UDCFR

Chapter 16

The next day...

Hunter watches as Skye flies in her helicopter. Willow can't fit in the cockpit or passenger seat, so she got a small instructor for Skye; a small, black Scottish terrier with the thickest Scottish accent you have ever heard. He is in a gray leather flight suit. Hunter can hear Skye howling with excitement. He is happy for Skye of course, but he still can't help feeling disappointed for not having a role in the UDCFR team. First, it was tech companies rejecting Hunter, then procrastinating MIT, now it's being left out on a new frontier for dog-kind.

"What's the matter Hunter," Willow surprises Hunter, making him jolt, "moping over not flying like a human child?"

Hunter realizes he has a gloomy face. He shakes of the face and sits straight up, "No mam, nothing about the copter."

Willow scans him with eyes that make Hunter uncomfortable, like she can see your thoughts. After a moment of scanning, Willow says, "Coulson, escort Hunter and I as we take a walk. I trust Targe will give a detailed report when we return." Coulson follows Willow and Hunter as they begin to walk along the downhill road. "What is bothering you, Hunter? I can't have a UDCFR member feeling sorry for himself all the time."

"I don't feel sorry for myself." Hunter says, "Even if I was, how would you know I --" "You have the countenance of someone who treats himself less than." Willow interrupts, "And you had that attitude since we started training a week ago. I have trained many dogs before your team, so I have seen my fair share of negative traits."

It is obvious Willow will not relent until she figures out what Hunter is down about. Hunter breathes deep before speaking, "It is not about the helicopter. It's the fact I will not be in the UDCFR. The six roles have been filled, and I would've had one had the helicopter been the right size. But if Jeff still wants me to stay, what other jobs are there? The only thing I can do is make simple inventions. No tech company, no matter how much effort I put in, will accept my creations, which would make any dog's life easier. Like the Dog Pack, or the voice activated pack. Creating inventions is useful and fun, but I want to do more than what I am doing now."

Silence hangs in the air. Hunter looks at Willow to see her looking forward, still walking. The pearl white lab shows no emotion, which makes Hunter uneasy. "I'm getting the feeling you lack initiation." Willow says, not breaking her forward gaze. Hunter puts on a perturbed look, "I make initiations. I made the choice to join Jeff and leave my childhood home. I made the initiation to study and learn what I know."

"Did you make the initiation to pursue the reason of the tech jobs not hiring you? Have you made the initiation searching for a job within the UDCFR?"

Hunter stops walking and hangs his head with shame, "No."

"Keep moving!" Willow barks at Hunter, "And head up!" Hunter jerks his head up and catches up to Willow. Hunter can sense frustration emitting from Willow. "Why did you not follow up with them after being rejected? Should you have pursued and figured out the reason why they didn't accept you, you probably wouldn't be here. You could have fixed the problem and got hired. You could've been in one of the top tech companies of the world by now. With you skills and intelligence, it would've been possible, dog or not." Willow stops and looks at Hunter for an answer. Shame and embarrassment are the only thing inside Hunter. He has hesitated and shied away every time a life changing opportunity arises. Hunter fears leaving his comfort zone by changing the course of his life, always worried if the next choice could ruin his life or make it better.

Hunter knows what to say, "Because of my lack of initiation, like you said, I stop pursuing opportunities outside of my comfort zone. I let myself accept it for what it is instead of doing something about it. I should've done, not tried."

Willow stares at Hunter, silent. Then a small smile of satisfaction crosses her face, "Correct answer Hunter." Willow continues to walk, back towards the lookout. Hunter continues to walk beside her. Coulson is still behind them, arms behind his back as he walks. "Now tell me," Willow says, "what is one thing you wanted to do, but stopped because of your flaw?"

After a few moments of looking back on his life, Hunter found the biggest thing he dreamed of doing, "When i was ten months old, I had a life goal to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I stopped after finishing high school because I thought it was ridiculous for a dog to go to a human college, let alone a college of that importance."

"Who's to stop you?" Willow says, "You have the skill, the desire to learn and create, and a good moral head on your shoulders. I would suggest you try out for that college."

"But I didn't even take an SAT to qualify--" "Then take the SAT. No more excuses. If there are more challenges on the way, don't stop, solve them and keep going. But most important: Don't try, do."

The trio made it back to he lookout when Skye's helicopter landed. Skye jumps out of the cockpit, more excited than ever. "Did you see that?!" She says to everyone, "I flew a helicopter!" She starts to run in circles, and soon, Chase and Marshall join her. She is still wearing her black leather pants and a pink flight vest, but she won't let that get in her way of playing. The Scottish terrier walks up to Willow, "Aye, the pink lassie did fine work up there. Natural born pilot." Turk says, his thick Scottish accent loud and clear despite his size.

"Good work Turk." Willow says. She turns to Hunter before leaving, "I hope our discussion was not for nothing. You will discipline yourself when setbacks or opportunities come. Do I make myself clear?"

Hunter held his head up high, "Yes mam."

Willow and Turk get inside Coulson's Range Rover and drive off, leaving Hunter to his many thoughts.

Hunter, Willow, and Turk belong to me.

Jeff belongs to ThreadyRumble.

Chase and Marshall belong to Spinmasters.

Coulson belongs to Marvel.