Sprite (Annabelle's Story Part One) by Leigh Michael Page A

barking signified their agreement as they moved into position.
    The first drill was simple enough.
    Adrian instructed me to swim as fast as possible in a straight line a few feet off the ground. Meanwhile, Clemente and Shamus attempted to knock me off track.
    At first, it was just Clemente versus me. I didn’t think it’d be that difficult, but in reality, it was quite challenging. He outweighed me and sent me flying with a quick whip of his tail.
    One time, he hit me straight in the head and I needed a few minutes to regroup. Needless to say, I enjoyed the obstacle course much more than I did Clemente smacking me around.
    Shamus wasn’t much better. He didn’t have the same strength in his tail, so his approach was to push me from above and pin me into the sand. I didn’t know what I disliked more, mouthfuls of sand or uncontrolled somersaults in the water.
    Fortunately, Adrian offered me a break while he worked with Clemente, then Shamus. Watching him helped a little. I noted how he’d use his arms to defend himself. It was similar to how a football player would straighten his arm against a defender. If done correctly, the opponent couldn’t make the tackle.
    Before I knew it, my break was over and it was time for me to train again. This time, Adrian wanted me to fend off both Clemente and Shamus at the same time. I didn’t see how this was going to happen, but my competitive spirit once again took over.
    With this drill, the rules changed a little. We moved higher into the water about thirty yards or so above the sand. I still swam forward, however this time I was allowed to juke and dodge them.
    Swimming was always my forte growing up, but I did try out dance and gymnastics for a few years. I found these elements rather helpful while I tried to escape from the guys.
    In fact, if you set us to music it resembled a graceful performance on stage. Well, except for the times Clemente or Shamus caught me. Then, it looked like a game of Ping-Pong, with me as the ball that passed back and forth between the two paddles. When Clemente and Shamus volleyed me to the point where I was seeing double, Adrian had to cut them off. Fortunately, he also offered to take a turn.
    I hated to admit it, but watching Adrian taught me a few things in this drill as well. He approached things differently. A lot of times I focused only on Clemente, leaving myself open for an attack from Shamus. Adrian managed to watch them both at once, even when they came from opposite directions.
    One time he darted out of the way at the last possible moment, causing the two of them to crash.
    My thoughts: It served them right.
    Before I knew it, I was up again for drill number three. For this one, I remained stationary. And, instead of getting out of their way, my goal was to divert Clemente or Shamus to one side or another.
    Adrian went first this time to demonstrate. Just like the encantado creating a dust circle to entrap the Trackers, another TV show popped into my head.
    It was of a man and his wife or girlfriend, I can’t remember if they were married or not, who raised wolves. In one episode, the guy taught her how to fend off an attack with antlers. The technique involved extending the antlers to make contact with the approaching wolf. Then he’d move the antlers to one side of his body. This caused the wolf to follow the antlers and fly past.
    When it was my turn, I gave the move a try and, to my surprise, it worked. Pretty much every time I pushed the guys to either my right or left.
    Since I did so well Adrian must’ve secretly instructed Shamus to attack right after Clemente. The look on his face was priceless as I fended off the blind attack. I shot him a cocky glance over my shoulder before squaring my shoulders for the next attack.
    After a solid thirty minutes of this last drill, we decided to break to eat. Personally, I thought we should’ve called it a day, but Adrian insisted we do one more drill. I reluctantly agreed, as long as it