Second-Place Sammy

      Sammy always competed in the contest in the summer and the one in the winter. To her dismay, she would always come in second place (and was therefore known as Second-Place Sammy). As the judges said, she was fantastic on the ice, but didn't have the grace and elegance it took to be the best. This time, though, the Bruce had practiced and practiced and was sure it would be different.

      Now all that Sammy could do was wait. She nervously sat there, until she heard a quiet voice. "Good luck," Sammy heard. She spun around and found a white Aisha trembling. "I'm Matilda, and I'm competing too."

      "Hi Matilda. I'm Sammy. Good luck to you to. Are you a beginner?" Sammy asked the Aisha, trying to befriend her.

      "Yeah. I started right after the winter season ended. How about you?"

      "I've been skating for a while. When I was little, I used to come watch the competition, and as soon as I could walk, I learned to skate."

      The Aisha stared at Sammy. "Wow. I guess I don't have a chance," she said, disappointed.

      "Don't say that," the Bruce said, rolling her eyes. "I come in second every year, anyway. My owner calls me Second-Place Sammy." The two continued chatting until a large voice boomed from a nearby speaker.

      "Welcome to the Summer Skating Competition, hosted in Happy Valley."

      Now it was time. "Bye," Sammy said. "We better get going now."

     --

      Wearing her skates, Sammy nervously waited for the announcer to call her name.

      "Presenting today's contestants," the voice boomed. "Our first contestant is, Ashley the Acara." Onto the ice skated a cloud Acara in a blue skating dress. She twirled around the rink once and took her place in the middle.

      "Next, Matilda the Aisha." The Bruce watched as her new friend clumsily skated to her spot. She slowly went around the rink, stumbling, but not falling. Sammy saw her breath a sigh of relief when she safely reached the middle of the rink.

      Sammy waited and waited as the announcer called more names. Nearly ten pets where on the ice, when finally, Sammy's turn came.

      "And last, but certainly not least, we have Samantha, the Bruce." Eagerly, the Bruce twirled onto the ice and elegantly sped around the rink. As she approached the middle, Sammy spun around, and to her dismay, fell flat on her bottom.

      The audience was silent for a moment, until Sammy recognized her owner's chuckle. Then, another giggled broke out, and soon there were roars of laughter. Sammy quickly stood back up, her cheeks burning bright red. The announcer came to her rescue, as he began to introduce the judges.

      "First we have Henry Kacheek," he said, pointing to a short yellow Kacheek. On his right eye he wore an eye glass and looked to be inspecting the contestants.

      "Next, we have the gorgeous Madam Wocky." Madam Wocky was a beautiful blue Wocky dressed in a hat and matching jacket. She smiled at the contestants, making Sammy feel a little better.

      "Lastly, is good 'ol Charles, the Kyrii," the announcer said. The Kyrii was a small and green, and wore a huge woolly hat, almost completely covering his eyes. From what the audience could see of his face, he looked to be scowling at the contestants.

      Sammy, accompanied by her competition, skated over to a private area next to the judges. The Bruce tried to calm herself as she sat down. "I'll do fine," she whispered, trying as hard as she could to believe it.

     --

      And so the contest began. The announcer explained that there were two rounds. Free skate, where the skater had made up and practiced their own routine, and Rink Running, which was just like the game Rink Runner.

      First up in Round One was a nervous Christmas Bori. Hearing her name, she slowly stood up and walked out onto the ice. In preparation, she skated around the rink one or two times, and then told the announcer she was ready.

      The Bori was a fantastic skater. She jumped in the air, twirled about, and never seemed to slow down. Towards the end her routine, she rapidly sped around the rink two times, before spinning in the air three times and taking her place in the center. She bowed as the audience applauded and she existed the rink.

      Sammy watched each contestant, and every time they finished their performance without any difficulties, she sighed. As a graceful faerie Poogle finished her routine without a flaw, the Bruce's heart beat. It was her turn.

      Slowly, and carefully, Sammy glided onto the ice. She nervously took a practice skate around the rink, and then came to center. She nodded, and began her routine.

      The Bruce started out by skating in circles in the middle of the rink. She sped out to one edge of the rink, twirled, and swiftly skated to the other. As her last trick, Sammy made her way to the middle, took a great leap, and spun backwards. She felt her foot slip when she landed, but quickly covered up and skated back to the middle. She took a sigh of relief as she exited.

      She happily watched the last of the performances. When the last skater exited the stage, the announcer spoke again.

      "Now, for a recap of our scores in Round One. Our three judges had given each skater a grade out of 10, and they have been added together."

      Sammy nervously gulped. She took a deep breath and looked up at the announcer.

      "Karla the Bori scored a very impressive 28.5 out of 30," the announcer said, gesturing to the Christmas Bori. She was beaming, and waved to the audience as they applauded.

      The announcer continued announcing scores, until the Bruce heard Matilda's name mentioned.

      "Our first timer, Matilda the Aisha, made us all proud, scoring a very good 26.5!" Sammy looked over at her friend. 26.5 wasn't the best score, but it was great for a beginner!

      "Great job," she whispered. Matilda smiled back, mumbling a thank you.

      Finally, the announcer came to Sammy's score. "Sammy, the Bruce who took a little tumble in our show opening, and is known as Second-Place Sammy, certainly impressed us today. She scored a near to perfect score of 29!"

      Sammy couldn't believe it, she was in first place. As the announcer read the last of the scores, and Sammy only paid attention to see if anyone had beat her score. To her delight, no one had. All she had to do now was to do well at Rink Running, and that was her favorite part of the competition.

      When Round Two began, the Bruce was in her best mood. She was confident she wouldn't be Second-Place Sammy any more. As she watched the first few performances, she saw that most pets fell in water patches pretty early on.

      Much too soon, it was Sammy's turn. She slowly skated back onto the ice. The announcer screamed go and notes started jumping out at her.

      Making sure she wasn't skating onto water, Sammy dove for notes. Carefully avoiding the sharps and flats, the Bruce proudly retrieved as many notes as possible. With only a few left, she soared through the air, trying to grab them all. Unluckily, she uncomfortably landed on the ice and slipped backwards, right into a puddle of water.

      "Oh, dear! It looks like you've fallen into a puddle. Good try." Sammy sadly skated off the ice. When she reached the contestant benches, she sat down, turned away from the rink.

      "I blew it," she told herself angrily. "I just needed to be careful, but I took a big jump and slipped. I wonder if I gave up first place."

      The rest of the skaters performed in Round Two, but Sammy wasn't paying attention. The sad Bruce was sitting in the corner, ignoring everyone. Suddenly, Sammy felt a tap on her shoulder.

      It was Matilda. "Come on, Sammy," she said. "They're about to announce the winners. You probably got first!" Sammy shrugged, but sat down on the bench next to Matilda.

      "Coming in at a stunning third place, Emily the Lenny, with a fantastic score of 56.5 out of 60!" The Lenny skated onto the ice and took a bow, and happily received her third place trophy.

      "Performing spectacularly in Round One, but coming up short in Round Two, is Second-Place Sammy, with a score of 57.5!" The Bruce sighed, and reluctantly skating back out on the ice. She picked up her shiny second place trophy and smiled.

      Sammy glared at the rest of her competitors, wondering who had beaten her. "And just beating Miss Sammy by not even one whole point, is Ashley the Acara, coming in first with a score of 58." The Bruce watched the Acara glide onto the ice and smile at everyone. She happily held up her huge trophy.

      "Now, place your trophies down and take a victory skate." The three winners did as they were told and gracefully skated around the ice. Sammy shrugged, a little disappointed. As they finished their lap, Sammy picked up her trophy.

      "Good job," she told Emily and Ashley. The two congratulated her back and they existed out of the front entrance. Sammy followed them and looked for her owner in a sea of Neopians.

      Seeing a familiar face with blond hair, Sammy carefully wobbled to her owner. "Jess!" she yelled, trying to get her attention.

      "There's my superstar," the girl said, turning around. She picked the Bruce up and gave her a big hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

      For a moment, Sammy considered saying "for what", but then she smiled. "Thanks. At least I protected my title!" The Bruce held her owners hand as they left the rink. Happily they started walking home.

      "At least," Sammy began, "there's always the winter contest to look forward to." Jess gave her pet another big hug as they spotted their Neohome in the distance.

The End