A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 20

This is the 10th year in a row I’ve run this series in April.

Today’s story: Transgender man identifies as a DOG and says chasing sticks and playing on all fours has brought him closer to his husband.

Playing fetch on all fours might seem like an unusual activity for an adult, but one man who identifies as a dog says it has brought him closer to his husband.

Tony McGinn, known as ‘Tony Bark’ to his friends, says he has been into animal role-play his entire life, and refers to himself as a ‘human pup’.

The 30-year-old, who was born female and is transgender, is supported by his husband and ‘handler’ Andrew who accompanies him to regular play dates with other role-players in their hometown of Los Angeles.

Tony said: ‘To me a dog is everything pure in the world. Dogs experience the world through a lens of pure joy that I don’t think other animals have.

‘A lot of little kids like to play like they’re a dog and most of them grow out of it. I just never grew out of that.

‘And now in my adult life, in my relationships, it’s a way for me to feel vulnerable and exposed and close to my partner. It’s a very intimate thing.

‘Imagine if the easiest way to delight your partner is you just throw a ball across the room. Relationships wouldn’t fail anymore if that’s all you had to do.’

What to do with this story conceit? The obvious temptation would be to do a comedy. I actually developed a project once called Dog Guy about a character who is actually part human, part dog. You could go indie drama like Lars and the Real Girl, where a couple announces they are no longer husband-and-wife, but owner-and-dog, much to the consternation of their friends, families, neighbors, and co-workers.

But what about a psychological thriller in which a character sinks deeper and deeper into a belief that he actually is a dog. What if this process is facilitated by a psychopathic figure who is into domination, playing upon the victim’s instinct to be submissive, the dog personality an embrace of the latter?

There you go: My twentieth story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free!

Here are links for all the previous posts in this year’s series:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.