Work Text:
The road runner does not know how to wait. It is not in its nature. The road runner runs. It is a creature of action. Of movement. There is road, so it runs. Runs forward and back across the desert, paints itself against the desert sky. It enjoys the desert. It enjoys running. It enjoys eating bird seed. It enjoys the roads it calls its home.
It does not enjoy being still.
But the road runner has to wait, because something very important is going to happen. The thing that has felt wrong in the world will be fixed. The road runner has to wait, but there is road, so it also has to run.
So run it does.
Back and forth down the road to the loud city. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth down the road the coyote disappeared down and did not come back from.
The road runner knows now where the coyote went. The road runner went to the loud building with the bright lights and asked if the coyote was coming back.
Now all it can do is wait for an answer. Wait to see if the coyote comes back. Wait to see if the game will resume.
Running alone is lonely. When it was hatched, it had its mother and siblings. And almost as soon as it left the nest, the game began. The coyote chased it. And so it ran. The road runner likes to run, but running is more fun with a friend.
It will run anyway, but it wishes the coyote were there to run with it.
Finally, finally, the road runner hears something. The crunch of tires against road. It takes almost no time at all to arrive there – the road runner has been running back and forth on this stretch of road for a very, very long time. Waiting.
The road runner screeches to a halt and watches the coyote approach.
It pulls out a sign. You’re back! The game can resume. The road runner no longer feels lonely. The coyote is back.
The coyote signs, Yes. Because that’s all that needs to be said. They are not meant to be apart.
The road runner signs, Beep beep! Because the game is afoot.
And the road runner always has so much fun with its friend.
The road runner hopes the game never ends again. The road runner hopes they play the game forever. The road runner doesn’t like being just the road runner. The road runner likes being the road runner and the coyote.
The road runner revs its engine.
The coyote licks its chops.
Bursting with happiness and joy, the road runner runs.
And the coyote chases after it.