hanging by a thread

Milo, Zailey, my wife, and I found a waterfall not too far from home. It was a bit of a hike, but we were able to get to it. It was 35 feet and wasn't flowing at full capacity, yet.

Since the water wasn't moving much, we were able to walk along the top of the waterfall with ease. Zailey and Milo were fearless despite the 35 foot drop. Zailey, at least, didn't seem to think the huge drop would hurt her. She tried a couple of times to jump to the bottom. My heart leapt into my throat with each jump attempt.

Both jump attempts were thwarted by me holding her back by her leash. Her life was saved by this. If the harness had come apart or something in the harness leash combo had broken, she would have gone over the waterfall in an instant with no way for me to save her.


To be as clueless as the dog would be a nice state to be in. No fear. No stress. No nothing. How can I achieve that?

In my writing, I often fail to include emotion in my rough drafts. A lot of my editing is adding more and more emotion. I have to remember that my characters haven't achieved a dog-like zen.

Zailey wouldn't make a very good character. Her cavalier attitude wouldn't translate to the page. I, on the other hand, watching Zailey take that leap would make for an interesting character. My heart pounding worry of how close she came to plummeting down the waterfall creates a bond with the reader. Or at least that is the hope.