Today the challenge is to quote a line of effort or triumph in my currant work in progress (WIP) and that will be a difficult one as the examples I'm thinking of are almost all major spoilers.
I've decided to use the scene in The Inugami where Kelly, an American exchange student, discovers the Inugami living in the crawlspace under her Tokyo apartment. Eventually, she enjoys the triumph of taming the creature through kindness and makes it her friend. Here is one of the opening scenes where she reaches out to the pathetic creature who is bound by magic by the apartment's previous tenant:
An hour later Kelly stood in her living room. She had moved the overstuffed chair aside and looked at the small door that opened to the crawlspace. Trembling, she got on her knees and opened it, seeing the dirt floor three below her. “Shadō?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Kelly first heard the clink of its chain. Then the creature crawled into view, rolled over on its back, and looked up at her. “Hai, masutā?” it asked. Kelly could do nothing but stare in horror, illogically hoping the events of the night were nothing but a bad dream, but here the Inugami lay as hard reality.
Kelly studied it. It spoke Japanese with a slight slur and lisp due to the shape of its muzzle, and its filthy rags concealed a human, though furred, female form.
“Do you have water?” Kelly asked. She did not know what exactly to say. She just needed to see it to confirm its reality.
“Hai, masutā,” it repeated again. “Yes, master. There is a water spigot on this side of the little door that opens to the yard with an old hose. I get my water from there.”
Kelly’s lower lip trembled in fear, feeling her breath catching in her lungs. “Food,” she said. “What do you eat. You’re so thin.”
The Inugami blinked up at her. “I catch rats and mice sometimes,” she said. “And there are always insects and worms.”
An inexplicable wave of pity swept over Kelly. “Stay there,” Kelly said.
Feeling suddenly exhausted, Kelly got to her feet and walked to her refrigerator. She found a piece of wagyu beef and brought it back to the crawlspace door. Without speaking, she held it out to the Inugami, just far enough for it to reach it. It did not move.
“Here,” she said. “Take it.”
The Inugami stared up at her, all too human incredulity in its canine eyes. “What do you wish me to do with it?”
Kelly felt irritation at the question. Could the creature be that stupid?
“Eat it,” she said. “I can see you’re starving.” She held out the meat. “Here."
Shadō’s lower jaw began to tremble. “You want me to eat this?”
“Yes,” Kelly said. “It’s for you. I will try and get you more food.”
With trembling fingers, the Inugami reached up and took the raw meat and held it close to her chest, blood from the beef staining the creature’s already filthy rags.
“Arigato, masutā,” it whispered.
Kelly let the panel fall back into place.
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