Araul

Araul

This story is © to SGA and all the characters in this story are mine!!!

 

 

“Whoa, Araul!” Musher yelled, but Araul wasn’t listening. It was a beautiful morning, with blue sky and frothy clouds, and an eagle soaring above. There was no need to slow down! It was a good time to speed up. They were reaching the town now, but there were no cars or people on the road ahead, so why not enter in style? The musher yelled again, and Araul slowed down to a trot as they pulled into the town. Araul lived in Nome, a little town most people have not heard of, but most of you will have. It was by the ocean, and it was in Alaska, so most of the year round, it was snowy. Apart from summer, which it was now. Araul was part of a sled team that took tourists around the village, but soon, they were to take part in the Iditarod sled race. This was their last practice shot before the race, which was in 6 months. It was summer, and they could not practice, or sled, as the snow was too mushy. And besides, the tourists came to see frozen waterfalls, icebergs and fresh, crisp snow and wildlife too. In the summer it all went. Araul pushed her muzzle into her bowl of food. The turkey flavored kibble tasted well. It helped build her muscles. She finished it in no time, and, just as she was licking her lips, she heard a howl. She heard it again, and immediately recognized it.

“Sasha!” She whispered, and she bolted down the road, dodging other dog sleds.

She wound her way around the people’s legs, and then she saw Sasha, stood on the edge of town, grinning from ear to ear. Araul ran up to him and tugged his ears playfully. Sasha was wolf king, and was a wolf.

Sasha had found Araul abandoned as a pup, and brought her here, away from the dangers of Ronno Remus, Sasha’s enemy. Now Sasha had another worry. Araul was ¾ wolf, and if any dog in town found out, she would be killed, or chased away. Sasha thought about it as he walked with Araul around town.

“Finn, wake up!” Sam yelled. “Breakfast is served!”

At this Finn sat bolt upright, sniffing the air. He looked over at Benson, who was still in a deep sleep. Finn leapt up and through the door onto the deck of The Trout’s Finn. Sam was roasting a Barbeque at the end of the boat. He threw a sausage to Finn, who jumped up and caught it in mid air. He landed back on deck softly, and looked over at Sam, eager for more.

“Nearly there now boy, eh?” Sam said.

Finn looked across the ocean to a small town on the shores of Alaska, and smiled.

Araul and Sasha walked along the beach, and suddenly Araul spotted an incredibly handsome black and grey husky.

“Who’s that?” Araul gasped.

“Now, Araul, don’t go getting carried away!” Sasha cried.

“Oh, lay off Sash. Girls just wanna have fun!” Araul said simply, but when she looked over at the husky, he had gone.

“Depends what your idea of fun is” Sasha told her.

Araul trotted over to a table with a guy selling sunglasses. She browsed them and then flipped up a pink heart pair with her paw. She jumped and the landed on her face.

She started singing ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’.

“That is very annoying” Sasha muttered.

“Come on Mr. Grumpy, chase me!” And Araul raced away down the beach.

Sasha gave in and chased her. Araul was just speeding up when he had to grind to a halt and Sasha too not long after. A brown dog stepped off a boat, and turned to look at Araul. Araul raised her eyebrows.

“Finn?!” Sasha gasped.

“Sasha!” Finn cried and they both play fought together for a minute.

“Araul, this is my cousin, Finn” Sasha explained. “And Finn, this is Araul”

“Well hello there” Finn said, and he winked at Araul, who was taken aback by the confidence of this dog. “I must be getting back to Sam now, I’ll see you around”

Finn leapt back on his boat, and Araul walked back towards town.

Seeing the town for the first time was weird for Sasha. It was so….noisy. That was the only word he could think of to describe it. Children played in the street, dogs raced past pulling sleds. People yelled, and chatted and laughed. Shop doors jangled. A biplane whooshed overhead. It was all very normal for Araul, but …weird for Sasha. He was used to waterfalls crashing, birds cheeping, water flowing, wolves howling, and noises of the great outdoors.

“It’s a race day!” Araul cried with joy.

“Race day?” Sasha asked, looking puzzled.

“A day where all the dogs of the town gather to race!” Araul explained, looking excited and eager to race.

“Why?” Sasha quizzed.

“For fun, stupid! And so the humans can bet money on who is gonna win!”

Sasha looked confused.

“Honestly, Sash, don’t looked so confuzzled all the time!” Araul laughed.

Sasha blushed “I just don’t see the point”

“Like I said, you have no sense of fun!” She giggled.

She looked to the end of the road.

“Hey Sasha” She said, and she nudged him. “Race ya to the end of the road!”

“No”

“Aw, please”

“No!”

Araul sighed, and hung her head. Sasha looked at her, and sighed too.

“Last one there’s a rotten bone!” Sasha exclaimed, and hurtled down the road.

Araul laughed, and ran after him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Benson, let’s go” Finn whispered across the cabin

“No” Benson murmured from underneath his blanket

“Aw, why not?” Finn laughed. “Too….scared?”

“No!” Benson lifted his head up out of his blanket in protest.

“Shush! Sam will hear you!” Finn whispered. “I’m going!”

“Why?”

“I want to see the race!”

“You’re not going to enter it, are you?”

“No! Well, if I did –

“Which you’re not, right?”

- “If I did happen to enter it, would it really be that bad?”

“Look, I just wanna save you the embarrassment of losing to a load of pooches”

“I’m not gonna lose”

“Right…” Benson said, and put his head back under the blanket. “Hang on...”

But Finn was already off the boat and onto the beach.

“Finn!” Benson yelled after him.

But Finn was already into the town, and he knew who to look out for. He couldn’t help himself. He realized he had a crush on Araul, which he knew was wrong, because she was practically joined to Sasha, who was his cousin. He was almost related to her.

He trotted into town. There, he saw a load of malamutes lined up at the start line, raring to go. And between them, he also saw Araul, looking eager to go.

An idea suddenly struck Finn.

What if I enter the race? He thought. If I do well, she will be impressed!

He walked over to the start line, and cam up next to Araul.

“Oh…hi!” Araul said, and looked back at the track.

“Hi” Finn answered.

Idiot! She spoke to you, and all you could think of was ‘Hi!”

“Weather’s nice, huh?” He mentioned.

Finn groaned at his own stupidity, and Araul just looked confused.

“Yeah” She said shortly. “Good day for a race”

“Okay, everybody, all dogs to the start, and we’ll begin!” A man by the track said.

“On you mark!”

Araul hunched her shoulders, and stretched out her legs.

“Get Set!”

She lowered her body, and looked dead ahead, and Finn tried to copy.

“GO!”

Araul shot off, with Finn not far behind.

The other dogs came out of nowhere, and a few of them surrounded Araul, blocking her way. She was forced to slow down.

“Butch! Outta my way!” She cried

“Too bad, girlie” Butch cackled, and he sped up into a gallop, and got ahead of the race. He passed Finn, who was by now miles ahead of Araul. His cronies followed after. Araul refused to give up. She growled, and shot along the road. The crowd was cheering, as Butch had crossed the line. She saw Finn in the distance.

 

 

 

 

Time to get my own back! She thought.

She sped up a lot more. She ran into a whole new gear, and the crowd was just a blur. She came neck and neck with Finn, and slowed down a bit. He was only just keeping up with her, but by the look of his face, he was struggling. She slowed down again, until he caught up. Now they were just cantering. Finn looked over at her, and, not paying attention, nearly skidded on a bit of ice. Araul chuckled. She winked at him, and sped away into the distance. She leapt over the finish line, and the crowd clapped slowly. Araul plunked herself on a crate by a shop, and waited.

Finn walked across the line, and panted heavily.

“Finally finished are you?” Araul giggled from the crate.

Finn looked over, and blushed.

“You’re gonna have to speed up a bit to beat me” Araul noted.

“You didn’t exactly do too well yourself!” Finn exclaimed, smiling.

Now it was Araul’s turn to blush. She stood up on the crate in protest.

“Butch boxed me in! I had nowhere to go!” Araul cried. “I hate him!” She bit into the crate, gnawing on the edge. “If he does that in the Iditarod trails, I swear I will…”

She leapt off the box and kicked a stone across the road.

Finn sighed, wishing he hadn’t said anything.

“I’m sorry, I…I didn’t mean to offend you” Finn muttered.

“No…It’s not you. It’s Butch. He hates me. Every time I do

1 2 3 4 5 6

Next page