Snakes, Cougars and Coyotes

Date: 4/24/2022

We are protecting children while they sleep in a wild, dangerous forrest. There are snakes and preditors everywhere. We zip the children in their sleeping bags tight and stand watch, maybe three or five of us. I see a deadly snake approach, long and thin, and throw my knife as it rises up to strike. The small knife pierces the snake, and behind it, a cougar also going in for the kill. Two preditors pinned together, dead. I feel more confident about defending children in this place now. I go talk to MLM about bringing more children to safety here. The hearing for the coyotes is early in the morning. I grab a burlap sack of body parts, evidence, and rush to the courts, dumping it out on the floor in front of the arbitrators. They are not pleased with the tactic. Our lawyer recites the phone numbers to call to join the class action. The arbitrators bang their gavels and demand silence but many young women in the audience raise their hands with confidence. There will be more. I pull out the ledger cataloging injuries and show Shelley how we can add columns to also catalog the grievances. She asks how many I expect and I say hundreds. But then I think about how many young women worked in The Hall, waitresses, kitchen help, the turnover, and I say, "Actually, probably around 30."