It was a typical winter day. School was out and there wasn’t
much else to do when the internet was down. Certainly a good day to explore the
old weathered books out in the garage. Mostly there were engineering books, but
if you looked closely enough there were fictional books too. All were undoubtedly
old, torn up, and in general had seen better days, something I tend to look for
in books. Arguably, my favorite books tend to be from before the 1950s. They
have that distinct book smell and feel to them that newer books tend to lack.
As well, stop and admire the cover of an old book sometime. They’re undeniably
beautiful things.
I’d read most of the books on the shelf that weren’t
engineering or computer programming related. I was beginning to think I’d have
to settle for an outdated book on java when the title “The Yellow Horde” caught my eye. The Yellow Horde? I thought that was a weird name for a book. My curiosity was piqued, and as the saying
goes, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back. The cover of
the book was slightly faded, though the book was in better condition than the
books I usually find in the garage.
Wolves. I thought “Well, I mean, maybe it’s like Call of the
Wild.” Yes, I do indeed think like that. So I began to read it. It was an okay
book, the beginning was mysterious, and the end was satisfying. No strange
mystical stuff like in Call of the Wild (or what I felt to be strange, mystical
stuff.) A book about a coyote and wolf hybrid leading the coyotes to become
what they are today. Probably not based in facts or history, but then, perhaps
I wouldn’t have liked it quite as much if it were.
It quickly became my second favorite book, no book can
replaced “A Dog Called Kitty”, that
story is too close to my heart. Still, The
Yellow Horde is a new favorite of mine. I was terribly upset when I lost it
one summer. With it not being a popular book, it isn’t as replaceable as say, a
copy of Anna Karenina or Phantom of the Opera might be. I hunted
for it nearly everywhere. Except in the garage, on the bookshelf. It wasn’t
until the following summer that I found it again. More cautious and experienced
now, I keep it in a special part of my room where my other old, “handle with
care” books dwell.
Though the main character starts off as a ‘nobody’ in the
realm of the coyotes, he quickly becomes the leader. The book tries to explain
how and why coyotes started to travel in ‘packs’ like the wolves, and curiosity
led me to research coyotes more, though in the past I’d brushed them off. They’re
the survivors, the ones that adapted to mankind’s presence, and I feel like
coyotes are a good example of surviving. Though not probably what wanted, this
is my story on an object. So, yeah.
