It's a Dog's Life [Lucas]

[Tiggs]

The years were creeping up on her. It was no longer so easy to endure winter. Food was harder to catch. Competitors were more difficult to outrun. It was a slow progress. One that might take more than a year or two to kill her, but she was for the first time starting to feel her age. She was only seven, but as a lone dingo with no family or friends to run or hunt with, she had to fend for herself. Everything she did had to be efficient else she would be wasting energy. It was hard to keep warm in winter, and she had barely managed to evict a wombat from its burrow for shelter.

Ammi the dingo was finding the men’s hut more and more attractive. Interesting smells of meat came from them. They lay traps nearby to catch kangaroos and other critters to eat. The traps were easy meals, providing she get there first. There were also always scraps around the hut itself, which was what she was after currently.

She was wary circling at a distance, occasionally making a foray closer to investigate. She could smell man and their horses, and also a dog. The dog was what worried her. Should it spot her, it would raise the alarm and if it was not tied, she might be forced into combat with it.

She could smell a small campfire a little way from the hut. It seemed the men had been cooking their evening meal outside and clumsily left some remains. Forgetting the threat of dog at the smell of potential food, Ammi loped out of the darkness and into the dull glow of the hut’s light from the window. She sniffed around the still-warm stones, the dry smell of ash tickling her nostrils. Empty bottles lay around reeking of something bitter. She avoided those in favour of a tin plate.

One sniff told her there had been something tasty on it, and she licked at it greedily. There were hardly any scraps there and she was soon rooting around for something else. The second plate had something on, and she grabbed the cooked bone and loped back into the shadows with it. Hunkering down, she chewed on the end of it, ears flickering nervously. That dog had to be around somewhere. She only hoped it was inside.

[tingara]

For awhile the campfire had been the place to be; there had been warmth, company and food, boy how Lucas adored food. The humans, especially Sam, had lavished attention on the wolf-like dog the entire time they had sat laughing, drinking and eating around the campfire. Lucas of course hadn’t objected that much, he hadn’t objected at all really. Now the humans had retired back to the hut after drinking a whole lot of the bitter liquid in bottles. The dog had tried some out of curiosity and had ended up lapping up the entire bottle before he’d realised he didn’t really like the stuff.

Lucas slept on the porch in a pile of saddle blankets, his tongue lolling out to one side and legs twitching as he dreamt. The dog was practically snoring and didn’t look like stirring anytime soon. He jerked his leg back, causing the pile of saddle blankets to come toppling down on top of him, obscuring him from view. The blankets served to muffle his whines and half howls at whatever dream he was having, they also covered Ammi’s scent as the dingo approached.

It was only when Lucas began to grow extremely hot under the blankets did he wake. He yelped as he found himself in a crushing and weighty darkness. He hadn’t been here before! The familiar scent of horses was all around but it still didn’t tell him why everything was so dark and hot. Panicking slightly, the dog stood up and emerged from underneath the pile of horse blankets. He sighed in relief as cool, fresh night air hit him. He calmed down once he saw the stars and the familiar shapes of the horses in the pen.

As he surveyed his world Lucas saw one very unfamiliar and very dog-like shape near the smouldering campfire. He sniffed for the strangers scent and knew instantly what it was, a dingo, a female dingo. Half excited and half wary, Lucas, his heckles raised, gave off a warning growl before padding over, keeping his distance from the dingo. He resisted the urge to bark, Sam had taught him to keep quiet unless he was working.

“What are you doing here she dingo?” Lucas growled, trying to sound threatening but the curiosity was obvious in his voice.

[Tiggs]

Movement on the wooden platform outside the man’s hut caught Ammi’s golden-eyes attention. Rapt, the dingo stared as a dark lump stirred and from a pile of the men’s fabrics, a doggy shape emerged. Still hunkered down over her bone, her tawny hackles rose but she stayed still. Hopefully the dog wouldn’t notice her and she would be able to sneak away later.

No luck. The dog visually patrolled the area and his gaze settled right on her. Teeth bared, she shuffled backward, picking up the bone as she moved. It must have been those things he was buried in that meant she could not smell or see him before. All she could smell was horse, though as the dog began to move, she caught a whiff of his scent. Teeth fully bared around the bone, she lowered her head and growled threateningly. There was no curiosity in the dingo, only aggression fuelled by fear.

The dog was coming closer; but at least he had not barked or launched at her instantly. He must be a young dog, or a submissive one. Some dogs would catch one look at her and make a racket while charging headlong at her. But as this dog came closer, she saw just how tall he was. She shrunk back, growl lessening a little. She should have run when she first saw him. Now he might be able to catch up, especially with those long lean legs. And oh look at his jaws!

She repressed the urge to whimper, not letting her eyes leave him as she scurried backward until he stopped coming forward. Jowls wrinkled, the female dingo dropped the bone at her paws and snapped back her response in the hope that the dog would think better of challenging her and go back to his porch. “What does it look like I’m doing, he dog? I’m scavenging.” She tried not to be too aggressive but she was anxious and it was difficult. She wondered if the dog even knew what scavenging was. Under his mottled grey hide, his flacks were lean but not pitted and ragged like hers. Her ribs were visible under his shorter fur, and her stomach was significantly tucked in. The dog looked like he ate well every day, and he much have so much strength. She stood no chance.

The dingo shuffled backward some more, looking longingly at the bone. “Just let me go, alright? You can have the stupid bone; but it’s not like you need it.” How did he get to be so large! She often saw men’s dogs up close but she had never seen one like him. Most dogs were larger than her, but not to this extent. Could she even take him in a fight? Could she even outrun him if he decided to chase?

[tingara]

Tentatively Lucas padded towards the Dingo, growling slightly but it was obvious the meaning behind it was fading. His momentary territorial anger was fading, instead being replaced with the curiosity that came with his age. Although curious he was still wary, Dingos were renowned to be vicious, or so he’d heard. The closer he got the taller Lucas realised he was compared to this female Dingo, she was truly tiny and so fragile looking.

Stupidly the wolf-like dog sat down a little way off the Dingo and watched her, head cocked to one side, with the bone. She was so possessive of it, like it was the only meal she’d had in a long time. In his naivety Lucas didn’t realise that was exactly what the case could have been. He didn’t understand her when she said scavenging; he didn’t know what that was. To refrain from making himself look like a spoilt idiot (which he really was) he remained silent. Fighting the Dingo for a bone he did not want never crossed the Tamasken’s mind and when she told him he could have it, Lucas shook his head.

“I don’t want it,” he said quietly, all signs of anger completely dissipated. He didn’t want the Dingo to go either; he’d only just met her. He was a useless guard dog, too busy wanting to make friends than chase potential threats off. “If you’re hungry there’s other food to be found here and I can help you find it since I'm the one who hid it around the place. I’m Lucas by the way,” the dog spoke softly again, willing her to trust him. He only wanted to help her, or assist her if she was too proud to accept his help. Although he wanted to be friends, Lucas still kept his distance. Her growling before had been scary.

[Tiggs]

Was he dense? Or was he really that well fed? Ammi was jealous. If it didn’t mean being owned by man, she’d be tamed herself if it brought the promise of regular food. She hunkered over the bone, enthused with a little more confidence now the other dog was showing less aggressive signs. He wasn’t exactly submissive, but Ammi’s natural controlling instinct wanted to take advantage of his apparent neutrality.

She was suspicious at the offer of food, he must be joking, she would never share food, especially not with the enemy. Man’s dog was harassment to all creatures in the High Country, large and small. “This is a trick. Why would you share food with me?” She growled, suspicion written over her posture. “Where are your doggy friends? Hiding round the corner? Waiting for me to get close so they can rip me to shreds? I know what your kind is like. You kill for fun.” She spat, teeth bared. She would not fall for this dog’s tricks.

[tingara]

Unsure of what to do or say next, Lucas sat down, his head tilted to one side. He watched the female dingo with curious eyes. Never had the dog seen one of his wild kin up close before and he wasn’t prepared for how wary they were. Being so young and naive Lucas had automatically assumed they would be as friendly as he was; he was unprepared to Ammi’s realistic reaction to his offer of the food. For a moment the Tamaskan was dumbfounded at her reaction, he tried to say something, to disprove her accusations but no sound came from his mouth. He was in shock.

”I’m the only dog here,” he croaked finally, finding his voice. Killing for fun, traps, what? ”What, no! he whined reproachfully, ”I’ve never killed anything and I don’t plan to ever let alone for fun please believe me.” what kind of dogs had this dingo met to give her such preposterous ideas? All he wanted to do was help her; to get her to believe him that he’d never hurt a fly. Well that was a lie but flies were annoying and he couldn’t help it if they didn’t get out of the way fast enough when he snapped at them.

”My name’s Lucas, what’s yours?” he asked quietly, not really expecting an answer. He noticed one of his bones close by and turned to get it. He picked it up into his mouth and then approached Ammi. Stopping about a body length away from her Lucas dropped the bone a nudged it towards the she dingo with his nose. He wanted to be friends, that much was clear.

[Tiggs]

Ammi snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. He was a dog, his sweet lies meant nothing to her. While it was true she’d smelt no other dogs, she couldn’t trust her nose on the basis that this tall beast would be trying to deceive her. “I’m not tellin’ you my name.” She growled, eyeing up the big bone he’d pushed toward her.

She glowered at him as he sneaked it closer, but the part of her that then growled was her stomach, not her throat. She was suspicious, but she took the bone hesitantly. She sniffed it, then licked its bulbous end. It still had a lot of taste on it, even if it did have his slobber all over it. Greedily, she snatched it closer and put it between her forepaws with her much smaller scrap.

“What else do you have?” She asked, her mouth salivating at the idea of more food. Bones were all well and good, but what she really needed was fresh meat. Her golden eyes bored into his. She was still far from trusting him, but the fact he has surrendered his food, even if it was just a bone, had started her wondering. Did he really have more stashed away as he said? Or was this still just some elaborate ruse?

[tingara]

”Oh ok then, you don’t have to tell me your name just yet,” Lucas said quietly still eyeing the dingo with unyielding patience. He whined slightly as Ammi growled but he endeavoured forward and delivered the bone before retreating back to where he’d been before. He was happy to see that, even though hesitant, the she dingo still took it up. Lucas positively beamed that she took it, before disappearing off around the house in leaps and bounds. He was one step ahead of Ammi and her question.

The wolf-like dog returned backwards, dragging a plastic bag along with him. Still beaming he tore it apart with his powerful canine teeth and let the dry dog food spill out all over the ground. ”I have this stuff, it’s really good I promise,” Lucas chattered cheerfully, nosing the food at the dingo. ”I also have bits of meat hidden away and more bones and there are some rabbits somewhere that the humans trapped,” the dog went on talking, wagging his tail and every inch of his body language friendly.

[Tiggs]

Scowl firmly set in place, Ammi eyed the bag and the things that rolled out when he tore it. She didn’t fail to notice how long and strong his teeth were, and she scuttled back as he nosed the ‘food’ at her. He wrinkled her nose. “It looks like wombat turd that’s been left in the sun.” She sniffed it, expecting something vile but the smell that greeted her was rather pleasant. She tested a piece, and finding it edible, she hovered up the rest of the biscuits that had spilled onto the ground.

So he had these crunchy things, stashes of meat, and some rabbits. Stealing rabbits from traps was an old game for dingoes, and so with the edge of her hunger taken off by the wombat droppings, she tentatively growled at the dog to dissuade him following and she loped back into the bush. Stupid dog. She wouldn’t share her food if it was her own mother scrounging around. Well, she might, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, the dog was gullible, and he had more than enough food. She would be able to tap him for months! She wouldn’t be short on food if this man pet was going to feed her.

Grinning to herself, the sly she-dingo found herself a place to rest for the rest of the night. Tomorrow she would check for human traps, and in the evening she would see what meat that dog had hidden away. She fell asleep to dreams of mountains of food, trees growing with it. Ammi would never be hungry again.