on. Looking at the clock he saw that it was 7:00 am; time to get ready for another school day.