Coyote: The Story

Inspired by a true story, Coyote is a modern American tale of love and immigration. Pedro and Bernadice are young lovers, determined to be re-united, who turn to a mysterious figure known only as Coyote to help them make a perilous crossing from Mexico into the United States. They have no idea that they have engaged the services of a magical, god-like creature who can change form, leap into their dreams and is bound by neither time nor space. He is a trickster. He is also their only hope.

As the story begins, Coyote emerges from the darkness, daring us to take his hand and to embark on a journey in which we will come to see our own lives mirrored in the struggles of Pedro and Bernadice.

They met and fell in love in Guadalajara, Mexico, but disagree about living there. Pedro is proud of his family’s tradition of farming, while Bernadice sees the worsening conditions of crime and poverty. She leaves for "El Norte” and makes it to the Pacific Northwest. After attending one too many funerals for friends killed by the drug cartels, Pedro finally realizes he must leave. He fears that he has waited too long, that he has been disloyal to Bernadice and no longer deserves her love; that she will find another. She fears that he will not survive the journey and that she is failing in her mission to make a new and better life in this strange new land.

Unknown to Pedro and Bernadice, Coyote is always present: a hard-bitten smuggler, delivering his “product” across the border, a shabby Aztec impersonator entertaining tourists, a lecherous academic tutor, a comical homeowner, and a world weary police officer in downtown LA. He is whoever and whatever he wants to be. We’re not sure he is to be trusted but we’ve come too far to turn back now.