Bob Schwartz

Who are you and what are you doing here, the three coyotes asked.

They call me Moses, because as an infant I was set afloat and was picked out of the water by a princess, and then…it’s a long story. I wandered in a desert for a long time and I got used to it. So I’m trying out other deserts.

This is the Sonoran Desert, the three coyotes said. What are you carrying? It looks like a stick and a stone.

The stick is a magic staff. It can turn into a snake. The stone is a bunch of sayings. Do you want to hear them?

No we don’t, the three coyotes said. We don’t need a stick that turns into a snake. We’ve got plenty of snakes of our own.

Well, I guess I’ll be moving on, Moses said. I’m sure I’ll see you again.

Not if we see you first, the three coyotes said.

© 2025 by Bob Schwartz