If they had given prizes for silliness at the Wentworth Park Games Day maybe Emmylou would have won something.
Ever since Åsa realised Emmylou could run fast, she wanted Emmylou to run for Glebe at the Wentworth Park Games, where the dogs of Glebe compete against the dogs from Pyrmont/Ultimo.
Åsa was so excited the morning of the games she didn't even go to yoga, and it was her favourite class. Instead she made a delicious lunch and picked up Georgina, and they got to the games nice and early. Åsa was really excited to walk out onto the dog track. Usually only greyhounds are allowed.
They had a couple of practice runs, with Georgina holding Emmylou and Emmy racing towards Åsa when she called her. Emmy looked great, she had lots of speed.
They started with the small dog races. It was hilarious with little dogs darting back and forth and running in circles, or doubling back to the start line. Åsa and Georgina laughed and laughed.
But when it was Emmylou's turn, she acted like a total flibbertigibbet.
As Åsa walked away from the start line, Emmy started barking and twisting around and carrying on. Poor Georgina could hardly hold her, and Emmylou lost sight of Åsa. The starter had a microphone and he just kept on talking and talking, which apparently is what men do when you give them a mike. Georgina, who is usually very well-mannered, hissed at the man, "just start the race".
Well, when he said "go" Emmylou didn't know what to do, so she just trotted along with the pack. Near the end she spotted Åsa. Just as she took off, the biggest, brownest staffie you have every seen whumped into her, breaking her stride.
The staffie won and Emmylou came second. That's right, Emmylou was beaten by a staffie!! Only the winners of the heat could run in the finals so that was that for Emmylou. Åsa was so disappointed, but silly Emmylou did not care.
Emmylou's friends, Tully and Sascha, and her BFF Laila all won their heats and ran in the final, and everyone knows Emmylou is faster than those three. In the end, the winner was a dog no-one knew.
The next day down at the park, the rumour spread that the winner was not from Glebe at all but from Newcastle! Åsa was dubious, she doesn't believe rumours as a matter of principle, but she met someone who knew the dog and its people. The dog, with its child, was visiting their granny in Glebe that day. They went for a walk and saw all the people and dogs heading to Wentworth Park and followed them in. When they saw there was a race, they thought it would be fun to enter.
So, said Åsa, I trained Emmylou and had such high hopes for her, but the winner just turned up, by chance, that morning. There is a moral there, she said. Maybe there is, but I can't see it.
That evening, when Emmylou was telling me about her day, she said "I was the fastest dog in the park". "No you weren't," I said, "you were beaten by a staffie". Emmy scoffed and said, "I am talking about when I was running around in the middle with Laila and Sascha, they couldn't catch me". I guess they couldn't.
Georgina is working on their strategy for next year. I think Åsa is just hoping Emmylou will grow up.
P.S. This morning down at the park we saw the brown staffie, running along behind its person. Emmylou ran along with it for a bit, always keeping her nose in front. She jumped clear over the staffie twice while they were running, and still kept comfortably ahead. She is such a show off, so perhaps it is just as well she didn't win. Imagine how full of herself she would have been if she won, and how much of a job I would have had trying to keep her in check.
That's it for now,
Clancy