The greyhound dream

Chapter 1

"When do you think I'll get out there?" Storm asked.

"Oh Chasing The Storm, so naive, probably maybe once of twice, but that'll be far in the future. We dogs are bound by these men, doesn't matter if you've got talent, unless they pick you you're useless," Rocks On The Bank barked.

"Haha, no way Rocks On The Bank! I've young and spry they've got to test me soon!" Storm smiled.

"Rocky kid, that's my racing name, and I don't think I'll ever race again," Rocky growled.

"Stop being so down Rocky! We'll get out there someday, I just know it," Storm optimistically barked.

Storm heard Rocky shuffle in his cage. He knew the conversation was over, Storm impatiently chewed a chew Kong. All dogs in the kennels got them, Though they were low quality and tasted foul Storm was glad he had the toy. The door creaked open, then slammed shut. Two men chatted and pointed at dogs. Storm excitedly stood up from where he was laying down. He pawed at the cage and barked. The men stopped at his cage. They discussed something, then one man wrote something down, and they left again. Storm sighed and chewed on his Kong again.

"Told ya," Rocky sneered.

Storm raised his head, even if he'd never know the dog he spent his time talking to, Storm knew he was a sly dog.

"Well, that's just once that they've come, just you wait Rocky," Storm mumbled.

He eventually fell into a deep sleep, that was awoken hours later by the door slamming shut. A tall man with a black hat stormed into the room and unlocked a cage. Storm began to bark uncontrollably, he whined and pawed at the cage. The man took the dog in the first kennel away, then he came back and took the next. Finally, the man unlocked Rocky's cage.

"Haha guess you were right kid! Better stretch those limbs before you run!" He cheerfully barked.

Time felt as if stopped altogether. Storm waited for what felt like forever until Rocky and the man burst back into the kennel. Rocky was shoved back into his cage, whilst the man attached a muzzle and lead into Storm. Then a dream came true for Storm, he was pulled out of his cage and tugged outside. Storm's eyes adjusted to the new light, he saw a large ring and a couple of men and woman sitting on benches by the ring. The man directed Storm into the ring, then closed the gate. He took off Storm's lead and put him in a small kennel.

"Okay Martha, Ben, these are just some kennel mutts again, the real show comes when I've tested em' all," he yelled, "here goes Chasing The Storm, Eyes On The Prize, and On The Line!"

The door opened, Storm began to run. It only took 5 long strides to reach his full speed. For moments it felt as if he was running on air. He heard paw steps increasing behind him. A brindle greyhound with a short snout for a greyhound was almost passing him. Storm let out a muffled growl, he tried to push himself farther. He felt his energy draining, but he flew past the smug face of the brindle. Storm let his tongue loll out of his mouth as he raced towards the rabbit. Then he saw the line that marked when the race finished. Storm flew past the line. He turned and saw how much far he was from the other dogs. Adrenaline flowed in his blood. The man hooked his lead on and attached him onto a post. The smug brindle dog got attached to the post on his right. The third dog was put back in the kennel. On Storm's left was 8 other posts, 2 were occupied with other greyhounds.

"Good job out there! You were really fast!" The dog on his left smiled.

"Only past me by a stride, next time I'll win," the smug brindle retorted.

"Haha, no way! I'm gonna win all the races I'm in!" Storm laughed.

"I'm being serious, dummy, I'm gonna win kid," the brindle growled.

"Hackles down you two!! I'm Flying Colors! You can just call me Fly though," the dog beside Storm barked.

"I'm Eyes On The Prize," the brindle mumbled.

"I'm Chasing The Storm, but I go by Storm," Storm barked.

"That's The Lights Go Out, but she's shy and doesn't talk much," Fly smiled.

Storm laid down by his pole, he knew Eyes On The Prize was watching him. On his first day racing Storm had already made enemy's, and friends. A little while later he felt Fly nudge him awake. His soft hazel eyes were excited, yet calm.

"Alright Storm it's time to race again soon, this is the last practice," he smiled.

"Really!! I'm so excited!" Storm barked, jumping to his feet.

There were more dogs at the poles now, only 1 was left. Fly smiled and introduced Storm to them.

"Farthest one from you is Dutch Steed, next is Willows on the boat, then by The lights go out is Dancing in the Rain," the white greyhound smiled.

The man didn't attach another dog to the poles, he simply put a coat that read 8 on the dog and put it the eighth kennel. Then he took Dutch Steed and put a coat that said 7 on him, and put him into the seventh kennel. He did the same for every dog. Storm was number 2, but he was sure he'd come number 1 in the race. There was more people on the stands now, the stadium was full to the brim.

"Alright everyone!! Ready for an amazing greyhound race? We've got the best dogs in the kennels here!" A voice boomed, "haha most bets are on Eyes On The Prize!! Place your bets in the stand over there everyone!"

Storm impatiently waited in his kennel. The voice on the megaphone talked some more until Storm heard the familiar words.

"3... 2... 1... Go!!!"

The kennel door flung open, Storm let his paws take control, and zoomed into the ring. Fly's friendly face was at his side, and Eyes On The Prize on the other. He saw the smug brindle pushing himself to the limit, to get in front of Storm. But Storm wouldn't let that happen, he did the same, leaving Fly and Prize behind. He was racing for 1st place against The Lights Go Out. They weren't as competitive as Storm would be if it was Prize, but he deeply wanted to prove his worth to the men. Prize was gaining on them, slowly but steadily he was advancing. Storm grunted and ran a little faster. He was now in the lead, but dogs were close on his behind. Storm saw the finish line approaching. He ran as hard as he could, and flew past the line. The crowd went wild. Light was second, and Prize third.

"You're pretty fast Storm!" Light smiled.

"They say I storm the track right to the finish," Storm joked.

"I just haven't ran in awhile! Next time I'll beat you!" Prize growled.

"Good luck!" Storm growled at his new found rival.

Then the man grabbed Storm and cheered some words Storm didn't understand. He attached a lead and dragged him back into the kennel.

"Good boy, maybe I'll work on training you more Storm," the man said patting Storm's head.

Storm panted and licked the man's hand. He put Storm back in his kennel and left.

"Hey, Storm you were gone long! How was the race?" Rocky asked.

"Amazing Rocky! I won!" Storm excitedly barked.

"Well Storm that means you'll get trained and be in more races, good job at achieving your dreams kid," Rocky sighed.

"Really!! I'm so excited!" Storm howled.

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Hey guys!! Hope you enjoyed my first chapter on my book on Storm!! Anyways if you're wondering why the greyhounds have odd names it's because racing dogs have 'full names'

Anyways I'll also be doing a series on a dog named Twist, I've got 30,000 words on my computer but I haven't got time to go on the wattpad website yet, but this'll probably become my main series. I might do a series with humans too.