Born to Race

Chapter 9

Shadow and Silver greeted each other in the early morning, wagging their tails and sniffing. Yesterday Snowy and several others had left to go to the races. Shadow and Smokey were left, and so were Silver and Sasha.

The woman came back with her daughter and hung out with the dogs. She fed them daily and they no longer went hungry. The girl played with Smokey and Shadow the most. Because Silver didn't like children.

"Human children would throw rocks at me when I was a pup and lived on the streets. I don't trust them," Silver had said to Shadow and Smokey. The female greyhound had growled at the girl twice, warning her to stay away. Of course the little human left her alone. Playing with the other two instead.

Shadow hung out with Silver the whole day, They enjoyed playing and sleeping in the sun. At night they gazed up at the stars and the moon. Howling like their wild ancestors the wolves. Smokey and Sasha would join in too, and it was fun.

The next morning The Boss returned with none of the dogs. He sat on a chair outside and smoked something which smelled like fire and other weird things.

"What's The Boss doing back here so early?" Shadow asked Sasha.

"Sometimes he comes back to see if we have bred yet, or he just wants to," Sasha replied.

Shadow looked over at Silver who was on heat. The female dog would not let him near her behind if he tried. Shadow did not want to mate with her, he hardly knew her.

The master left later that day with the girl. They were going to see the first race.

~

Snowy stood in the dark box, anxiety filled her. The race was about to start. The other boxes had dogs in them that the white she-dog had never met. She had only seen them once, barking in the cages. Snowy knew this was her moment, she had been training, running, and she had been yelled at. Now was her time to race. As she was born to do.

A gun was fired and the boxes were opened. Greyhounds ran out as fast as lightning. Tiger and Falcon were among them. So Snowy was not alone. They were chasing after a rabbit, a live one. The dogs were all determined to catch the rabbit. Snowy almost felt bad. But her instincts made her want to chase it.

"Careful not to crash on the bends!" Falcon warned Snowy.

"Okay!" Snowy barked back.

A bend was coming up. Tiger and greyhound number seven were in front. Snowy's blood roared and her legs moved faster. Then suddenly Tiger crashed into number seven. Snowy skidded to a halt as the two dogs thudded onto the dirt.

"Tiger!" Snowy cried out.

She stood next to him and nudged his shoulder. The old brindle greyhound looked up at her. His head was bleeding and he looked like he was in pain. The Boss and another man came running down from the stands. They went over to the dogs.

"You failed! I shouldn't have picked you!" the other man screamed at number seven.

"My best greyhound is gone now, because of your dog," The Boss glowered at the man in the black coat. "I keep Falcon for only a few months, so now I'm no longer going to have a champion soon."

Falcon understood only his name and his ears pricked. The girl ran onto the track and bent down to stroke Tiger. Her father continued arguing with number seven's owner.

"It's not the dogs' fault! It's cruel that you don't even treat them properly!" the girl butted in.

Both men looked at her, angry and disappointed. Snowy and Falcon were led off the track. Tiger and number seven were taken elsewhere and the other greyhounds continued the race.

Snowy laid down inside her cage in the dog building. Tiger was gone and she didn't know where. The Boss was angry, he was probably still arguing with number seven's owner. But it didn't matter, the whole day had gone wrong.

~

The next day there was another race. Snowy was left in the cage while Tan was taken to the track. Falcon barked, not wanting another packmate to get hurt. But both dogs could do nothing about it.

Later, the boy named Michael snuck in to see them. He crouched down and patted Snowy. Then he opened both the dogs' cages. Falcon and Snowy were both confused, looking up at the human to ask what was going on. The boy stepped aside and told them to go. The dogs wagged their tails and sprinted out of the building. They heard the sound of people cheering as they ran into the forest. Escaping at last.