Measured in Moments.
Chaos nervously poked his head into the den where his father was waiting. The elder coyote looked stoic and regal, sitting quietly in his big easy chair, a soft velvet robe clad about his form, and a large brown pipe dangling precariously from his jaws. He cast a delicate, fatherly gaze across his son, before beckoning him over with a single crooked finger.
With a quiet gulp, Chaos felt his legs tremble and proceed to cross the vast desert of carpet that separated him from certain doom. To his immediate horror, Chaos couldn't recall anything recent that he'd done to get him into trouble, scrolling through his photographic memory granted him no answers, and try as he might, he couldn't deduce a single incident that his father had perhaps not heard of in which he'd not yet carried out a grave sentence for. Meekly, finally, his destination reached, the journey over, Chaos crashed down onto his backside in front of his father, sitting with both legs crossed and tail nervously tucked underneath him.
Joshua stared at the nervous looking coyote for a long few seconds, his goggles glinting in the dim light, and his young, eager innocent eyes bright and curious- if not tempered with fear and guilt. He chuckled inwardly and flashed a fiendishly sharp smile.
"Chaos. This weekend is the science fair. Now, Calamity and I have worked together on his project for the past four years since, and we've won first place every time. " Explained the elder coyote. Chaos gave a slow, grim nod. Every year about this time, Calamity and Dad would disappear into the garage together, lock the door, and spend hours and hours lost in a whiz of scientific books and theories. There would be an occasional explosion, strange smelling smoke, and the house rattling blast, but they always came out laughing and cheerful, hugging and burnt. But happy. Chaos wanted to be happy too…But he never had a chance to compete in the science fair. Not against Calamity- that was his thing. He couldn't win against his elder brother and he knew that for a fact.
"Now, I brought you in here to have an important talk with you. Your getting to the age where we need to discuss the facts of life. " The older dust dog explained. Chaos raised a single eyebrow sheepishly.
"Is…this about my date with that skunk? C, cause I can explain the shaved fur! See, she's got this really cute smile, and I-" Chaos began, but Joshua cut him off with a hardy laugh and quickly shook his head.
"No, no no, it's not time for THAT talk. This is about you being a coyote and living up to your potential. See, you're a coyote, lad. And coyotes chase road runners. It's what we do. It's what we were born to do, and you haven't been doing it. "Joshua explained, and beamed at the look of horrified dismay that washed over his son's face.
"B, but I've been looking! I have! HONEST!!" Chaos squealed, blinking back tears. Joshua held up a paw and shook his head, giving the boy a stern, fatherly look.
"Now, Chaos. Calm down. I know it's awfully hard to find them in the city. Calamity lucked out with Little Beeper, but you just haven't been making any progress at all. So I imagine it must be awfully hard to practice catching one if there aren't any to catch. So…How about we take a trip out west towards the desert after the science fair?" He asked, holding back a smile as Chaos' eyes changed from despair to curiosity.
"A…Trip? To the desert?" He asked. Joshua nodded again, this time letting his lips peel back to show a sharp fanged, wicked grin.
"I think it might take us two or three whole days…"He explained. Chaos blinked again and stood up. Joshua could see his tail twitching, careful not to start wagging just yet. Careful not to get too excited…
"Yo, you mean me and you…together? Out hunting road runners?!" The boy squeaked. Joshua nodded his head with a warm, fatherly grin.
"Just the two of us." He announced. He yelped when Chaos rocketed from his spot, slamming into the seated coyote at full force with a hug that squeezed the air from his lungs.
"Y, you're the best! YOU'RE THE BEST DAD!!" The boy squealed happily. Joshua smiled, reaching down to scratch a few fingers along Chaos' headfur and smiled warmly.
"You'll get to see your old man in action m'boy. Been a while since I brought down a road runner…I'll show you my super, secret special tricks of the trade! I can't be devoting all my time to Calamity and Pandora now can I…so let's say this is our little tradition, ok son?" The patriarch asked as his son sniffled a few tears into his dusty gray fur.
"I…I thought you didn't care…I thought…"The boy choked. Joshua shook his head gently, and tucked his paws under Chaos' arms, lifting him up.
"Hey. Just because I've got other pups, doesn't mean you aren't as important as they are. You're a member of this family too, ya know. I know I've been busy lately, but that just makes this trip all the more special, alright? So after thescience fair, you'd better bring your 'A' game kiddo, cause we ain't comin' back until we've got a bird strapped to that car!" The older coyote announced. Chaos gave a happy squeal of a bark; his tail kicking into hyper drive and he squeezed his arms around his father once more. Joshua squeezed him back, and the two smiled at one and other, noses brushing gently and Joshua took a deep lungful of pride. It was a good day to be a coyote. And it was an even better day to be a dad; watching your son learn that life was measured in moments and memories.