Doggedly

Extremely large and hulking is
intimidating. A dense shade of
black is intimidating. Dogged
persistence is intimidating. All
together, a sinister formula certain
to evoke trepidation and alert the
trouble-antennae of its minuscule
counterpart. This was, after all, a
Goliath of a dog, well-dispositioned
as its human knew, but of a curious
temper and the small black dog it
was curious about, crowding into
a corner, following, nudging, 
unwilling to leave off, suddenly
gathered courage to respond and
out of the depths of its throat came
a warning snarl ignored by the other.
The one-sided game of harassment
resumed, relentless tracking, the
frantic efforts to make himself less
visible a failure, the timid small dog
lunged, snapped and growled, a
David suddenly recalling his own
nature-allotted tools of survival.