never met any girl before that did that. After talking with Sylvie, Tera went back to her house, and Teal went to the mill. He looked inside and saw Kaltag. “Hey Kaltag, come here for a second.” Kaltag got up and walked over to Teal.

“Whatcha need?”

“Just walk with me, I need to talk to ya.”

“Alright.” They started off. “So what’s on your mind?” Kaltag asked. “Tera.”

“Ahh, I should’ve guessed. She’s pretty amazing huh?”

“Tell me about it. I can’t stop thinking about her no matter how hard I try.” Kaltag raised his eyebrows. “You think maybe she’s the one?”

“I don’t know. That’s what’s so hard to figure out, it seems that way, and I definitely wouldn’t mind if she was, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. I don’t want to talk myself into thinking that I love her. I don’t want to get my hopes up about it ya know?”

“I understand. Why don’t you just wait a while and see? Personally, I think she digs ya. But again, that’s just my opinion.”

“Alright. Thanks a lot man.”

“No problem. Anytime.” They both made their way back to the mill.

Teal followed Kaltag’s advice. 2 months passed. Teal’s walks and talks with Tera gradually became more and more frequent. By now he was certain that the feelings he had for her were real. He loved her. He loved her a lot. He tortured himself day and night, wondering wether she returned his feelings. He thought she did, but he wanted to make sure. As he got up from the mill one evening he decided to make sure. He walked up to Tera and smiled. “Hey you wanna go for a walk?” She smiled at him and said, “Sure, let’s go.” They made their way out of the mill and towards the end of town just like they always had. Then where they were supposed to be turning back, he started towards the big hill about an 8th of a mile outside of town. She turned around and caught up with him after she’d realized he’d changed course. “Hey, where we goin’ now?” He smiled and said, “I wanna show you something. . .will you come with me?” She looked at him with a puzzled expression and said, “O. . .kay. Sure.” She couldn’t make out why he had chosen this direction. A few minutes later, they were sitting up there on that hill, looking at the sunset. Tera felt uncomfortable, not that she didn’t want to be there, there was nothing she would rather be doing than watching the sunset with Teal, it was just that she had thought about wether or not she loved him, but the past two months had proven to her, as it did with Teal, that she did. They sat there, watching the beautiful sky as the sun went down. “It’s now or never. I’m leaving in two days. I’ve got to tell her now.” He thought. “Uh, Tera?”

“Yes?” She answered, feeling a bit nervous about what she thought was coming next. “I’ve been thinking, um. . .about. . .you and. . .me. . .and, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I can’t talk at all right now.”

“That’s okay. I think I know what you’re getting at.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” There were about five seconds of silence, then Teal said, “Tera I have to tell you something. And if I don’t tell you now, I’ll never get another chance to because I’m leaving in two days.”

“You are?” She asked, sounding disappointed and upset at the same time. She wasn’t ready for him to go. She loved him, and now he was leaving.

“Yeah, and I want to tell you here where there’s no big mouth ready to blare it all over town. I’ve never been good at telling people how I really feel. I brought you up here to tell you. . .I love you, Tera. More than anything in the world.” She looked at him, stared into his beautiful blue eyes for about 5 seconds, then her face broke out into the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. He smiled back, but then his face turned sober again. She saw the smile fade from his mouth. “What’s wrong?” He hesitated, then said, “You know I love you, but I’m just wondering I mean, the feeling is there with me, but, I’m not sure if, - “

“It is.”

“What?” She smiled. “I said it is.” He looked shocked. “So, so you mean. . .y-your saying”

“I love you too Teal.” She said, shining that same gorgeous smile on him. He still looked shocked. Then he shook it off, turned towards town, and yelled at the top of his lungs. He didn’t care what it sounded like, but he needed an outlet or he was going to explode. Then he turned back around to Tera, closed his eyes, and kissed her with all the passion and love he had. It was really sudden, but after a second or so, she closed her eyes too. They held on to their first and warmest kiss as long as they could. When they stopped, she closed her eyes again and nuzzled him lovingly for the first time in two months. She (and Teal) had forgotten how good it felt. He rubbed the top of her head with his chin, enjoying the feeling of her head on his neck. Then they both just stood there, watching the sun fall behind the mountains. She rested her head on his shoulder. “I love sunsets.” She said. “The colors. Orange and purple, the end of a day.” They both felt a warmth that they’d never felt before. Not from a boiler, a furnace, or a fireplace, but from inside. After the sun went down, they started off the hill, and towards town. She stayed close to his side the whole way. This was the happiest time of their lives. Teal had never dreamed he could be so happy. Now it was a reality. He was walking home with the sweetest, most gentle, most beautiful girl in Alaska, and she loved him.

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