Fly

Wow!

"Breeze, tha...that was incredible! Why do you think you need to improve?" I questioned the Border Collie now sat before me. "I couldn't see anything that needed improvement". My words seemed to make her smile, for a moment anyway, before her face once again showed the look of uncertainty it had before. "All we did today was a line of jumps with a tunnel! It wasn't very hard. And my problem is with the contacts and weaves, and when my owner is there I get distracted really easily". She looked terrified as she opened up to me. I wondered what had caused this behaviour from her. She seemed so strong, but yet before my eyes, she lay broken and weak in the sand of the agility ring. I was determined to help her, no matter what.

Far off in the distance the bell signalling the end of lunch could be heard. We turned to face each other and nodded;we should get back to the dorm. We both had a drink from the water bowls they leave at the entrance to each ring and left the agility fields. We made our way back past 'the block' and the flyball courses, heading to the entrance of our dorm building.

We made our way down the long corridor, past the common room, the door leading to the main school and a few of the downstairs dorm rooms. Trotting up the stairs, we found ourselves on the first floor looking down another corridor. Our room was right at the end on the left. "Race you there!" Breeze said mischievously, obviously reading the look glinting in my eyes. "Fine. Winner gets to pick one of the losers toys. Ready.... Set..... GO!!" It was just like when we were outside at the flyball course. Only this time, I won.

We burst into our room in fits of laughter. What was funny I didn't know but it felt good being able to just be myself with Breeze. She too seemed happy around me. I thought for a minute and decided I would ask her why she was scared of talking to me, of letting me help her. "Breeze, you know you can trust me right? " I started. "Don't be afraid to talk to me. I won't make fun of you or treat you any differently".

"Do you really want to know?" I nodded and placed my paw over hers in a comforting way. "I was born at a puppy farm and taken away from my mother at a really young age. My owners came along and brought me with the sole intention that I would become a champion agility dog. No matter what I had to do to get there. I've seen them do terrible things to other dogs in order for me to win. The person that used to handle me for my owners walked out one day, he said he couldn't do it anymore, that what we were doing was wrong. I was given to Lily so she could be my handler and my owners paid a lot of money to get us here. Last year I was sharing a room with a dog that used to tease me. Saying that I was no good at anything, and that I should just leave the school. And then I met you".

I could see tears in her eyes as she told me why she had been so reluctant to talk to me earlier. She had had a rough life for sure. I could easily sympathise with her, except for the owner part. I reassuringly placed my head on hers and she leaned in me in return. "It'll be okay Breeze. I promise".

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"Storm I'm back!" My girl was home!! I rushed off the chair and sprinted over to the door. She was indeed standing by the door, obviously waiting for me to run to her. "Did y' miss me, boy?" 'Of course I did, you're my girl', I thought to myself. She seemed to understand me though. We had a connection, my girl and I. "Did you and Breeze do anything interesting?" She asked. I proceeded to tell her all about my day, minus what Breeze had told me of course.

"How about you, me, Lily and Breeze head down to the agility fields, huh? We could put in a few runs before dinner". I wagged my tail wildly in response and headed over to the door. Through the corner of my eye I could see Breeze greeting Lily in a similar way before she too spun around with excitement and headed toward me and the door. "We're doing agility!" She squealed!

For the third time today I entered the agility field, this time at the heels of my girl. I was told to lay down, as was Breeze, while the girls set up and walked a course. "Hey, mind if we join you?" A voice called from behind us. Lily turned around and smiled. "No, of course not. We'll show you the course". Two boys walked in leading a dog each. They put their dogs in a stay next to Breeze and patted her on the head.

"Hey Breeze!" The one with light brown hair and blue eyes said. "And who's this then?" He continued as he walked over to me.
"I think he belongs to Poppy, you know, the new girl". The other boy answered.
"No way! That's Storm. The dog who won Crufts". The brown haired boy exclaimed.

All the time they were talking I just stared at my girl with a 'please save me' expression covering my face. Who were these people? And why wouldn't they get out of my face? It was kinda creepy. After leaving me to struggle for at least 5 minutes, my girl finally stepped in to help me. "Hello. My name is Poppy and I see you've already met Storm" she smiled at the two boys.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Joseph, but everyone calls me Joe" the boy with the brown hair replied.
"And I'm Tom" the other boy answered.

They went off to walk the course leaving us 4 dogs together. Joe's dog was a Red Merle Border Collie called Cooper. Tom's dog was also a Border Collie but he was black and white and quite clearly the oldest one among us. His name was Elvis. They both obviously knew Breeze and were surprisingly welcoming of me, even though they had never met me.

Once our handlers had finished walking the course and discussing the best way to approach certain elements of the course, they all came back and claimed the right dog. Joe and Cooper went first. They were fairly new to agility and it showed in their run. They were much better at obedience and working trials but had recently decided to try agility. We all clapped when they finished their run; for a dog who had only been training for 5 months they were really good.

Next to go were Lily and Breeze. I winked at her as she walked past me; she wagged her tail in acknowledgement. Their round went really well, but like Breeze had said earlier, her weaves did need work. Other than that it was near perfection.

After Lily and Breeze was Tom and Elvis. His experience showed in his run and they performed a clear, but slightly slow, round. Lastly, it was my girl and I. The others had wanted us to go last. I'm not too sure why but it was fine by me. I quickly prepared myself and focused on my girl. We flew effortlessly round the course and finished to a round of applause, not only from Lily, Joe and Tom, but a growing crowd of other students at the school.

They began to disperse after we had completed our run but a few remained, hoping to meet my girl and I. I sat proudly while one person after another came to me and gave me a fuss. As the last few people left, a man strode across the field, authority oozing from every step. Breeze turned to me. "That's Mr. Griffiths, the head agility coach". Had I done something wrong? The way he strode across to me it certainly seemed like I had.

"You must be Poppy" he said confidently to my girl. "And this little fella must be the infamous Storm. That was a nice run at Crufts. My dog came in fourth overall". I looked up at my girl who seemed shocked to receive such praise from a champion handler. She managed to stammer a 'thank you' and Mr. Griffiths walked away with the same authoritative manor he had brought with himself only minutes ago.

Joe turned to me and my girl and simply said "wow!"

A/N
Picture is Elvis!
Comment, vote!
Bye
Storm xx