only I had some help around here. Running this shop alone is killing me.”

He then picks up another heavy bag. This time, his back couldn’t take it anymore. Edward let goes of the bag. The bag then fell open. Half of the jerky inside came out. Edward cursed to himself.

“Need some help, sir?”

Edward turned around. A young man with brown hair and blue eyes was there. The young man was tall and skinny. Edward nodded.

“Yes, I’d appreciate some help.” He said.

The young man helps Edward into the shop.

“Thank you.” Edward said. “Would you mind bringing in those two bags of jerky for me?”

“Sure.” the young man replied.

“And just toss the ones that are on the ground.” Edward said.

“Okay.”

The young man ties the half empty bag back up and brings it to the shop. He then brings in the two full bags.

“Thank you, son.” Edward said. “Now, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes there is, sir.” the young man said. “I would like a job. Clean, stack, anything you want me to do here.”

Edward thought for a moment.

“Well, you don’t seem familiar.” He said. “Are you from Nome?”

“No, sir.” replied the young man. “I’m from…Anchorage.”

Edward’s eyes went up.

“Anchorage!” He said. “Oh, that’s right. The train from Anchorage came this morning. How is it in Anchorage? I’ve heard it’s a nice place.”

“Not where I’m from.” the young man said in a low voice.

Edward could see that the young man didn’t like the subject of Anchorage being brought up.

“Are you here alone?” He asked.

“No.” the young man replied. “I have my dog with me.”

“No humans, huh?” Edward asked.

“Nope.” The young man replied.

Edward started scratching his beard, thinking.

“Okay, son.” He said. “You can work here. You’ll be stacking and cleaning the shop for five dollars a day.”

“Oh, thank you, sir.” said the young man.

Edward nodded.

“Before I forget, what is your name, son?” He asked.

“My name’s Jake Silver, sir.”

“Well, for now on, you can just call me Edward, Jake.”

Jake and Edward then shook eachother hands.

Meanwhile…

“I’m telling you, guys.” Kodi said. “I don’t what came over me. I was only gonna tell her ‘Welcome to Nome’, but for some reason, I couldn’t.”

Kodi, Dusty, Ralph, Kirby, and Balto were walking the streets of Nome, on their way to the Old Mill to discuss about the new dogs. Kodi kept telling them (for the fifth time) why he couldn’t just say it to the new wolfdog of Nome. Dusty was getting annoyed.

“It’s all right, Kodi.” She said. “Maybe you were just nervous because she’s from another town.”

“Or maybe Kodi thought the new dog was cute.” Kirby said.

“Yeah, he always gets nervous when he has to talk to pretty girls.” Ralph said.

“What!” Kodi said. “I wasn’t nervous because of that. And I don’t get nervous whenever I talk to girls. I talk to Dusty and she’s a girl.”

“Gee, thanks for noticing.” Dusty said, sarcastically.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Dusty.” Kodi said. “It’s just I didn’t get nervous, because I thought she was pretty.”

“Oh, so you did think she was pretty.” Kirby said.

Kodi jumped.

“Wait! No… I didn’t…”

“Whatever, Kodi.” Kirby said.

They all kept quiet after that. Balto could tell that Kodi had crush on the wolfdog. He could see Kodi was blushing a little. As they were getting close to the Old Mill, Balto could see the female wolfdog, resting next to the General Store.

“Well Kodi, if you want to make things right,” He said. “There’s your chance.”

Kodi looks up and saw the wolfdog.

“No. I don’t think she wants to see me.” He said.

“Aw, come on, Kodi.” Dusty said. “It’ll make you feel better if you say sorry to her.”

“Yeah, Kodi.” Kirby said. “Just go and introduce yourself to her.”

“She’ll probably like that.” Ralph said.

Kodi thought for a moment. He did want to say sorry to the female wolfdog. But even more important for some reason, Kodi just wants to talk to her.

“All right, I’ll talk to her.” He said.

“Good.” Balto said. “We’ll meet you at the Old Mill. C’mon guys.”

The four dogs then left, leaving Kodi to talk to the wolfdog.

Okay… What should I say to her…? Kodi thought. Perhaps just say “Hello”. Yeah, everything would come up easy after that…I hope…

Kodi then walk towards the female wolfdog.

“Hi.” He said.

The wolfdog lefts her head up and looks at Kodi.

“Oh… Hello.” She said.

“Do you remember me?” Kodi said. “We met at the train station, this morning.”

“Yes, I remember.” She said. “You were mumbling something to me. It sounded like Wel… Welcome… or something.”

“Yeah…about that…” Kodi said, his face was getting red. “I was trying to say ‘Welcome to Nome’ to you. You know…just trying to make the dogs from Anchorage feel comfortable here.”

The wolfdog giggled.

“Well, that’s very nice of you.” She said.

“Yeah…” Kodi said. “Would you mind if I…start over. On introducing myself, I mean.”

“Sure.” replied the wolfdog.

“Great. Hello, welcome to Nome. My name’s Kodi.”

“Nice to meet you, Kodi. I’m Ellie.”

Ellie… Kodi thought. That’s a pretty name…for a beautiful dog.

Kodi just stares at Ellie. Her silver and gray fur was shining in the sunlight. And despite the horrid moon shaped scar on her right eye, Kodi was into Ellie’s blue eyes even more.

“Kodi…” Ellie said.

Kodi shook his head, trying to get back to reality.

“Oh uh…I was wondering, would you mind coming to the Old Mill tonight?” He said. “Just so you get to meet everyone in town.”

Ellie giggled.

“Sure. I’d love to come.” She said.

“Great! I mean…uh…good. I’ll see you then.” Kodi said.

After saying goodbye, Kodi then took off. Just then, Ellie’s owner, Jake, came out from the General Store. Ellie got up and went to him.

“Guess what, girl.” Jake said happily. “I got the job.”

Ellie barked excitedly.

“That’s right, girl.” Jake said. “Our new lives in Nome, so far, are turning out great.”

Jake couldn’t have been more right. Ellie had just met someone that wasn’t scared of her scar. He was really nice and invited her to meet the rest of the dogs of Nome. She only hopes that they are as nice as Kodi.