Harehound: An Existential Fable

Harehound is a fable about Forward Cheque, a white Saluki greyhound racing dog who, one day during a chase, catches Rusty, the mechanical hare, and discovers that it is not a creature but a thing. The rest of the story deals with the question: How does a Hound live in the world without a Hare? When he informs his fellow kennel hounds about his discovery, they ridicule him in disbelief and call him Harehound. But an old hound, Colonel Flash, worries that Harehound's discovery will drive the other hounds insane with doubt and asks him to chase on faith-as if the hare were real. During the next chase, Harehound chases "as if" but during the race the old Colonel's heart gives out and his chasing days come to an end. Harehound becomes even more disillusioned. When Harehound tries to speak with his longtime confidant Lady Suir, an elegant elder hound, he learns that she is more concerned about the appearance of things rather than their reality. He then tries to find solace in Janice Lee, a passionate she hound, but learns he cannot escape from his newly discovered truth about the Hare. When his close friend Saint-Harry pleads for the truth about the Hare, Harehound at first refuses and then relents, but Saint Harry is unable to tolerate the uncertainty of knowing the Hare is not real and runs amok and comes to his end. Harehound discovers his anger and chases anew, this time-"in spite of" the fact that the hare is not real. But once again the mechanical hare tricks him as he almost catches it during the chase, but some mysterious force whisks it quickly from his grasp. Both horrified and outraged, he rebels on the track and tries to escape but is captured by the kennel keepers and taken to Hoop Home for Hounds, where he dreams all day and runs on the mountain at night while searching for clarity about the truth. He wonders why "the thing" and "chasing the thing" are both outrageous hoaxes, and does not understand what he has experienced. One day, while running for exercise on Hoop Mountain, he suddenly confronts a living hare. He chases and captures it but, as he wonders which one of them is the hare and which one the hound, he releases the hare, giving it freedom. He finally understands that his discovery is the essence of hare-hounding, of searching for the truth and, with relief and great joy, he begins coursing forward down the mountain, now unchecked, to explore the world with his newly found freedom to feel free.