Following on from what I wrote last week about how coincidences that have happened in real life seem too far-fetched if used in fiction, did you hear about the Chinese zoo where the lion turned out to be the keeper's pet chow-chow dog? It took a small boy to point out that lions didn't bark. The story made me think straight away of Hans Christian Anderson's fairytale, The Emperor's New Clothes. The reason that Anderson got away with such an improbable tale was primarily because readers understood that it was meant as a kind of fable. Its realism was in depicting human nature, not the events it portrayed. Plus, he was a great storyteller.
I also couldn't help wondering how the dog involved felt about his role. I imagined it asking: "What exactly is my motivation for this scene?"
My bichon, Harry, does great polar bear impressions, lying on the carpet with his hindlegs stretched behind him and his head between his front paws. He could stand in as a polar bear cub should the zoo ever need one, apart from one small thing. He would need a clause in his contract that said he wouldn't have to go anywhere near water.