Self-Review – Cave Canem and Cave

Let’s Look at Cave Canem and Cave

The title Cave Canem and Cave is a play on the Latin term, cave canem, which means ‘beware of dog’.

I wrote this story during the first quarter of 2021. The prompt word was huntresses.

Background

I kind of like the idea of writing about what are clearly major human milestones where the details are lost to the ages. So, why not fill in those blanks?

Plot

When a woman living in a cave during prehistoric times is the sole survivor of a fever, eventually a pregnant wolf comes to share her fire. Through time and trust, and uniting against a common foe, this small act of connection leads to the eventual domestication of dogs.

Characters

The characters are the narrator, the wolves, and the people of the intrusive tribe.

Memorable Quotes

They all died. Some from, I think, a cough. Others from the cold, or from hunger.

I am the only one left, and as a female I was never taught how to hunt. But I have watched. Watching is a great teacher. And so, once one of the old ones was dead, I took his spear. It took me many tries—more tries than I have fingers and toes—before I got anything. Hunger is a guide. It keeps you working toward your goal. My goal is to survive. It is the goal of anyone, I suppose.

I only had a little of the cough, and then I was better. But none of the others ever got better. I could tell they were suspicious of me. It’s easy to be skeptical when but one person seems to shrug off what, to everyone else, is an unmitigated disaster.

Rating for Cave Canem and Cave

The story has a K+ rating. One death is pretty chilling. With nature red in tooth and claw, this story is not exactly for the kiddies.

Takeaways for Cave Canem and Cave

Were dogs domesticated in this exact, precise way? Well, of course not. For one thing, I am most likely compressing events into a timeline that is far too short.

But it is entirely possible that I am not so far off the mark. Hear (er, read) me out, will ya, please?

Given dogs’ close genetic kinship to wolves, their forebears were likely hunters or scavengers or both. Therefore, being able to get a meal quickly, and with very little effort would be extremely appealing.

Yes, laziness is a kind of evolutionary advantage.

Plus, a weary yet fundamentally sociable animal might have found the warmth of a controlled fire to be appealing.

With the smell of some form of food nearby, an ancestor to dogs could have made a primitive cost-benefit analysis. And they would have found that the benefits most likely outweighed the costs.

In addition, the arrival of oh-so cute puppies would have sealed the deal for a lot of humans. This would be the case in particular if there had been any surviving children.

But our full connection to puppy dog eyes comes later.

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Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then I hope you will check out some of my other blog posts about my shorter works.

Short Stories

Finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories