• "Jimmy, make sure you stay where people can see you! Don't go off into the woods!"
    Jimmy wasn't listening to his mom. He never really did once she let him go out to play. Stay where people could see him? Yeah, right! If there were people watching him, he always got yelled at while he played. He kept on running until the town was out of sight.
    He stopped, panting, in the middle of a small clearing. Once he caught his breath, he picked up a stick and began swinging it around like a sword. The loud "whoosh-thunk" it made when he swung it at something and the noise his feet made as he ran around drowned out the quiet sounds of the predator creeping up on him. He didn't notice the big coyote until it stepped out of the the brush, head low, teeth bared, growling.
    Jimmy swung the stick at its head and felt a pang of fear as it snapped in two. The coyote snarled and grabbed the stick in its teeth, jerking it out of his hands with one easy pull.
    He staggered away from the coyote and tripped. He found himself paralyzed with fear as the predator approached him - its prey. He shut his eyes as tight as he could as it lunged forward. There was a yelp.
    Carefully, Jimmy eased one eye open. A man wearing a long, black jacket was standing between him and the beast. It snarled again and lunged at the intruder, who presented his forearm.
    The coyote latched onto the man's arm, its fangs gripping it as its head twisted and pulled, trying to rip off a chunk of flesh.
    The man moved with the momentum of the strike, stepping back and swinging his arm to the side. The force tore the coyote from his arm and launched it away. It flew towards a tree, its back making a loud smack as it impacted before falling to the ground. The coyote began thrashing about, it's rear legs unmoving. Its spine had been broken.
    The man walked over to the injured beast and reached into his jacket with the same arm that the coyote had bitten. The leather of his jacket had barely been punctured, and something metallic shined through. He withdrew a black pistol, clicked the safety off with a quick flick of his thumb, and shot the predator in the head once.