It’s Week 51 of Julia’s 100 Word Challenge for Grownups. This time our prompt is ….the line was drawn…. There are all sorts of lines; for this story, the question is what makes a line real, and how much keeping it real might cost.
If you’re a young border guard, it might cost more than you have…
On the Border
The line was drawn on maps, but here there’s just sand and scrub and coyotes and jackrabbits, and little trails. Some made by the jackrabbits, who wouldn’t understand a map no matter what you said. Some made by the men called coyotes, who wouldn’t care.
My job’s stopping coyotes from crossing the line on the map. I remember what one of the old-timers said to me. “Sure, there’s rules. In the book. Out there? You’re God out there. You make the rules.” I kept wondering if I ought to be a cruel God or a kind one.
But you know that last coyote? The one with the good gun and good aim? He showed me it don’t matter which I am.
A Number of Things 