Alan woke up just before the morning sun like he always did, yawning and idly scratching himself atop his bed made of a pile of old cushions arranged around the box springs of an old mattress. He got up, leaped out of bed, climbed to the top of the tunnel, and washed up in an old porcelain tub, singing old Westerns under a steaming shower. Drying off with some towels, Alan went to the icebox to pick out some old grub of rabbit haunches and roots to heat in his small saucepan for breakfast. Then after chow (with some old whiskey) Alan went out for his daily errands.

As he ascended the rocky wash where most of his prey resided, Alan turned and looked down at his residence, beaming with pride. Alan was proud of his home, a small ranch arranged around an abandoned human mine, which the coyote had built up with items scavenged and constructed from the debris of the desert. The mine itself, made of corrugated iron sheets, had been converted to his residence, with the main shaft serving as a sort of expanded burrow that the coyote's bed had been dragged into, attached to a bathroom with its tub and hot and cold water pipes and drain that led down to water his garden, and adjacent to the kitchen with its old oven, icebox and table and chairs. Outside, a series of seeps, canals and rainbuckets as well as a windmill brought precious water to a storage tank just outside the mine. Also there were a powered generator and a series of bikes, motors, batteries and invertors that Alan juggled around to power his home, as well as the small vegetable garden. Christmas lights had been arranged around the old mine building, keeping away the night animals and also-Alan felt-adding a bit of colorful cheer to his home.

The coyote rarely hunted these days, instead collecting game in the intricate traps he had designed around their burrows. Today netted a few ground squirrels and rabbits and mice that he killed and carried back to restock his icebox. Meat was quickly followed by more roots and vegetables from Alan's small garden. The coyote then dutifully checked the seeps and the filters and finally the water tank for any signs of contamination, before jumping on the modified bike that fit his form and pedaling for an hour or so. With his errands accomplished as the sun approached noon, Alan began working on his more interesting projects.

Ahead of him lay a dozen abandoned cars that had been rusting in the desert. The metal could be reused for paneling or expanding Alan's mine home, but he hoped that there were some cables that he could use to extend power to the other side of the building. Checking the first two cars were a bust; they were barely holding together after decades under the sun. As Alan lifted the hood of the third car however, he hit paydirt. Rubber wires. As he pulled the wires out with his teeth, Alan played around in his head where they would best be put to good use. Perhaps it would be good to line them up with the kitchen and add-

*Alan?*

Alan the coyote turned to be face-to-face with a pair of gigantic cat eyes, attached to a long, yellow, scaly snout that ended in a beard.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Alan dropped the cables and fell onto his haunches, screaming.

Poonence shook her head. *Come now, Alan, this happens every time I run into you.*

Alan slowly shook himself off from the shock, breathing hard, but finally replying-in Draconic. *Sorry. It's still a shock to come across a dragon in the desert. I never knew you guys were here.*

*Good, but you should stop still. Also I'm an underwater panther.* Pooence muttered.

*Sorry, Pooence the underwater panther.*

The underwater panther nodded then looked around at Alan's Ranch. *I'm glad you put all that junk I come across to some good use.*

*Yes. Well thanks for everything. Thanks for the cars.* Alan picked up the cables again. *These would be good for electrifying the expansion I have planned. Do you have more things that you would like to get rid of?*

Pooence shook her head. *Actually I came here asking a favor of you.* She beckoned to the wash, and out popped another dragon. Green, elongated like a serpent, but a dragon nevertheless.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Alan dropped the cables again.

*Stop that!* Pooence roared. Alan stopped his screaming. The underwater panther pointed to the green dragon. *This is Bob. He's a long, and I guess he needs some help.*

*Hello.* Said Bob.

*Hi.* Alan meekly waved. *How are there more dragons now?*

*Long story.* Pooence muttered.

*How are you able to speak Draconic?* Bob asked Alan.

*Long story.* Alan squeaked.

Back at the 1962 Streamline trailer in the secret military base, Alien One elbowed Alien Two.

Pooence smiled at Alan. *Okay. We would like you to help us move some of Bob's fish up the Great ʼHakhwata.* She gently shook her head. *Bob is very concerned about this.* Bob forced a smile. *Would you be interested in helping him?*

Alan forced a smile as well. *Of course!* He barely forced out.

*Good!* Pooence continued. *Let's talk some more!*

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Modest Mouse-Out of Gas

Courtesy of  theRoguez!