stretched out around me and was currently just as empty. Jenna was right about Rosy’s parents taking their time…

Deciding to let them get it all out now so Rosy could play uninterrupted, I settled into the snow just far enough away from the house that I would hear when anybody left, but wouldn’t be visible to anyone looking out the window. The sun was still high, warming me through my thick fur. The contrast with the icy ground under me made for a perfect balance of temperatures. It could have been my recent lack of food that had left me exhausted, or the heat I hadn’t felt in weeks, but I drifted off. 

I had the dream that I was running with the white wolf again, only this time, we weren’t alone. Waiting over the next ridge was a human, face in shadow, holding a gun. One shot rang out. The beautiful white wolf fell beside me, her coat now stained with crimson. I stared at the human in shock, but only for a second. The next moment I was charging at him. He reloaded and aimed again, this time at me. I wouldn’t make it in time. His finger squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

My eyes snapped open as I jumped up, entangling myself in my long legs. I fell back to the snow and struggled to get up again, all the while, frantically searching my surroundings.

“Balto?”

I jumped, but luckily didn’t yell as I spun around to see Jenna standing only a few feet away. “Oh…hey…” I greeted breathlessly.

I was really racking up the points with Jenna today. Really, they should make a shrine to my stupidity. First I fall off a roof, than I look like an idiot. Both of those qualify as idiotic, now that I think about it. Bottom line? I was just happy Jenna wasn’t rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically. I probably would have been. That’s why she’s a better canine than I am.

“Are you okay?” Oh no… worse than laughing, she was showing sympathy. She felt sorry for how pathetic I was.

“Yeah!” I laughed too forcibly and tried to calm my pounding heart before speaking again. “Yeah, I’m fine. I see you chose to lead with that question this time.”

“Well my options were either you had just fallen from the sky, or you were sleeping. I just assumed it was the sky this time.” She teased with a comforting smile.

“You got me.” I shrugged, grateful that she always played along. “Boris is a horrible teacher. Flying lessons aren’t going nearly as well as they should be.” Her melodic laugh didn’t help my heart to cease its relentless hammering in my chest. In an effort to clear my head, I took the time to shake off the snow and stretch. “So where’s Rosy?” I yawned.

“She’s coming, finally.” Jenna added with a roll of her eyes. “By the time she gets out here, her mother will be calling her for dinner.”

“Jenna! Jenna! Come here, girl!” A voice called.

“Shall we?” I asked with a grin. Jenna nodded, and pranced along beside me as I trotted toward the little red-headed girl.

“Balto!” Hers was the only human voice that said my name with such joy. Rosy waddled toward me, decked out in who knows how many layers of clothes, and threw her arms around my neck. “I missed you, boy! You gonna come play with us? Come on!”

She brought out her miniaturized sled and pulled the harness over Jenna. “I wish I had two harnesses, boy. But you can pull in a few minutes. Hike, Jenna!”

My long legs allowed me to jog comfortably beside the sled as Jenna ran. After a few minutes, the houses of the small town were almost out of sight. I almost didn’t notice that Jenna had fallen a few paces behind and was slowing down.

“Showoff.” She panted, giving me a teasing sideways glance as I turned around to join her.

“Well if living with your genetics is showing off, call me guilty.” I chuckled.

Rosy came around and let Jenna out of the harness. “Alright, puppies.” She declared. “We’re going to build a snow-dog and play fetch and stay out here as long as we can so we can get away from that stuffy old house. Ready? Hike!”

I had to hand it to Rosy, she knew what she wanted and she went for it. I would imagine she’d be a handful for a male in the future. She was certainly a handful for her parents right now from what Jenna told me as we watched Rosy. She was molding the mushy snow into a shape that somewhat resembled a canine minus the muzzle, which kept falling off.

For a small girl, Rosy had a pretty good arm, but her range was still limited, so you would think that fetch wouldn’t have been as fun, but it was. Jenna and I raced each other to the stick and more often than not, grabbed it at the same time. We wrestled and tried to pull it from each other’s mouths. I even let her win a few times. Jenna got mad at me when she suspected I was going easy on her. In retaliation, she charged me and pinned me into a deep snow bank. Rosy’s excited giggles as she watched us just warmed my heart even more.

I struggled to escape the deep snow, trying to roll over and flailing my legs helplessly as Rosy squealed with delight. Jenna snickered as she stood over me. I finally managed to gain some traction and pulled myself from the hole. Jenna was waiting in a play bow, watching me with mischievous amber eyes. I pretended to stalk her for a few feet and then took off after her as she sprinted away. Jenna was agile and incredibly graceful as she ran. My mind was so captivated by the way she moved that I wasn’t ready as she cut in front of me and ran in the opposite direction. I fumbled in the snow and took off after her again. Finally catching up to her, I tackled her into the snow. We rolled over each other, laughing the whole time, until I managed to pin her.

Our laughs faded and the sound of our heavy breathing took over. Our warm breath caused a mist between us and obstructed my view of her. When it cleared, I saw her smiling up at me, her eyes shining. I stepped back and she rolled over onto her stomach, her eyes never leaving mine. I stepped closer again, lowering my head ever so slowly toward hers.

A sudden, terrified shriek split the silence. Our ears flicked simultaneously in the same direction.

“Rosy.” Jenna gasped.

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A/N: Well it took a while, but I finally got to the good stuff. I'll be uploading the next part as a new story called Good Enough Ch. 2, so keep an eye out!