Little Drummer Dog. (12)

By Wolfie Steel.

We arrive back at the hotel just in time for dinner, but at this moment in time I don't feel very much like eating, all the way back to the hotel I was thinking what extra we could use to seal our place in the final, and it is just as the bus pulls up at the hotel entrance that an idea strikes me. For now I do not tell the rest of the guys what I am planning I just head silently towards the room that we have been given to practice in.

Once I am at the room I enter and then lock the door behind me, I walk over to the computer and fire it up, as it boots up I go through my planned song in my head, now if only I can find it on my memory stick and perform the beat as close to the original as I can then I will be one happy mutt.

With the computer now up and running I slip my memory card into the card reader and then open the file, after a few moments of searching I hit pay dirt, "You Win Again" by the Bee Gees, this song if performed well should give us the edge that we need in the semi's but damn it is going to take us all night to perfect it.

I practice the song over and over for three hours straight, finally I am happy that I have done the beat justice, I mean hell I know that I will never be as good as the original but hopefully I will be able to make a decent representation of it.

Just as I am walking away from the drum kit there is a knock at the door, I open the door and I am met by Steve's sexy features.

"Sam hon, we missed you at dinner, please don't tell me that you have been here all this time?"

I nod gently.

"Steve I have been working on the beat of the song that I believe will blow Sound as a Hound out of the water for good"

Steve shakes his head a little but I see a soft smile on his muzzle.

"Sweetheart, this competition though we have a lot riding on it, it isn't worth making yourself hungry and maybe sick for, but have you got it to how you like it?"

I nuzzle Steve's shoulder a little.

"I have babe, but you are going to go ballistic when you find out what I have planned"

Steve sits on a stool that is close to the drum kit and looks straight at me.

"Knowing you hon it is probably as technical as all hell?"

My wicked smile is enough to confirm his suspicions.

"What have you done Sam, what hell are you going to put us through?"

I walk over to where Steve is sitting and rest a gentle hand paw on his shoulder.

"I have come up with a true 80's song, You Win Again by the Bee Gees"

Steve's muzzle falls open.

"Please tell me that you are fucking joking Sam that is one of the most difficult songs to get right"

My steely stare tells my Rottweiler that I am indeed not joking around.

"This is going to be one long night Sam, so we better get started, I'll call the rest of the guys in but I think that you are going to get some hard looks from them all"

Finally at 4:45am five tired and beaten dogs and one equally tired and beaten Panther leave the practice room, we all head back to our own rooms so that we can at least get a shower to maybe wake us all up again. With our showers done we all head down to the restaurant for our breakfast, as we enter the smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs hits my nose and my stomach begins to growl.

I take extra helpings of everything at breakfast after missing out on the previous evenings dinner, with breakfast done we head towards the hotel foyer and the bus that will hopefully take us into the finals of the competition.

As we make the journey to the arena some of us manage to catch a power nap, me however, I am not so lucky, the need for us to blow Sound as a Hound out of the contest weighs too heavily on my mind.

I am brought out of my thoughts as the bus comes to a stop outside the arena, before we can exit the bus though Steve stands up front and gives us all a pep talk.

"Okay guys, It's time for us to bring our 'A' game, but please remember this, if we don't make it through these semi's today and Sound as a Hound do, I will still be so very proud of you all, we are about to go up against two of the best bands around, as well as our competitor, so that is three bands that would be happy if we fell by the wayside, but I don't intend to go down without a fight, now give 'em hell"

We enter the arena for what could be our final time, just as we enter I see a board with a notice on it giving the running order for the four bands, I take a look and see that Jacks and Aces Wild are first to perform.

We all take a seat at our table to wait for the judging panel and the host to arrive, Shaun makes his way over to us with that same shit eating grin on his muzzle.

"Look guys, it ain't too late for you to admit defeat and leave, hell I won't even make you guys disband if you leave now, but know this boys if you stay in the contest and lose I will use everything in my arsenal to close you down"

I begin to rise from my seat but a stern look from Steve stops me from going any further, he then turns his attention to Shaun.

"Shaun, if I were you I would be parking my arse on the seat at my own table and staying well away from my competitors, because with tensions being so high there is the very real possibility that SOMEONE might get hurt"

I caught the emphasis that Steve put on the word 'SOMEONE' and I knew full well what he meant by it. I suddenly notice that the judges are in place and the host is making his way to the stage to announce the first band, us.

"Greetings to one and all, I hope that you are all rested and raring to go because after today's session one of the remaining four bands will leave the competition, tomorrow is the final which as you know will be held in two sessions, the morning session will have the top four placing bands all doing battle, at the end of the session we will lose a band, then we will have the afternoon session where the final three bands will lock horns one last time, the first placed band will have the honour of knowing that they are the number one band, they will also leave here with a cheque for £1 million pounds, the second placed band will be handed a cheque for £750 thousand pounds, the third placed band will get a cheque for £500 thousand pounds. Please guys know this; even if you place third it will be no disgrace as the standard this year has been incredibly high"

The Horse pauses for a moment and then continues.

"Now for the standings so far, in fourth place is Sound as a Hound, in third place is Jacks and Aces Wild, in second place we have Def Leopard and in first place we have Aerosmith, the points that you gain today will determine the running order for tomorrow, the song that you play today will be the song that you take into the final, where the points from today and throughout the contest will all be added together with the points from tomorrow which will then give us the results, and so it is all to play for, and the first band to take to the stage is Jacks and Aces Wild"

We make our way towards the stage, all of us shaking so very badly and so very tired after our overnight practice session, but we all knew that we had made it this far and so we are determined to make a good showing.

We finish our stint on the stage and then head back to our table to watch and listen as the other three bands take their turn, by midday the running order for the final is decided, first to go will be Aerosmith, well no surprises there, next it is Sound as a Hound, I can feel my blood beginning to boil again, third will be Def Leopard and finally Jacks and Aces Wild, oh gods I hope that we can beat Sound as a Hound on accumulated points because we have done everything that we can now, the next twenty four hours will be crucial, and we will need to practice the song a little more to try and be sure that we are in with a shout.