A Sound In The Night

I wake at 2:12 am to a strange noise outside my window. A sound I have never heard, not my security alarm, in my nightmares I wake to the screaming of a door being opened as I struggle to find my pepper spray or my phone. Not tonight.

I have been watching the moves of these predators on my NextDoor app for weeks now. I have never heard a coyote yell before but I have read the description many times. A mix between a howl and a baby crying. I throw off my covers and quickly open my blinds. There are two large coyotes on my street corner, directly in front of my window. I look to the lump of Clementine under the covers, she hasn't even stirred. Get your camera Josie get your camera I keep telling myself but I can’t leave the window. I am star struck.

Something scares them, or they see prey and they run. Faster than I thought they would be. I feel silly because I carry a whistle around my neck and a fog horn in my fanny pack when I walk my dog, as if these two sound making instruments would scare off these lean mean fighting machines. Not sure what to do with my adrenaline, I go to the kitchen, fill up my water and pull out a piece of (vegan) turkey and (vegan) Swiss cheese.

I stand barefoot in my kitchen, eating my late night snack and I hear clip clip clip on the wood floors. Clementine has heard the fridge open and possibly my chewing. She is at my feet begging for a piece. Happy to oblige, I pick her up and head back into bed.

Disclaimer - Photos are not my property. All photos taken from NextDoor App.