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“Please introduce yourself to the judges,” the woman with the clipboard said.
“Hello, I’m Lisa and this is my dog, Mariposa. We’re both from Connecticut.” She smiled brightly. Her hair was slicked back into a bun so tight, Keaton thought it was a miracle she could still blink.
“What are you going to show us in your allocated minute?” Alvin asked. “Something tells me you’re going with a dancing theme.”
“That’s right. Mariposa and I compete in Canine Freestyle Dancing. I’ve created a very short routine to show off her skills.”
“Great.” Isla clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait to see. Play the music.”
Some classical piano music played through a speaker and the sound was tinny, echoing off the high walls of the hall. It seemed to make it hard for Lisa to follow the beat, and the dog, taking her cues from her owner, struggled to follow instructions. The dog was cute—with a fluffy white body and mostly black head and ears—but she seemed a bit overwhelmed. There were a few times when it was clear she didn’t know exactly what was going on and Lisa hissed the instructions repeatedly. Toward the end, they found a groove and the dog wove through her owner’s legs effortlessly, her feather duster tail wagging with glee.
When the music came to a stop, Molly made a snorting sound.Amateurs.
Keaton had to stop himself from telling the husky not to judge, because he was still prepared for the dog to go all “selective hearing” on him. Although he had to admit, it eased his worries a little to see that maybe notallthe contestants were as perfectly trained as he’d first thought. After asking a few questions, the judges bid Lisa and Mariposa farewell, and asked them to wait outside until the results were tallied.
The next few contestants went through the same schedule —a brief introduction, a one-minute spotlight of the animal’s talents, more questions at the end and instructions to wait for results.
“Could Keaton and Molly please come through?”
“Let’s go,” Keaton said to Molly. “Are you going to do my sister proud? I sure hope so.”
Molly’s side-eye—which had been solidly at “turn a man to stone” status for the last twenty-four hours—didn’t fill him with confidence. As Keaton walked toward the floor, he heard the other contestants talking quietly amongst themselves.
“...looks familiar? Reminds me of that guy who played Superman.”
“...disaster waiting to happen. Did youseethat dog outside?”
“...something tells me he’s a plant... Too handsome for this...”
He shut the opinions out and walked calmly toward the judges, who greeted him warmly. When he explained he was there with Molly to help his sister out, everyone made anawwsound. Hopefully the friendly reception would put the husky at ease.
“Okay, please take the floor.” Isla gestured for him to get started with their series of tricks.
The lenses of the cameras made sweat bead along Keaton’s hairline. Earlier that morning, just after breakfast, they’d been required to sign release forms. Even though the cameras were there to focus on Isla’s business and her quest to find a hot new client they could mold into a social media superstar, they were taking loads of footage of the competition...and Keatonreallydidn’t like being the center of attention.
But his gut told him it would take a certified miracle to make it out of the first round. Perhaps it would be a blessing to be released from this personal hell.
“Ready?” he said under his breath to Molly, who was sitting regally by his side. Then he looked back at the judges, who were all waiting eagerly.
Keaton felt a stab of self-consciousness—which was something he hadn’t felt for a long time. Not since he was the poor kid in the fancy private school where he didn’t belong. Standing with lights shining on him, he had that same feeling of not belonging.
Curse you, Leah. Why am I such a sucker?
“Okay, Molly. Let’s see how many different tricks we can do in sixty seconds.” He waited for the woman keeping time to hit the stopwatch.
“Go!” she said.
“Molly, up.” He started with something simple and the dog mercifully did as she was asked, standing up. “Shake.”
He held out his hand and the husky looked at him, then at his hand, then back at him again. Then, because it was clear the husky wasnotgoing to let him be the one in charge, she turned in a circle.
“Okay, so we’re turning. Now, drop down.” He pointed to the floor like August had shown him this morning, using his most commanding voice. But Molly didn’t want to drop down, instead she sat back on her hind legs and brought her front paws up as if begging for a treat. “This isn’t funny, girl. Drop.”
The dog landed back down on all four paws, but instead of getting down on her belly, she put her paw up to shake. There was a giggle from the judges’ table, and while not unkind, Keaton felt his cheeks go red.
“Sing,” he commanded.
This time Molly dropped to the ground. Oh yeah, she wasreallyfucking with him.
