Scene

"The museum sat low and snug in the gentle curve of the desert and its tan adobe walls and rock paths formed an extension of the sandy floor and surrounding mountains. Sunk in a sea of saguaros, the museum’s presence was subtle like the land, the only change at its boundaries marked by the rock outlines that formed outdoor exhibits for mountain lions and coyotes, and by a forest of little trees, lacey and green, and plump cacti in every shape and size.

At night in the moon tide the big brown bats swooped over its lush vegetation drinking with long tongues from the huge white saguaro blossoms, carrying sticky pollen from saguaro top to saguaro top, and some scooped up insects hovering over the beaver pond. Bobcats and coyotes hunted there too for rats and mice and snakes that roamed the museum grounds under the cool moon light. The rattlesnake and sidewinders plied the earth across the valley’s confines drawn by the warmth of breathing little bodies gathering seed. Swift and silent their belly scales seamlessly rowed them forward over rocky paths where they ruled the nighttime’s smaller kingdoms.

But at daybreak the night stalkers disappeared, confined to subterranean caves to rest through the heat of the day. The cactus wren, hummingbird, and human took their place in the sun tide of the desert sea."