Walking on Sunshine

Walking on Sunshine

 

Prologue

 

Dingo and his sister Saba have been through a lot in the last few weeks. Both were shocked when news arrived that Dingo was being forced to go to Anchorage and leave his sister behind in Nome forever. Sadly Saba said goodbye to her brother and watched him board the plane that would take him to Anchorage.

 

Even though Dingo was heartbroken about leaving his family behind in Nome, he started to get used to living in Anchorage right away. He now lived in the Warren household, where there were three humans in the family: a father named Ray, a mother named Sophie, and a daughter named Sandy. Ray was a terrible man, and Sandy was a good friend to Dingo. Sandy’s mother, Sophie, was on the fence.

 

Dingo soon escaped from the household and met a lot of dogs from Nome. Among his acquaintances were Liko, a tough street dog, and Matteo, a husky without any friends. After spending a day with these two new friends, Dingo headed home and was severely punished by Ray Warren. He was locked up inside the Warrens’ house afterward.

 

Meanwhile, back in Nome, Saba met a new husky named Josh and immediately became friends with him. Now that her brother was in Anchorage, Saba suddenly realized how much she depended on Dingo. She literally couldn’t live without him. Saba was about to give up hope when Josh offered to give her hunting lessons.

 

While Dingo was chained up, he began to come up with a plan to escape from Anchorage and get back to his old family and friends. One day he attracted Sandy’s attention and explained the plan to her. Somehow she understood and tried to convince her mom to go to Nome with Dingo and some other friendly dogs. Sophie Warren refused to go along with the plan until Sandy told her one important detail: if she came to Nome, she would see her long lost son again.

 

Saba was having trouble with her hunting lessons. Then Jenna, her mother, revealed a shocking secret: Saba was part wolf! This new discovery gave Saba the strength to carry on with her hunting lessons. Soon she was even better than Josh.

 

One night Sandy, Sophie, and Dingo slipped out of the Warren household. They quickly gathered a bunch of street dogs, running into problems with a bully named Seno along the way. After a rocky start to the journey, Dingo and the others pushed on to Nome. Soon Matteo, Sophie, Sandy, and a street dog named Devon became ill. They had almost made it to Nome when Devon died. Dingo was afraid that the same thing would happen to the other three.

 

After a long, hard journey, Dingo joyfully led the dogs and humans into the town of Nome. After carrying Matteo on his back to the vet, he was greeted by a huge group of dogs chanting his name over and over. Dingo was thrilled to see his family again, especially Saba.

 

-----

 

It was a few hours later, and the excitement had died down. Now Dingo was left alone in the hospital with his father and Sandy. The two dogs approached the girls’ bed, where she was fast asleep. Dingo licked her hand and woke her up. She smiled as she saw the two dogs.

“Thanks, Balto,” she said, patting the wolf hybrid on the head. “I would be lost without you.”

Balto flinched. “Is it just me, or has someone said that to me before?” he whispered to Dingo. Dingo smiled, stifling a laugh.

“And you too, Dingo,” she said. “Thanks for helping me escape and bringing me back to my brother again.” She patted the soft fur on his back.

Suddenly Dingo heard someone clearing their throat by the hospital door. He turned around and saw Saba with a twinkle in her eye. “Want to head to the boiler room?” she asked.

Dingo grinned. “You know I do!” he said. He turned around. “Bye, Dad. Bye, Sandy. I’ll see you two later.”

Dingo and Saba walked outside the hospital and started heading for the boiler room. Suddenly Saba stopped. “Let’s race!” she said.

Dingo smiled as he ran to the boiler room alongside Saba. Everything was back to normal. And this time it was going to stay that way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Sandy’s eyes popped open. How long had she slept? She thought hard…the last time she had been awake, Balto was sitting on the floor next to her. She looked at where the dog had been. He wasn’t there.

 

“Good morning,” said a friendly voice. Sandy turned on her side and saw Jason, her brother, standing on the other side of the bed. He was carrying a small tray with her breakfast on it.

 

Sandy smiled as she took a sip of water from a glass on the tray. “So, I’m going to live with your family from now on?” Sandy asked. Jason nodded. “What about my mom?”

 

Jason’s smile froze. “Um…well…” he stuttered. “Sandy…your mom isn’t going to live with us because…well, she didn’t make it…”

 

Sandy gasped and covered her mouth. “Mom died?” she said in horror.

 

Jason nodded. “I’m sorry, Sandy,” he said. “But you’re in my family now. You’re going to love our family. Mom and Dad are really nice, and now we can share Dingo!”

 

Sandy bit her lip. “I guess you’re right,” she said. Sandy tried to force a hopeful smile onto her face, but deep down she felt depressed. Her father was in jail, and her mother was dead. At least she had Jason now.

 

-----

 

At the same moment that Jason was breaking the news about their mother to Sandy, Dingo was walking through the town of Nome. Before he moved to Anchorage, he and Saba were always seen on the streets of the small town constantly. Now, instead of just spending all the time with his sister, there was a whole group that went everywhere with him. There were Matteo and Liko, his friends from Anchorage. There were Saba and Josh, who had recently begun to fall in love with each other. The smallest member of the group was Angel, Devon’s little sister.

 

The six dogs were a close-knit group, and they all got along with each other. Dingo, Saba, and Josh had eagerly welcomed the Anchorage dogs into their group and had given them a warm welcome. Matteo, Liko, and Angel had been grateful toward their new friends and had fit right in from the moment they arrived.

 

Unfortunately, the rest of the dogs in the town didn’t get along as well as this group, as the six dogs soon found out. It started when Josh suggested that they go to the boiler room.

 

As soon as Dingo and the others entered the gathering place of the dogs of Nome, the husky froze in his tracks and shot a double take. The dogs in the boiler room were separated into two groups: one was far off to the left, the other to the right. There was no one in the middle. Dogs from both groups occasionally glared at the dogs on the other side of the room.

 

Dingo walked up to his brother, Kodi. He was in the group to the left. Dingo also recognized others in the same group. Then he realized something: every dog from this group was from Nome originally. Looking across the room, Dingo saw that all of the dogs on the other side were from Anchorage.

 

Dingo looked confused. “What’s going on in here?” he asked his brother.

 

Kodi looked at the Anchorage dogs and shook his head with distaste. “It’s them,” he said. “There’s just something wrong with those dogs. I don’t like them, Dingo.”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Dingo saw Liko walking up to a dog from Nome, trying to be friendly. Suddenly the dog snarled and sprung at her. Liko jumped backwards in surprise.

 

“What’s so bad about them?” Dingo asked. “They’re not any different from the Nome dogs. Besides, you guys aren’t exactly giving them a friendly welcome…”

 

“They look vicious,” Kodi said. “You’re wrong, Dingo. They’re not like us. They’re a bunch of vicious street dogs. They’re the kind of dogs that want to rip you apart as soon as they see you.”

 

“That’s not true!” Dingo said defiantly. “They’re all friendly. Why don’t you just give them a chance?”

 

Kodi wove a paw in front of Dingo’s face. “Hello?” he said. “Are you really my brother Dingo? It’s like you’re a whole different dog ever since you got mixed up with those Anchorage dogs.”

 

Dingo glared at his brother. “How can you treat them that way?” he asked. “You don’t even know them! When I left Nome, you were always friendly to everyone, even if you didn’t know them. What happened?”

 

Kodi returned his brother’s glare. “A lot of things have changed since you left, Dingo,” he said, getting up and walking out of the room. “Maybe everyone would be better off if you just stayed in Anchorage.”

 

Dingo growled. “I would have been made into a fur coat if I stayed in Anchorage!” he shouted angrily.

 

“That’s another reason you should have stayed there!” Kodi shouted as he ran off.

 

Dingo slowly walked up to Saba, staring at his brother running into the distance. “He’s never acted this way before,” Dingo said. “In fact, I don’t think

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Next page