I thought it might be fun to share an excerpt from ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ and reveal the extraordinary, real-life event that inspired the scene.
First the excerpt:
โ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ค๐๐ก๐โโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐. ๐ป๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ-๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ด๐๐ง๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ , โ๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐-๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐-๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐-๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐. ๐ผ๐ก ๐ค๐๐ข๐๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐ก๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ โฆโ
Now the story behind the story:
Late one night in 1976, Betty and I approached a poorly lit gate in Asuncion, Paraguay, anxious to enter the yard beyond, climb up into our treehouse and get some sleep. (I am not making this up.) Since we were traveling poor and had been delayed in our journey by a lost passport, a Paraguayan friend, Vicki P., had agreed to let us sleep in his treehouse, which sat in the limbs of a ginormous mango tree, some thirty feet up.
โBut you got to watch out for the dogs,โ he warned us.”
We had briefly โmetโ his dogs on the first day there, when they were safely locked in their pens. One was a full-grown German shepherd name Shrion. The other, half-shepherd, half-wolf, was a man-killer named Blackie. Seems a thief had come over the wall a few months back, unaware that these vicious animals were guarding the yard. By the time Vicki heard the commotion, got out of bed and found the hapless burglar, the dogs had torn him apart.
In many parts of the world, dogs are put to sleep once theyโve tasted human blood, less they be tempted to try it again. But no such law existed in Paraguay.
Coming up to the gate that night, we assumed that Vicki, knowing we were out and would be returning late, had penned up the dogs.
But no! As we threw the latch, Blackie came charging out of the shadows, howling, teeth bared, scaring the bejeebers out of us. When I trained my flashlight on him, his wolf eyes glowed red โ like luminescent blood.
This is one of the many true adventures that foreshadowed ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ.
Thus does fiction imitate life. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEwja0Hpq0M
