Millie's Flying Disk

By LightBlueYoshi

It was another bright and beautiful morning in the park in the mountains. Millie, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, made a perfect flying leap to catch her bright blue disc. +

Except when she tried to grab it, it bounced out of her mouth. Again.

"Hahaha!" the mean Pomeranian, Holly, laughed. She was all white and fluffy with a sparkly golden collar. "You still can't catch a disc! What kind of dog can't catch a disc?"

Millie dived for the disc and returned it to her owner. She picked it up and threw it again. Millie leaped for it, but the disc flew right past her mouth.

Holly continued laughing. "I bet even a cat, of all things, could catch a disc better than you!"

Millie turned to Holly. "And I suppose you're perfect at catching discs?" She sarcastically said.

Holly smiled and proudly stood tall. "Indeed. In fact, my owner is taking me to a flying disc competition today! I'm sure to win the $10,000 prize!"

Millie stared at her. That was a lot of money!

The sun flashed off of Holly's collar and into Millie's eyes. As she squinted, she wondered if it was made of actual gold. Millie's plain blue collar was shabby compared to it.

Holly's owner was very rich. They had a huge mansion, and Holly was the only pet, meaning she had everything to herself.

Millie was also the only pet, but her owner was far from rich. They lived in a very tiny, old house that hadn't had repairs in many years. Millie didn't get the luxury Holly received, but still loved her owner.

Holly smirked and walked off to her owner.

Millie tried to catch her disc again.

She only caught it twice, and never while jumping.

To make her already bad day worse, Millie was worried for her owner.

She watched her in concern. Her owner seemed stressed as she stared at her small, old computer's screen. Several papers were scattered next to it.

When one of them fell, Millie went to it.

A dog catching a disc in mid-air was on the cover, and in big words it announced "BIG FLYING DISC COMPETITION! ALL DOGS ACCEPTED! $10,000 GRAND PRIZE!"

Holly had been telling the truth! But why would her owner have this? Millie could barely catch a disc...

Her owner stood up. "Let's go." She said.

Millie was puzzled. Go where? They had just returned from the park.

They got in the car and drove for a while. Millie watched the mountains go by. Finally, they stopped at a outdoor area that looked a little bit like the park, but she didn't recognize it.

Her owner put her harness and leash on before walking her to the place. A crowd was gathered around a grassy area. Millie saw a poster with the dog catching the disc and she realized they were at the disc competition!

After talking with several people, Millie's owner brought her to the beginning of the grassy area.

To her dismay, she heard a sneer and saw Holly. "Of all the dogs I was expecting to see, it most certainly hadn't been you!"

"My owner brought me here--"

Holly cut her off. "Ha! I know why now! You two are greedy little losers! Only here for the money, instead of to show true skill you worked hard for! Not that you'll ever be good enough to actually catch a disc even if you tried!"

That's when Millie realized what was going on. Her owner needed the disc competition's grand prize, and it was up to her to win! +

Millie felt anxious. She was bad at catching discs...but what would it mean to her owner if she lost?

Holly opened her mouth to speak some more, but a voice interrupted her. It was the commentators for the competition. They mentioned Millie and Holly were the last dogs in the competition and were competing against each other for the most points. The dog currently in first place, a black Labrador Retriever, had gotten a score of 15 points. The farther away the dogs could catch a disc, the more points they would earn. A jump catch added an extra point.

A large screen near the commentators showed images of Millie and Holly. It was to keep track of the points they scored and the time they had left.

"Good luck... losing!" Holly sneered before the minute-long timer began.

Both Millie and Holly's owners threw their discs. Just like Holly's collar, Holly's disc looked like pure gold.

Millie made herself focus on the disc flying in front of her. The disc got closer and closer to the ground. She finally dived for it, sure she would catch it.

It bounced off her nose. She watched as it went for the ground.

But then, right before it could land, she bit into it.

Holly had just done a perfect jump catch farther away.

"Four points for Millie! She narrowly saved it there! And with a beautiful jumping catch, Holly earns seven points!"

Holly was already ahead! Both dogs raced to return the discs to their owners.

"You might as well give up now!" Holly called at her as soon as her disc was out of her mouth.

Millie finally had enough of Holly trying to make her day worse. "No! I won't give up!" She spoke up as both discs were thrown again.

Holly was so caught off guard, she fell behind her disc.

Millie tried to catch hers again. It landed on her head, and this time it was too late to catch it.

"Oh! A miss!" The second commentator exclaimed. "Holly seems a little behind...she's catching up...and a normal catch for four points!"

Millie ran as fast as she could back to her owner.

"Forty seconds left on the clock! There's still plenty of time!" The first commentator announced.

Millie knew doing a good jump catch in the six-point range was her best chance to catch up with Holly. That is, if Holly somehow missed a throw.

She ran for her disc and took the risk. She jumped in the air...and missed.

Millie managed to grab the disc before it hit the ground, earning four points. Holly scored five from another jump catch.

"20 seconds left!" the first commentator said. "Not much time left now!"

While Millie had only scored eight points, Holly already had sixteen.

They wouldn't earn the money, Millie realized in dismay.

Maybe Holly's right...maybe I should just give up...

As Millie returned her disc she became aware of Holly, who had her disc thrown again, slowing down despite the disc still flying fast.

Holly didn't seem to be tired at all. But she couldn't possibly be slowing down on purpose...

Millie watched in disbelief as Holly made no attempt to catch the disc. She let it fall to the ground.

"Miss!" The second commentator declared. "That's no good...the timer's down to ten seconds!"

The audience counted down the seconds.

Holly gave Millie a look. It was a look that said Go, do it!

If Millie caught the disc in the ten-point range somehow, they would beat Holly.

"Five...four...three" the audience chanted.

"Are you ready for this?" Millie's owner asked.

"Yes!" Millie barked in return.

Her owner threw the disc a lot farther than before.

"It's the final throw!" the first commentator exclaimed. "Looks like they're aiming for ten points! It all comes down to this! Can she do it?!"

Millie ran after it with all her might, and before she realized it, she was jumping through the air.

Time seemed to slow down for her as her jaws came down on the disc, right in the ten-point range. Disc in her mouth, she landed on the ground.

The crowd cheered. The winning score was eighteen points for Millie!

They won! Millie barked and jumped in joy. They had really won the grand prize!

Millie's owner was so happy, Millie knew she'd be wagging her tail if she had one.

But there was something Millie needed to know. She turned and went over to Holly.

"Holly..." Millie began. "I...I know you did that on purpose. Not catching the disc. But...why? You would have won."

Holly looked at her with a small smile, but it wasn't mean in any way. "I just...well...I know you need the money much more than we do."

Millie was surprised. The rich, stuck-up Holly not only lost on purpose...but was saying this.

"Thank you. We really appreciate it."

Holly started back to her owner. She turned to look at Millie once more. "Good luck, Millie. For real, this time. And sorry for the...being mean to you thing."

Millie watched her go, a smile on her face. It was a great surprise to end what started as a bad day of failing to catch her disc. Not only had Millie won the competition for her owner, but Holly let her win...and apologized.

Maybe Holly wasn't such a bad dog after all.