Act I

The play opens in Gabriela's backyard in Barstow, California, shortly after first Persian Gulf War. The moon watches from above while playing the violin. Gabriela's Cat enters and meets a Coyote in the yard. The two argue about who has a better life. The Coyote argues that he is wild and free living the hunter's life as opposed to the Cat's domesticated lifestyle. The Cat argues that she is loved and taken care of, which the Coyote cannot understand. The Coyote challenges her to spend one day in the wild and see the world as he sees it. The Cat, while possibly tempted, is suspicious that the Coyote wants to eat her. She questions him about the deaths of local cats, including a friend named Pinkie Garcia. The Coyote assures her that his hungers for her are of a more carnal nature. They kiss just as Gabriela enters with a gun, having heard their voices. The Cat assures Gabriela that there is no one else with her.

Gabriela feels alone and abandoned by her husband Benito, who is a soldier at war. Her friend the Moon comes down from the sky to comfort her. The Coyote is greatly pained by the approaching Moon, stating that coyotes howl at the Moon because the moonlight pains them. He is driven off and the Cat follows him. The Moon tells Gabriela that "from the tears of women civilizations are made." He alludes to many great men whose women were neglected. Gabriela thinks the Moon is trying to seduce her, which he doesn't deny. He references several famous artworks, which turns Gabriela on, and they share in a passionate kiss.

Martín, the fourteen-year-old neighbor boy, enters the scene. He is a peeping tom who is in love with Gabriela and envies the Moon. Gabriela and Martín speak a verse monologue simultaneously, Gabriela talking of her love for Benito and Martín of Gabriela. Martin and the Moon have a heated argument which ends in the Moon pointing Gabriela's gun at him. Martín passes out. Gabriela disapproves of the Moon's behavior and is angry with him. The dejected Moon returns to the sky, remarking on how he should just refrain from interfering with human life. Gabriela lies beside the dazed Martín and agrees to sleep with him- albeit in a non-sexual way. They fall asleep lying in the backyard.

Act II

Benito returns from the war, expecting a warm welcome from Gabriela. She simply asks if Benito saw the Moon that night. It is revealed that Gabriela and Benito have a tense and tumultuous marriage and they begin to argue. Benito is upset that they lack food in the house and that Gabriela won't have sex with him. In addition to this, Benito resents his sedentary desk job and the fact that Gabriela won't sympathize with him. Gabriela is preoccupied worrying about if the missing Cat was eaten by coyotes.

Benito passes out, exhausted. Martín enters with the Cat. He says that he found her surrounded by coyotes next to the remains of the slain Pinkie Garcia. He also implies that he believes the Cat had sex with the coyotes. He insists that he could take better care of Gabriela than Benito ever would and implores her to be with him. She sends him away, saying that he is too young. After he leaves Gabriela exposes her breasts to the sleeping Benito and breaks down crying.

Act III

Gabriela finds Benito crying out and howling in his sleep. Gabriela wakes him and he instinctively lunges at her. She dives away in time. This is an old habit that she has forgotten. Benito is upset about something but refuses to tell Gabriela. Gabriela threatens to go to her astronomy class, leaving Benito alone. He gives in and tells the story of how he was involved in an air strike, killing innocents, in revenge for a corporal's hand injury. Gabriela is disgusted and says she hates Benito's job. He wishes she would sympathize with him. She goes on to say that she studied Islam to better understand the people Benito kills. He changes the subject and attempts to seduce her through a game of asking about her childhood scars. This ends in them having passionate sex.

After the encounter Gabriela gets dressed and tells Benito that she is leaving him. She give him an ultimatum- choose the army or her. She says she wishes he could love the things that she loves, like theology and art. Benito only loves war and the army. She suggests that they leave that behind and go back to school. Benito argues that she and the army are his two great loves. He yearns for the old Gabriela who wanted babies. She reveals that she is infertile. She describes a dream in which she pulled rocks and shrapnel out of Benito's paralyzed body through his throat. She goes on to say that she feels all of the people he killed and deplorable acts he has committed. He is offended and leaves the house, leaving the choice up to her whether she will stay with him for his nine remaining years in the army before he can retire.

Act IV

Gabriela and Martín lie in the backyard, not touching. Martín is convinced that Gabriela took his virginity, though both she and the Moon deny it. Gabriela thinks back and wonders how her and Benito fell in love and if their love was ever real. The moon weakens as the morning comes and he departs, unable to offer advice. He no longer cares for clever references or art anymore.

Martín demands that Gabriela either come away with him and make a life together or give him his virginity back. She offers him the latter and kisses him passionately. She then rejects him. He reflects on the depth of his lust and the confusion of his pubescent age.

Gabriela recounts how she fell in love with Benito. They were running from some skinheads who had picked a fight with Benito. Despite the danger he still paused and took time to remark how beautiful the moon was. She recalls this as the moment she fell in love with him. She wonders if he still notices the moon- and if he is in fact still the man she loved.

As Benito returns, the Cat asks Gabriela what she should do now that her lover is dead. Gabriela responds "Fuck him anyway." The ghost of the Coyote appears to the Cat. She wants him desperately. He admits that had he gotten the chance he probably would have eaten her, as he was at heart a wild animal. He laments the loss of his sense of smell, and realizes that in the afterlife he can no longer hunt. The Cat and the Coyote wonder how long their love would last until it was tested like Gabriela's and Benito's. The two come together and dance throughout the final scene.

Gabriela confronts Benito and demands to know if he saw the Moon last night to see if he is still the man she fell in love with. The ending is left ambiguous, as we never hear his answer.