I pulled the drapes against the raging winter, yet was unable to silence the howling wind. My wife Deb, and my daughter, Annie were asleep. I turned off the TV after the eleven o’clock news, then Duke, my Dalmation, and I moved into my writing room.

Duke settled himself beside my writing table, on his oriental rug. Tonight, without concious thought, I decided to draw instead of write. I laid out paper and drawing pencils, then turned out the overhead light, leaving only the lamp to illuminate my paper.

I first drew an oval then demarcation lines. The pencil seemed to be leading me. As I drew, I recognized the face that was coming alive on the paper - Robert De Niro.

Robert De Niro was not my favorite actor, yet here I was drawing his likeness. My pencils outlined his face and the tilt of his head. Suddenly I was done.

As was my habit with all my drawings, I push-pinned him to my wall. “Come, Duke,” I called as I turned out the light.

In the dark a voice answered. “Are you talking to me?”