The Corgi Princess’s Streamers of Victory

Welcome to the Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write a story using the words TV, flamenco, midget, toilet paper, dragon.

This week’s piece comes to us from Val Muller, author of the Corgi Capers mystery series. This piece is actually a scene coming from the in-progress Corgi Capers book 4 (slightly modified to fit the prompt). You can learn more about the series at www.corgicapers.com.

The Corgi Princess’s Streamers of Victory

By Val Muller

Sapphie lowered onto all fours, eyeing her people. That box was making noise again. What did they call it, a TV? It usually distracted everyone, but these kids seemed to be paying extra attention to her. She needed them distracted now, now, now! She could see it there through the open bathroom door, the object of her quest: toilet paper.

Glorious.

Chewy.

Pully.

Delicious.

It wasn’t Adam and Courtney. It was the midget, the little one, the one who wasn’t part of the family. What did they call him again? Cousin, that was it. Cousin didn’t have a Sapphie of his own. Cousin only had a Paxton Glen, and that pup was not nearly as cute or amazing as Sapphie. No one was! So of course Cousin couldn’t look away. But it was sure becoming annoying. Sapphie needed a distraction.

Courtney was pushing that thing that made different colors appear on the TV. First, bright, flashy ones. Then, dark, calming ones. Then—a doorbell!

Sapphie, Zeph, and Paxton all skittered on the cold floor toward the front door.

Paws.

Claws.

Howls.

Who, who, who? Sapphie wanted to know. Paxton howled too, his voice becoming more like a corgi’s.

“It’s just on TV,” Adam said over the noise. “Quiet.”

It’s just on TV. Those words were possibly the most disappointing words people ever said. All manner of things were “just on TV.” Cats, dogs, doorbells, beeps, horns.

Still, the command to be quiet was perhaps just what Sapphie needed to regroup for her mission. The people seems calmer now. Cousin was laughing at the commotion. Courtney and Adam had turned back to the TV.

“Oh, look,” Adam said. “A commercial for the new Logan Zephyr film. Let’s watch this one!”

Zeph, hearing his name, trotted over to Adam like the Goody Two Shoes he was. Paxton trotted to the couch, where her hopped up to cuddle with the delighted Cousin. Courtney pulled out her phone.

Sapphie tested the waters, skittering back and forth behind the couch. Like a flamenco dancer, she floated across tiles, eyeing Courtney for a reaction.

None.

She ran to the water dish and dipped her front paws in it, splashing.

No response.

The boys were lost in the TV. The world belonged to Sapphie. She danced her way toward the bathroom, leaving wet pawprints everywhere. And then, next to the toilet, the object of her quandary hung, swaying in the gentle rush of hot air from the heating system.

First, like a mischievous fairy steed of lore, deftly she tiptoed across the tile. Then, like a dragon, she leapt in the air and landed victorious, a soft white square gripped firmly between her teeth. The toilet paper pulled easily off the holder. With no one to stop her, she twisted it around her neck, her collar, her stubby little legs. It just kept coming, a streamer of victory, unending. Her tail wagged a million miles an hour as she ate several pieces of the white fluff.

Yum, yum, yum! she barked, dancing across the floor with her streamers of royalty celebrating her reign as they trailed behind her on the paw-printed floor, reflecting the colorful glow of the television.

 

The Spot Writers—Our Members:

Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/

Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/

Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com

Chiara De Giorgi: https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.com/