The Trophy of Champions by Cameron Stelzer Page B

anything that really mattered.
    That was before the games, Whisker thought sadly. Now there are three sisters and a string of failures to complicate things …
    Pulling himself together, he tried to say something sincere. ‘Good luck, Ruby. Dive well.’
    Without meeting his gaze, Ruby pointed to the southern pier.
    â€˜I think that’s for you,’ she murmured.
    Whisker turned his attention to the large crowd standing along the pier’s edge. To the left of the judges hung an enormous red banner. Stretched tightly between two posts, its huge gold letters were as clear as day: WHISKER RULES THE WAVES. Standing behind the banner, wearing red, black and gold face paint, were Aphrodite, Athena and Hera. They let out a cheer when they spotted Whisker staring in their direction.
    â€˜Shiver me Whisker!’ Horace exclaimed. ‘Could they make that banner any bigger? Each letter is larger than my entire body.’
    â€˜I-I had no idea,’ Whisker said, turning back to Ruby. But all he saw was a three-legged pug wearing floaties – Ruby was gone.
    The opening round of Plank Diving was a slow and slippery process. Many of the contestants suffered from vertigo when they reached the top of the tower, calling for considerable encouragement from Chatterbeak to coax them down. Despite their thirst for victory, the Cat Fish were afraid to get their paws wet and flatly refused to participate.
    The majority of dives followed the predictable pattern of three bounces, an attempted somersault and a splash-landing. There were, however, several failed back flips, an ill-timed synchronised dive by two penguins and the biggest of all bomb dives by Fred, earning him a standing ovation from the soaked supporters and three straight sevens from the judges.
    Whisker commenced his campaign with a routine announced eloquently by Chatterbeak as ‘ a forward dive with two somersaults in a tuck position.’
    Standing on the end of the plank, with the cheering crowd beneath him, Whisker felt like he was back at the circus. He’d never been an official performer in the big top, but he’d swung from the trapeze and somersaulted into the safety net often enough to know what big moments were all about. Today the attention was on him.
    He touched the gold anchor pendant hanging around his neck – not for luck, but for memories, and began his approach. With three steps and a leap he was airborne. He tucked his legs close to his body, somersaulted twice and straightened up. His body sliced through the calm surface of the ocean like a pin. Only his tail left the smallest of splashes.
    Invigorated by the freshness of the ocean, he kicked his legs and his body rose through a shower of bubbles. He emerged from the surface of the water to see Mama Kolina and Papa Niko applauding and the judges raising score cards of nine, eight, and eight .
    Nothing to brag about , he thought, a little annoyed with his tail. Let’s hope it’s enough to get me through …
    With a large number of threes, fours and fives being handed out by the judges, Whisker finished in third place and progressed to the final with two toads and one marmoset. The surprise performer of the event was Jester Mimp. The mumbling marmoset had removed the bells from his jester’s hat and tied them to his toes before his dive. The result was a comical musical routine culminating in a triple spin, which earned him the first ten of the event.
    Ruby finished in fifth place with a backwards two-and-a-half somersaults dive. Her aerial performance was exquisite but she entered the water at a slight angle, losing vital points from two of the judges. Her disappointment, coupled with Whisker’s success, did nothing to help their already strained relationship. Whisker made an effort to say something encouraging, but Ruby was whisked away with the other failed competitors before he could get past, ‘Fifth is hardly a result to be ashamed