I was tagged by Éilis at The Sound of What Happens to participate in a free style writing challenge.
I duly set the alarm on my phone for ten minutes and wondered what would emerge…
My subject, it seemed, was one I would be able to write about without thought: If you could have the experience of living as a nonhuman animal for one day, what would you be? What would you do? Why?
Oh now, that is such an easy one to write about. There would have to be two, of course… dog and red kite. I would want to run with Ani, be able to speak to her in her own language.. maybe explain my quirks and little foibles; the ones she tilts her head to one side to query. I would want to tell her about the whole dog/human set-up and what it means to us.. and find out from her, in her own way, how she sees the relationship between our species.
No doubt I would have chance to apologise for all the times I have let her down by not being able to understand what she wanted from me, or what she really needed. Probably more times than I would be happy about too.
I would be able to feel as she feels, see through her eyes and experience her world… play her games and find out what they really mean… see if what I feed her is really what she wants and needs or if my human viewpoint has clouded my understanding there too.
I wonder what it feels like for her? I know my own grief sometimes when I want to tell her something and know that my words are too complex for her to grasp. I have to hope, as no doubt she does too, that my efforts at interspecies communication are at least somewhere near effective! Maybe they don’t need to be. Perhaps her species can read mine better than we can read hers.
We think we know so much.. but I wonder if that is just arrogance. We are, so we like to think, higher than the other animals. I’m not so sure about that.
Of course, then I would want to go out with her… chase with her through the fields, raise a few pheasants and track the scents through the long grass and woodland. Maybe swim… Just Be with her… She could teach me so much, I think, about the world and about life and love.
Then afterwards, home to the sofa and proper cuddles. Not with arms wrapped around her, which I often wonder if she would see as constraint, but in whatever way says clearest to her, I love you, little one.
The other one, the kite, now that would be amazing. To soar on the winds, to ride the air and be one with it. To feel the breeze on my feathers and read whatever message it carries… I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be able to move through so many dimensions. 3D? mankind is a 2D creature without his machines to fly or dive. Birds and fish, insects, butterflies… they manage to explore directional movement in ways we cannot.
Just to be part of the sky for a little while would be…
Alarm stops play at 477 words
These are the rules, and if you would like to have a go, please feel free to do so. I get to tag another five bloggers, who have no obligation to join in unless they so choose!
So I shall nominate: Alienora Taylor, Hugh of Hugh’s News and Views, Ali Isaac, Geoff at Tangental and Eliza Waters.
Your mission, ladies and gentlemen, should you choose to accept it…
1. Open an blank Document
2. Set a stop watch or your mobile phone timer to 5 or 10 minutes, whichever challenge you prefer.
3. Your topic is at the foot of this post BUT DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO SEE IT UNTIL YOU ARE READY WITH YOUR TIMER!!!
4. Once you start writing do not stop until the alarm sounds!
5. Do not cheat by going back and correcting spelling and grammar using spell check (it is only meant for you to reflect on your own control of sensible thought flow and for you to reflect on your ability to write with correct spelling and grammar.)
6. You may or may not pay attention to punctuation or capitals.
7. At the end of your post write down ‘No. of words = ____” to give an idea of how much you can write within the time frame.
8. Do not forget to copy paste the entire passage on your blog post with a new topic for your nominees and copy paste these rules with your nomination (at least five (5) bloggers)
When you have the document and the timer ready to go, scroll down to see your subject…
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If you could visit, for just one day, in any era and location, past, present or future, where would you go and why?
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Good job! Of course, you would have to hang your tongue out!
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Hey, I can do that 🙂
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Love it, Sue! I had a feeling Ani would definitely make an appearance! You are so right about the kites. 🙂
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Well, you gave me the prefect subject, there Eilis 🙂
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Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.
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Interesting experiment. I’ve done it a couple of times to try and come up with either new ideas or further develop some of the ones hanging around in my head. You’re very right about arrogance… But it’s difficult to see things not from another person’s point of view but from another being’s point of view…
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…but that doesn’t me we can’t try 🙂
I agree, sometimes just letting the thoughts flow, like a meditation on paper… can open all sorts of doors.
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Reblogged this on Anita & Jaye Dawes.
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Wow, how great would that be. To experience and understand how my little pals see and feel and understand our world or take to the winds and soar through the heavens.
An excellent piece, Sue.
D.
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Thanks Darren… Yes, it would be wonderful 🙂
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I can totally imagine you as a canine (with reddish fur, of course) gallivanting with Ani in the fields. What a thrill it would be to see the world through her eyes!
Thanks for thinking of me, I hope I can rise to the challenge! 😉
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Oddly enough, Ani’s black has red bits in it from her parents 🙂
I know you will! 🙂 What I can’t understand is how I can write that much in ten minutes and spend hours on something else the same length! Mind, I do get sidetracked by research very easily!
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Me, too. I can spend two hours on a 400-word piece easily. But as you said, there is a fair amount of back and forth, fact-checking, doing photos, etc.
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… then you find a thread of research that is fascinating and somehow get lost in it… 🙂
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Yes! Hours later…still at it! 😉
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I’m hopeless… I was going to bed two hours ago…:)
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Oh, I forget about the time difference. The internet knows no time, does it? I’m told not to be at the screen for a couple hours before bedtime – almost impossible! I admit it, I’m an addict! 😉
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Me too. Mea culpa. Living alone, there is only my son’s requiremants and Ani to tear me away…
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Thanks for tagging me, Sue. I also got tagged by Sally and Alienora on the same day, but you pipped them to the post.
I enjoyed your post. I often wonder what it would be like as a dog, so I could get to know exactly what Toby was thinking. I’m sure he is one very bossy dog inside all that fur.
I’ve just completed my challenge and answered your question. I hope I did OK.
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bloody hell Sue, that is a real brain stretcher… I’ve just had a go and to say my stream of consciousness broke down into many rivulets would be an understatement! Actually to suggest it involved consciousness is a stretch,. Thank you. I think?!
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