“Oh. Right. Aniu is all white, and your tan and white.”

“Back to my story, I used to live in a very big pack, but one day when I was about two years old, I met a dog that was lost in the woods. I helped him find his way back and we just became friends. His name was Rush. He came back to me daily and we started talking all day.

Eventually we both fell in love with each other. My father wasn’t the Alpha, like Aniu’s father, but he was the next highest wolf, the beta. He talked to the Alpha about it for a long time. But Rush and I still had our secret meetings. Finally, when we got too serious, I was banned from my pack. I didn’t care because I still had Rush.

Rush wasn’t a sled dog, like Aniu’s husband, he used to be a house dog, until his family had to move and accidentally left him behind. Now he’s a street dog. He showed me to his home, which was an abandoned storage closet. It actually had plenty of space because it was cleaned out.

Rush and I lived in that closet for months, even when we had our puppies. There were four of them: 3 girls and 1 boy.

But that’s when things got ugly.

Soon my motherly instincts took over me and I started fighting with my husband about raising the pups. Soon it was constant arguing. We couldn’t stop fighting about SOMETHING. It’s was either fighting about the pups or about silly things like characteristics. Finally, one by one, our kids ran away because they couldn’t take it anymore. Then there was one lone pup left, the boy that was my favorite because he looked most like me, and had my beautiful green eyes. When he ran away, that was the last straw. I put my foot down and left the closet, never to go back. While I searched for my pup in town, I met these three street dogs. I was deathly afraid of them at first, but then again, we were all the same, abandoned by our loved ones, forced to live this rotten life on the streets. I started being friends with them, but I never got the chance to really know them, because I went out to the woods to search for my pup, and I ran into my old pack. They had no idea who I was and my father, who was now the Alpha, killed me on the spot. That’s my story, Saba.”

Saba was speechless. She had tears forming in her eyes. “I’m…so sorry.” She squeaked. She had no idea what this wolf was probably feeling right now, telling her tragic life story.

“It’s fine, Saba. I’m okay now. I’m a ghost!” She chuckled.

“Yeah but I said all those things about you!”

“Most dogs DO say that stuff to me, so I’m used to it.”

“I’m still sorry Tor.”

Tor looked up at the sky. “I can’t show you tonight, but think about my story ok?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s time for me to go.”

“What?!”

Tor giggled. “Not forever dear, it’s almost time for you to wake up.”

“Okay…bye…” And suddenly a loud bark sounded in her ear.

“SABA! Wake up!”

Saba’a eyes shot open at the sudden bark. She saw Nao trying to pull her up. Saba pulled back.

“Nao, I can get up on my own, thank you.”

“I just wanted to see if you were alive! You never woke up the last 15 times I yelled ‘wake up!’.”

“Sorry, I had a really vivid dream last night.”

“I’d love to hear about it tonight, but we’ve got a job to do.”

Saba smiled. “Right. Let’s go!” Suddenly, Saba felt more excited to run now that she was talking to Nao again.

Back in Nome, Jess and Kila were taking a stroll around town, trying to make conversation with some popular dogs. They just laughed at them and walked away.

Jess made a frustrated face. “Ugh! I wish Saba would come back!”

“Me too.” Kila said. “So we could at least have SOMEONE to talk to.”

“I guess, but now that she’s gone, we’re getting laughed at by the most popular dogs here, even LUKE! I mean, what are we, street dogs?!”

“Yeah, hanging out with Saba got us pretty popular.”

“Exactly! Without Saba we’re at the bottom of the social chain!” Jess had tears forming in her eyes.

“Jess, we knew this would happen, right? Because Saba’s the only dog who can trust us. And that was the plan all along right?”

“Duh! We become friends with Saba to make us popular.”

“Jess…Do you think we’re hurting her? Because the only reason were hanging out with her is to get famous.”

“Kila, listen. We’re not hurting anybody. As long as she doesn’t know, we’re in the clear! And soon we won’t be considered “the newbies” anymore and get our own status up the old fashioned way. Okay?”

“Yeah. That makes sense. But what do we do with her once we’re not newbies anymore?”

“Oh…I’m still working on it, but pretty much we’ll stop hanging out with her and get our own lives.”

“Alright. Sounds like a plan.”

 “And remember, as long as nobody knows other than us, this plan is going to work flawlessly!”

But Jess and Kila didn’t know that Balto was around the corner of a building, and listened the whole time…

It was the middle of the day, and Saba and the team were working together perfectly, like one dog. Soon they arrived at the town and they switched mail bags. The dogs were allowed 5 minutes before they would go back home. Saba and Nao were talking by the sled after they had their snacks.

“Wow…this town is a lot bigger than Nome.” Saba said in wonder.

“Eh…not as big as most of the towns I’ve been to. But I’ll give this one…a 7. What do you think?” Nao asked.

“10 all the way!”

“I see, it’s your first visit to another town. *Sigh* I remember my first sled team…Of course it’s a long story, and highly inappropriate for  a lot of the people reading this.”

“Reading what?”

“I…don’t know.”

AKWARD SILENCE…

“So…what did you dream about last night?”

“Oh. It was about”-

“ALL DOGS REPORT HERE! WE’RE LEAVING IN 1 MINUTE!”

Nao and Saba looked at each other.

“Guess that’s our cue.” Nao said.

“I’ll tell you about my dream later. Let’s run!”

It was a day and a half trip back home.

Saba had the dream last night, but was shaken awake 2 minutes into it. Unfortunately, there was a bear tracking the sled so we just left because the sun was already rising. For most of the night Saba was awake, wondering abut what her dreams meant. She knew they were leading her to something, but she didn’t quite figure out what it was.

Saba came home around the evening, and a lot of the dogs and people in town went by to see the team come back. Balto and Jenna were there too.

Saba hugged both her parents. She looked at her father.

“Dad…I am so sorry!”

“Saba, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not okay! I told you to get out of my life! Aren’t you going to do something about it?”

Balto chuckled, which was surprising to her. “Saba, I know how teenagers are, believe it or not. Sooner or later, they’ll blame you for everything that’s happened in their life. And you gotta be ready!”

Saba giggled.

“We’re so glad to have you back!” It was Jenna’s turn to hug Saba.

“So, how was it?” Balto asked.

“Very tiring, but I loved it.”

“That’s great! Tell me all about it!”

While Saba was telling her story, Jess and Kila shot through the small crowd shouting, “SABA!”

Jess and Kila attacked Saba in a hug.

“Jess! Kila!”

“We missed you so much!” Jess said

“It’s was lonely without you!” Kila added.

Saba had tears forming in her eyes. “Aww, guys I missed you too.”

Balto nudged Saba’s shoulder. Saba turned around.

“What is it dad?”

“Um…can I speak to you for a moment in private?”

“Sure.” Saba turned back to her friends. “Mind if I talk to my dad?”

“No.”

“Of course not!”

“Thanks!” Jess and Kila trotted away as Saba walked with Balto, talking.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Saba…do you like your friends?”

“You mean Jess and Kila? Yeah, totally!”

“And do they like you back?”

“Yes. They even said so.”

“Let me rephrase the question. Do they like you because of me, or because of who you are inside?”

“Because of who I really am. Why?”

“Why did you think Nao only liked you because of me when you believed your gossip friends liked you for who you are?”

That was a big question for Saba.

“Well…I’ve known Jess and Kila for a year now. And I jut met Nao like a month ago. Plus when he found out you were my dad, he hasn’t stopped talking about you. Jess and Kila never did any of that.”

“Then this may be hard for you to understand…”

“What?” Saba leaned closer. “What is it?”

“While you were gone, I took a walk around town and noticed your two friends walking by. I was going to say hi to them, but they seemed like they were in a private conversation. I was going to leave them alone, but they were talking about you. And they said that meeting you and being nice to you; it was all a joke.”

Saba tried to find some response to this.

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