The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall

Rare dog breeds; people will kill for them. I’ve seen it. One stark-nosed curly hair terrier, over-doped and past all use. One ripped-off buyer, one cheating seller. I was just the go-between for that job. I shrank up small into the corner, squeezed my eyes shut, folded my ears over like a Puffin Dog, to keep the dust out.

from “The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall”, in The Gate Theory. The collection is still being free, for another 8 hours.

 

This is another travelogue of Fiji story. I’ve spoken before about how you gather snippets as a writer, remember things, retain images until you need them. In this story, it’s things like the article in the Fiji Times about blue-skinned vampire dogs killing livestock, reported manner-of-factly.

Colo-i-Suva, the place I describe in the story, does exist. It’s a beautiful place but it’s the only one you’re warned about when you arrive in Suva. “Don’t go there alone,” you’re told. Some say it’s because of robbers. Some say it’s because of ghosts. We did go there a few times, because it is beautiful, and we saw the women cooking curry in enormous pots over contained fires. The delicious smell stayed with us all the way.