wrong, are you on fire?"

Balto looked at him quizzically.

"Never mind. Did you at least eat something today? Look at you, you are skin and bones!"

"Boris, she smiled at me! She looked right at me and she smiled!" Balto said excitedly.

"Oh, she smiled at you, wonderful. Meanwhile, you are starving to death!" Boris yelled sarcastically.

"All right, calm down. I did eat something in town today. I met Jenna's owner in the alley, and she gave me some meat. She was nice to me, Boris... no human has ever been nice to me before. She was petting me and she hugged me. It felt so good, I almost fell asleep. She said she would bring me more food if I show up tomorrow. And if she's going to be there, so will Jenna..."

"Now that is good news. Maybe you will finally talk to her, yes?"

"I... what if I say the wrong thing?" Balto lowered his head and flattened his ears. "Boris, this is important. I know she doesn't even know who I am, but... I don't think I can live without her. I can't even go one day without at least looking at her."

Balto turned to Boris with a worried look on his face. "Is there something wrong with me? Why do I feel this way when I see her, and why does it hurt so much when she's not around? We don't even know each other!"

Boris smiled and put his wing around Balto's shoulder. "Wrong? No. What you are feeling is perfectly normal for someone who is in love."

"In-in love...?" Balto said quietly. "That's what this is?"

Boris nodded. "That is why I keep telling you to talk to her. It will help you feel better. And who knows, maybe she will fall in love with you too, hmm?"

"Well... she did smile at me today," Balto grinned as he remembered Jenna's little smile when she looked at him. "But I'm just a half breed, remember? I don't think she'll even want to talk to me."

"A smile is good sign, boychik," Boris said as he rubbed Balto's head. "You worry too much. Just be yourself and it will all work out."

Balto looked off towards the town of Nome in the distance. "I hope so..."

The next day at around the same time, Balto made his way to the alley near the butcher shop. He was nervous and his heart was pounding in his ears. He dreamt of Jenna all the previous night, and he couldn't believe he was going to be able to talk to her finally, without her friends around and maybe without her ignoring him because he was half wolf. He sat in the alley and waited, looking through the fence every now and then to see if he could spot her.

He waited for what seemed like a long time, but he didn't see either Jenna or Rosy. He was disappointed, but he knew there was a chance they wouldn't show up. He got up to leave when he heard Rosy's voice coming down the street towards the alley. It sounded like she was talking to her father. His ears picked up and he sat back down, eagerly waiting for them to come around the corner. A few moments later, Rosy walked across the alley and saw Balto sitting in the back near the fence, waiting for her.

"Balto, you're here!" she said as she ran down the alley to him. "Here, I brought you some real meat this time," she said as she pulled a large chunk of meat wrapped in paper out of her pocket. She unwrapped it and put it down in front of Balto, and she smiled as he devoured it. She wrapped her small arms around his neck and hugged him as he finished eating.

"You're a good dog, Balto," she said. "I wish... I wish you could come live with me and Jenna."

Balto's head shot up when he heard that. He nuzzled Rosy's face and licked her cheek.

"Ha ha!" Rosy giggled and rubbed his head. "Wait, there's somebody who wants to meet you. Jenna!" she called.

Balto froze as all his nervousness came back, and his heart was pounding harder than ever. He sat breathing heavily as he watched the entrance to the alley, not daring to move. Rosy noticed Balto's change in demeanor and petted his neck.

"It's okay boy, you'll like her. She's nice."

"I know," Balto thought. "I already like her too much."

Just then, Jenna came around the corner and entered the alleyway. She smiled as she walked down the alley and she met Rosy with a nuzzle. Balto hadn't moved an inch, and he couldn't stop staring at Jenna. He had to consciously close his mouth.

"Jenna, this is Balto. None of the grownups seem to like him and I haven't seen him with any other dogs, but he's really nice."

Jenna turned to smile at Balto and he was sure he was beginning to melt. He had never been this close to her before and it was almost more than he could handle.

"I have to go back to the store with my dad, but you guys can stay here if you want. I'll be back out in a little bit." She hugged Balto again and walked out of the alley. Balto never moved, and he still couldn't take his eyes off Jenna. He was becoming lost in those big brown eyes of hers, and she shyly looked to the side, embarrassed by Balto staring at her.

"Oh... no, I'm sorry," he scrambled to apologize. "I didn't mean to stare, I... I'm sorry," he finished, and stared hard at the ground, his face furiously heating up. He knew he had to be blushing bright red, but he just kept staring at the ground.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he thought. "She hasn't said one word and you already messed it up."

Jenna saw how embarrassed he was, and smiled to herself. "It's okay," she said. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. Do you live in town?"

Balto still could not believe she was talking to him, and her voice was so beautiful. It sounded like a song to him, and he wanted to listen to her talk for hours. He suddenly realized she was waiting for a response.

"Oh, uh... no, I live outside town on an old boat," he said quickly, still looking at the ground. "I don't have an owner."

"Really? What's it like living by yourself out there?"

Balto finally looked up at her and smiled. "It's not so bad. I live there with my... well I guess you'd call him my dad. He's a goose named Boris. He raised me from when I was just a pup."

"A goose?" Jenna asked, surprised.

Balto grinned. "Yeah. He found me when I was just a pup, sitting outside Nome. He took me in and he's been caring for me ever since."

"You mean... you don't know who your parents are?" she asked gently.

He shook his head. "Boris told me I was alone when he found me, and nobody has ever come back for me. All I know for sure is that I'm... well, I'm..." Balto found himself unable to tell Jenna the one thing that might make her despise him. He lowered his head again.

Jenna looked at him with compassion in her eyes. "What is it?"

Balto looked at her and saw how concerned she was. "I... I'm just afraid that telling you will... will make you hate me," he said. "All the other dogs already hate me because of it."

She lowered her head to look at him. "I won't hate you, Balto. I promise."

Balto sighed, knowing he was about to give her the same reason to hate him all the other dogs already had. He shut his eyes and spoke slowly.

"Jenna, I'm... I'm half wolf."

She opened her mouth in surprise, but before she could say anything, Rosy appeared at the entrance to the alley. "Jenna! Come on girl! Time to go home!"

Jenna looked at Rosy, then back at Balto. His eyes were still shut, waiting for the inevitable hatred or dismissal he received every time someone found out he was half wolf. The difference was that this time, it was going to break his heart.

"I–" she began, and looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry Balto, I have to go."

She stood up and ran to meet Rosy at the entrance of the alley, and Balto listened to the two of them fade away into the distance. He sat where she left him, trembling as a single tear slid down his muzzle and fell noiselessly into the snow.

###

"I don't know what I was thinking. I knew she wouldn't be any different than any of the other dogs, I was stupid for telling her I'm half wolf. I was worried that she wouldn't like me, and then I went ahead and made sure of it. That was my only chance with her. I don't even know why she was talking to me in the first place, she's way out of my league and I'm just a stupid half breed."

Balto paced back and forth on the deck of his boat, and his self loathing grew the more he told Boris about what had happened in town earlier that day. Boris tried to comfort him, but he was inconsolable.

"Stupid. I never should have gone back there, I never should have talked to her. Now she hates me like everybody else does." He stopped pacing and dropped down to the deck, covering his head with his paws. "I thought maybe she would be different. I hoped..."

Boris sat next to Balto and put his wing around his shoulder.

"Boris, what am I going to do?" Balto whined. "It was bad before when I was just in love with her, it's a lot worse now that I know she doesn't like me."

"I am sorry, Balto," said Boris, without a trace of his usual sarcasm. "I hoped she would see you for who you really are. "

"I was really talking with her. It was going so well too, but... she kept asking questions