Mix a toddler and a teenager and you’ll have some idea of the coyote trickster. Charlie can open cupboards, drawers, and can turn on the sink. He knows what he is and is not allowed to do, but sometimes he pulls out his tricks even if they run counter. His favorite thing to do when I was working on the book was jump on the counter and turn on the sink with his teeth. I’d get up and turn it off and scold him, sit back down at my computer, and minutes later, he’d have turned the water back on. Over and over and over!

Some believe the trickster brings the message of “don’t take things too seriously,” and this is certainly Charlie’s way. He doesn’t ever do any damage, but makes me realize how little, in the scheme of what makes up our lives, is really that important, and how very important the little things are.