The following took place not long after a discussion of Kate Atkinson‘s Case Histories and a character’s naming of her newly acquired cat after a Not Very Nice Racial Epithet.
INT. FORTRESS MAMEA – NIGHT
The WRITER and his GODDESS sit on the COUCH watching the nightly news.
The DOG, a black and tan mongrel, approaches the couch and sits, ears tall, attentive and expectant.
The Goddess wrinkles her nose and sees its source:
GODDESS
Hello, Smelly Dog.
The Dog’s tail thumps with hope.
The Writer’s eyes don’t move from the flickering screen:
WRITER
Too smelly to join us on the couch.
The Dog’s tail-thumping slows.
The Writer looks at the Dog and appraises it in a manner not unlike an undertaker.
WRITER
If our next dog is all black, can we call it Sooty?
GODDESS
I think we should call it N-----.
WRITER
Only if it’s spelled so that it ends with an ‘a’. And we train it to respond to ‘Sup’ and ‘You feel me?’
As the Writer and his Goddess giggle, the Dog lies down to wait. The Dog is good at waiting.
