He saw an orange-like glow as he heard the door open and footsteps on the wooden floor

He saw an orange-like glow as he heard the door open and footsteps on the wooden floor. He opened his eyes and what was once an orange-like glow was now the bright Alaskan sun shining in through the kennel's open doors. He squinted as his eyes focused and got used to the sudden light. It was racing day in Nome. The kennel manager was getting them all up and ready. He wasn't used to this particular place. He had arrived late the night before and was just getting used to his new bed at the kennel when what the other dogs called the human alarm clock walked in. "Okay boys, rise 'n shine!" He got up, shook off, and gave himself a few seconds to get fully awake. His name was Teal. He was tall and muscular, His coloring was black, white and and gray streaked purebred Alaskan malamute with blue eyes that looked like they glowed. He walked out of the kennel and onto the snow. This was where he belonged. The snow was home to him. It was his element. Since he was new, he just sat down and waited for his owner to come find him. Teal was a lead dog, and a good one. He'd won district champion three times in a row in Ontario. He had his weaknesses of course, but he had good self discipline and he never let them show when he was running. A man approached him, who Teal presumed was his musher, took him by the collar, led him over to the front of the sled, and put the harness around him. All the feelings and rushes that came with the feeling of that harness across his deep chest and running across that snow came back to him. He had been travelling for 5 months from Ontario to Alaska, and he had gone almost stir-crazy from either sitting on a plane or a train. Now all the sensations of racing flooded back into his mind. It was hard for him to sit still. Very hard. After about 5 minutes the mushers walked up and directed the three teams to the starting line. The crowd had been growing rapidly. All he wanted to do was start RUNNING. He wanted to make a good first impression for the other dogs. Especially Steele. Teal was about Steele's size, and Teal's pedigree was as good as Steele's or better. They were both good lead dogs, but Teal's disposition and nature was much better than Steele's. Teal was a kind dog, not proud, maybe a bit cockey at times but that was absolutely not his main attitude. The mushers were at their places on the back of the sleds. The starter stood behind them. "Ready! Go!" He shouted as he fired a pistol into the air. Teal's reflexes were quick. He started tugging and pulling with all he had. He didn't see it, but his team's start was so abrupt and strong, it almost threw the musher off the sled! Teal was in his right place now. Running with a harness around him, six dogs behind him, wind rushing past his face, and snow under his feet. It made him happy and sober at the same time. Steele was coming up from behind him. He had his usual 'race face' on: Tongue out, vicious expression on his face, and a greedy/evil look in his eyes. Teal glanced at him, then at the other team coming up behind him on the other side, fixed his his gaze on the narrow pass ahead, and put on more speed. He was not going to lose this one. He didn't. He came ripping across the finish line in first place about ten feet in ahead of Steele's team. He slowed to a stop. All the other dogs that had not raced were crowding around him. "Nice job, Teal, nice job." Steele had walked up behind the group, but they didn't see him. "Man, Steele was further behind than I've ever seen him!" Another dog said. "He's not as fast as he thinks he is." Steele couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Were they really saying that he wasn't the best? He'd been top dog in Nome for so long, and nobody had dared say otherwise. Now they did. Quickly his anger rose against Teal and he resolved to teach him a lesson when he had him alone. He stormed away from the circle, furious that an outsider, not even in Nome a full day, was stealing all his attention. By the time he got to his spot at the mill, the main place that the dogs came and talked and stuff, he was seething with rage. The other dogs walked through the mill doors, followed by Teal. He was smiling at everyone, being completely kind and unselfish. That's part of the reason Steele hated him. He acted like it was perfectly normal that he had stolen attention away from an awesome dog (that's what Steele thought of himself anyway), and he acted like nothing had happened. Kaltag trotted over to his place and said "Come on Teal, take my spot!"

"Okay." He said as he went over and laid down in Kaltag's place. Everybody laid down in their spot, except Kaltag. He laid down by the door. "You're sure about me having this spot, Kaltag?" Teal asked. "Oh yeah, go ahead." He answered. There were still four empty spaces: one beside him and three across from him. He was about to ask Kaltag who they were for when four girl dogs walked in. One a rusty and cream color, one was an Afgan hound (not much to look at there), one was a small kind of ditsie looking dog, and the last one was a Malamute, like Teal except she had soft, deep brown eyes instead of blue. She had a different coloration than Teal. She was white with streaks of gray and golden vanilla. She was beautiful. She laid down in her spot: right beside Teal. He looked over at Kaltag. He had a grin on his face. He mouthed the words "good luck" . Kaltag had apparently tried her before, but she'd brushed him off. He looked back over to her. "Hey." She said. By now all the other dogs were talking to each other. But there was an awkward silence between Teal and Tera. He didn't know quite what to do. "So, are you enjoying Nome?" She asked. "Yeah, I like it. I like it alot, uh,-"

"Tera" She said. "I'm Teal." He answered. "Teal. I like that. You did good today. I've never seen anybody outrun Steele like you did. That was really cool."

"It was, huh?" Teal thought. Steele had been discretely watching them (he already had his eye on Tera anyway). He got up, went over to Tera, and said in a smooth, cockey voice, "Hey, Tera, wanna come up to the hill with me?" With an annoyed look on her face, Tera answered, "Get lost Steele."

"Maybe later huh? Okay, if that's the way you want it." Steele said in that same conceided voice as he walked away. Tera could see the puzzled expression on Teal's face. "He's always trying to get me to do stuff with him." She lowered her voice and put her mouth close to Teal's ear. "He's a total jerk and he thinks everyone thinks he's the best. That everyone thinks he's so hot. If he didn't act like he owns this town he wouldn't be so bad. Now that you're getting the golden collar instead of him, he's gonna be really steamed. More than he was when he heard the other dogs talking to you. Don't worry though. Just stay around the others and you should be okay."

"Okay" Teal said, laughing softly. "I'll remember that. Thanks for the advice."

"You shoud be able to beat him though." She said as he looked him over. "You're as big as he is." Their conversation blended into the others'. That night, as often happened, some dogs were missing at the kennel. Alot of times dogs stayed at their homes and slept with their owners. Tera stayed with Teal. "To show him around." She though, among other reasons. "So, why are there some missing? They were all here last night." Teal asked. "That's because today was race day. The kennel manager makes sure all the dogs are here before he closes the doors. Locks them tight, too. All the dogs have to be there, see."

"Yeah." "So why did they call you Teal? If you don't mind me asking."

"I guess it's because of my eyes."

"Your eyes are pretty." He looked at her. They looked at each other long enough to be uncomfortable. "I'm sorry." Teal said. "Like I was saying, they said my eyes were almost teal blue so that's what they called me. I liked it."

"So do I." She said. Then she looked sheepishly at him and said, "I already said that, didn't I?" They both laughed and Teal said, "I wasn't going to say anything but, yeah." They laughed some more and then they settled down and went to sleep. "Night Teal" She whispered. "Night Tera" Teal replied as he closed his eyes.

 

"Teal, Teal wake up." He felt a nose on the side of his face. He opened his sleepy eyes and saw Tera. He squinted at her, trying to get used to the light. "Whatcha need?" He asked in a sort of croaky voice. "For you to get up." She said, chuckling. "Okay" He lifted himself slowly up to his big feet. "So what's happening today?"

"Well, not much, seeing as how you slept halfway through it." He paused, looked at her, thought for a second, then said, "You're kidding, right?" She laughed and said, "Yes. But you did sleep in late."

"Sorry. I always got to sleep this late in Ontario. As long as there wasn't a race the next day. I guess I'll have to get used to living here. Whadya say we have some fun today? A race would be fun, I think. Not a real one, but sort of a pickup game so to speak."

"Pickup game?"

"Yeah. That's what my owner calls it when he goes and plays an unofficial hockey game on a frozen pond when we lived in Ontario."

"I see." She smiled at him. "So what exactly did you want to do

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