Elliot is not afraid of ghosts, monsters, the dark or anything else like that.
He’s afraid of “bi-coties” (coyotes). We talk about them almost every day. He asks if I’ll protect him from them. He says that “doing this” (waving his arms above his head so he appears bigger) does not help because he is little.
He asks what happens if he hits a bicotie with a hammer. Every time we pass Marcy Gulch trail by the “synagogue”, which is actually a Mormon church, he asks “is that where the bicoties live?” (I once confirmed to him they lived there, which they probably do during the day).
He does not like to be out at night because that’s when the bicoties roam. He always helps me to get Grendel inside before bed because I’ve told him that there bicoties might get Grendel, and they got Fritz and Spinachi before Elliot was born.
I asked if he would search for the Fort Souville Mystery with me in France one day. He said no because it’s in a forest, and that’s where bicoties live.
He asks if it’s better to hit a bicotie on the nose or the belly. He wants to hit the belly if they attack him.
This is not a new fear. He’s talked like this for more than a year.
He points to his sharp tooth and asks what it’s called. “Canine,” I say. And he asks if he should bite the bicotie with it if attacked.
I wonder if he knows that Chinle, his dog, is part bicotie. I don’t tell him because I don’t any chance that he would fear Chinle.
