What Is The Dog?
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Hu means simply "dog" in Sindarin without any inflection and is the default name of the 'main character' in this fic.

the dog is an ELF.

the dog is not: a half-breed anything, any part orkish, any part human, disfigured, a were-beast, heinously freakish, enchanted, retarded, a criminal, royalty, well fed, well treated, happy, important, magical, famous, respected, from space, from another time, nor is it a 'real' 4-legged dog.

the dog has lost some years from its memory, but is painfully aware of its current position.

the dog may be on its last legs, but like any 'good' animal even when beaten it needs must love its master, and can only be itself. this is the source of such small pride as sustains the dog through isolation and abuse; i can serve, i will serve, though it avail me not.

the dog does not remember hope; it breathes, it tries, it fails, it suffers the consequences, it breathes again. don't get me wrong, i very nearly love the dog.

i will switch back and forth between referring to "hu" and "the dog" in the narrative randomly, arbitrarily, depending on how the words look to me on the page.

i will not use gender specific pronouns regarding the dog because the Eldar wouldn't deign to notice the particulars of this inferior servile creature. i am not using "h^u" [h-acute accent u] as a soundalike or substitute for "he" - nor for "she" for that matter. :P

i forget to use possessive apostrophes, i know i do this and i can't make myself remember them - let me know if i've missed one, or a bunch. :)

i am currently unable to code the HTML to put the carat [acute accent] over the "U" in "Hu", the elvish word is thus sadly without accent. if you can tell me the &blahblahblah required to create the proper mark please let me know.

i reserve the right to lie at any time.

Ch. 1 [02.03.01]:
Written under the influence of morbidly oppressive nice weather and a looming 7 year anniversary. i hate it when No. Cal takes on the attributes of So. Cal; i moved away from there for a *reason*. Re's the other; i'm pleasantly surprised that we've lasted 7 years, and resolve to stop taking things for granted.

This chapter is kind of ponderous; blame it on the weather, within and outside of the story. i hope to loosen up a bit as i become more comfortable writing, and the weather breaks in Middle Earth. Simply maintaining a continuous tense is a bit of a pain!

Ch 2 [02.03.05]:
Well, the weather here is still disgustingly charming; writing is still seeming ponderous. This chapter would have been longer - i wanted to add the flashback but was so "done" with the part so far that i put it up so that i wouldn't be tempted to make changes or fiddle it any more. Hey, lookie, you get to find out a little about what the dog looks like!

On to the capture of the dog!


Cheers,
~B~