The Sitdown at the Dog Park

He doesn't get to the park early. Early is for soldiers. Pawlie arrives when the circle is already formed, walks straight to the center of it, and sits — and somehow the whole arrangement reorganizes around where he chose to put himself.

There was a golden retriever. Big, friendly, didn't understand the structure. He questioned the seating. He wanted to know who said Pawlie gets the shade. Pawlie didn't answer questions like that. He let the silence do the talking, and the silence is fluent.

It got settled the way these things get settled out here — over a shared stick, a little ceremony, everyone saving face. The retriever walked away thinking he'd won something. That's the art of it. Nobody left unhappy and everybody left clear on the order. No further problems.