Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Bone Game

While I'm working in the basement of our home in North Carolina, the dogs usually hang out and sleep on the nearby couches or a pad on the floor. I try to keep my video camera nearby, however, because I never know when one of these little dramas is going to break out.

It's all very Hemingwayesque. Nothing seems to be happening on the surface, but the tension is very strong just below. These dogs are very subtle.

This particular routine is known around our house as "The Bone Game." Maggie (the tri-color on the couch) has a bone that Stella has decided she must have. Maggie knows this and very cagily flaunts her possession and tempts Stella. But Stella knows that Maggie is going to ambush her if she goes for the bone.

It takes 3 minutes for nothing much to happen. I should have been writing the next scene in the new novel, but I couldn't resist capturing this highlight of dog drama.



Just after I switched off the camera, Stella realized Maggie had given up on guarding the bone, and Stella very bravely snuck in and claimed it for herself. After about three more minutes of chewing on it, she lost interest.

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