how late in the game it is. Also, to always have goals to work towards, for life has little meaningfulness without them. Indeed as time went on, Balto still knew some oppression throughout his life, and it did get him down from time to time. But, he always managed to pull himself back up again. For nothing could ever break him away from the new light he now saw himself in…for who he really was.

Chapter 15: Epilogue

New York City

Present Day

"...And so Balto went on as one of the greatest sled dogs ever known," Grandma Rosie finished.

"Wow! What a great story!" Lola exclaimed. "I'm glad Balto came back to the team,” she said, “and I’ll bet Kodi loved doing the mail runs after that."

"Yes dear, but that's a story for another time,” Grandma Rosie told her. “Now, you need to get some rest. Your mother won’t be happy with me if I keep you up any longer."

“Okay,” Lola said, curling up on the cot that had been set up in the corner for her. She began to yawn, realizing she really was tired. “Good night, Grandma,” she said.

“Good night dear,” Grandma Rosie said, switching off the lamp beside her bed.

As the lights were turned out, and the two of them settled down for the night, a distant howling was suddenly heard above all the traffic outside. Lola opened her eyes slightly when she became aware of the sound. Blaze heard it too, and got up, and started barking at the window. "What's that Grandma?" Lola asked.

Grandma Rosie sat up in bed. "Oh, I'm sure it's just a coyote or something…Blaze, cut it out!” she scolded, trying to calm him down.

"Grandma, are there coyote's in New York?" Lola asked.

"Um...no!" Grandma Rosie realized, jumping out of bed to get a look outside.

Lola jumped right beside her to see as well. "Look Grandma!" Lola said, pointing up to the sky.

"Oh!" Grandma Rosie was awestruck with an outline in the clouds that looked just like a wolf. It was hard to believe, but they both knew it was...

THE END

From the author:

Well, there you have it! I hope you’ve enjoyed this story, and that you’re clearer now on what happened to Balto between movies. It took me a great deal of time and thought, trying to figure out just how I was going to uncover each unsolved mystery about Balto, but I feel I’ve done a decent job.

Each part of the story was an individual thought I had about how it should unfold. I first wrote the prelude section to clear up the ending of the first movie. The original Balto will always be my favorite of the three, but I’ve never liked the end of it. I’ve always felt that it happened too quickly, left too many unanswered questions, and just wasn’t fair to Balto. He never spoke throughout the ending, so you never really knew just what kind of thoughts were going through his head. I thought it’d be better to end it after allowing him to comment on everything that had happened, and on a more quiet note (i.e. he and Jenna alone underneath the “northern lighted” sky). So, I changed it around a little bit before I started the actual story. Throughout, I also made it clear that Balto was a hero to everyone, but I did my best to keep it all within reason, so he didn’t seem like a God to everyone, and so the message didn’t get out of hand. Also, I kept the original concept of “Grandma Rosie” telling the story, as it would make it seem a little more authentic; Something that the sequels were missing. You may have also wondered about the character, Togo; a name that I gave to one of the dogs on the team. Togo was the name of an actual lead dog from anoher team that helped relay the medicine to Nome back in 1925 (in case you don't know the true story of what happened, there were actually several teams that relayed the medicine from Nenanna to Nome, rather than just one). From what I understand, Togo's team carried the medicine the farthest out of any other team that was part of the run (over 400 miles I do believe, while Balto's team carried it 53 miles). However, Balto's team received most of the recognition, mainly because it was they that eventually brought the medicine into Nome. So, this was my way of giving Togo some credit. Some refer to him as "Balto's arch nemesis," but I like the idea of them being friends much better.

My original idea was to change around the storyline, to say that Balto was adopted by the musher, and was now a permanent member of the sled team. My first scene was going to be he, waking up in the barn with the other sled dogs, and later going to visit Boris, to establish that Balto was merely visiting Boris in Balto II when it appeared he was still living on the ship. But, I decided to be loyal to the series, and keep the idea that Balto continued to be ashamed of his heritage, and was still living on the ship as a result. I could then elaborate why this is so, and have Balto come to his senses later, and eventually join the sled team (I had to do some research on sled dog racing to make it all seem realistic).

I had fun figuring how to fit Steele into the picture. I thought about using the idea that he apologized to Balto, and was now his friend. It seemed to be the most obvious concept, and I found that this happened in many other fan fictions I read. But, after giving it some thought, I figured it would be more logical, and intensifying to have Steele angered by Balto’s returning, and have him want to hunt Balto down.

I had heard some critics of the film say they were upset that there was never a big battle between Balto and Steele to settle the score. I thought it would be exciting to create such a scene, but I was in strong debate for a long time if I should actually do it, as I think the original writers might have been trying to stick to the message that “you don’t have to fight to get what you want.” So, in order to not ruin that message, I came up with the idea that Steele somehow forced Balto to fight him. The scene unfolded beautifully.

Probably the hardest part of writing this was figuring out just how to end it, as I didn’t want it to be like the ending of the first movie. One thing that killed the first movie was, on top of the fact it ends so abruptly, after all is said and done, we are suddenly blasted back to the present before Balto even gets a chance to talk. The crowd cheers for him, and then it’s over. It’s like he’s suddenly dead, and everything he did is forgotten. That’s just wrong. You don’t shoot the hero at his finest hour! I found it a bit depressing. So, I wanted to incorporate a final acknowledgement from Balto in the present, without being too cheesy, and without forcing my own spiritual beliefs into this story. I came up with ideas of having Lola meet Balto in a dream, or Grandma Rosie showing her how to talk to him in meditation and so on. But, it seemed a little too “out there.” So, I finally decided to just have Balto show himself in the clouds, and howl. Short and sweet.

So, what do you think? Please e-mail me with feedback, as I am considering writing more stories, depending on how well this one does. Comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Balto, and all other characters portrayed in this story are all trademarks of Universal and Amblin Entertainment. Lola, Casey, and Annekay are all names created by TameWolf03 that represent unnamed characters in the original Balto movies. The character Togo, and Lola’s family are also his creation. These fictional characters all may be used freely with TW03’s consent.

A scene from Part I of this story was inspired by Khakiwolf (aka Cyberwulfe) with his story Puppy Love. The characters and events in Khakiwolf's fanfics, are registered trademarks of Cyberwulfe Inc.
©1999 CW Inc.