to stop.
“Whoa! Whoa! Ease up, ease up. Line it out.” Mr. Simpson pushed his boot into the snow, casting a spray of it all up his chest, some right up to his hood. The team stopped and he threw the snow hook down and leapt on it. Then with a turn, Mr. Simpson bolted into the man-door – next to the large garage type door - of the building they had come to rest in front of, hardly bothering to close it behind him.
Kirby kept watching the door for several seconds after Mr. Simpson had vanished. He then turned to the team with a perplexed eyebrow lowered. “What was that about?”
An un-agreeable raise of the shoulders and sighs of wonder escaped his teammates. Nobody really seemed to know, but they all had speculated thoughts on it.
The energy that the team had suddenly, diminished slowly, until once again they all sat down in the snow feeling their aches and pains run through their body. Every now and then nerve ending flared wildly in their muscles, causing Kirby to shift a leg there, Dusty to stand the roll her back here, and Fell to lay sideways and stretch his legs as far as he could towards the building Mr. Simpson went into.
“Oh, I’m so hungry.” Ralph said suddenly, his belly roared and he raised his paw to feel just how thin he was becoming. “Look at me.” He said indirectly to his teammates. “I’m turning to skin and bones. If I don’t eat something soon, I’ll just shrivel up and disappear.” Ralph laughed halfheartedly, but nobody joined him. He sighed unemotionally and returned to being silent and just another silent member of the team.
“Thank you. Thank you very much.” Mr. Simpson said stepping out of the door he had vanished into. His right hand shaking the town carpenters hand joyfully. “I just can’t believe that I’m going to do it.”
The carpenter smiled. “Yeah, well like I said I should have the sled in two or three days, and the harnesses and gang-line are ready now if you want them.”
Mr. Simpson stopped shaking the carpenters hand and stepped away from the door, making for his team. “No, no. I would rather take them all in one shot. Thank you, thank you again.” He turned away with a smile and the carpenter closed the door without another word.
All the dogs turned and looked at their master with questioning eyes as he made his way to the back of the sled. Mr. Simpson stopped just before reaching the sled; as if he understood what his dogs were thinking, he spoke up. “Well I guess I should tell those who are going to be doing the pulling.” Mr. Simpson reached up with both his mittens and removed his hood, exposing his tender face to the ice cold and growing darkness. He raised his arms and head out like he was going to shout to the sky, which he did “We’re going to run the Alaska 500, and we’re going to win.”
7. Kodi's Talking To
“The Alaska five hundred.” Kirby said to himself in a voice just above a whisper. To his teammates he probably looked pretty foolish sitting by the door of the boiler room looking out at the bleak night and letting the cold creep in through the slightly ajar door. Light from the flame in the boiler stretched out across the snow in front of Kirby through the crack into the night.
“The Alaska five hundred.” Kirby repeated in a more upbeat tone. This time his voice echoed through the boiler room, but nobody seemed to take heed.
A long satisfying grin spread across Kirby’s face. Closing his eyes he could clearly see himself standing above a large crowd on a pedestal with a shiny golden collar wrapped around his neck. But the crowd wasn’t just any crowd; this was a crowd of the most beautiful, most luscious, most busty female dogs Kirby had ever seen. And they were all shouting his name and screaming out “Take me,” “I’m yours,” and the one that got Kirby all bound up in knots, “I got some steak, big boy.”
“Hey Kirby why don’t you close that. I spent all day out there, I don’t need to have it in here as well” Ralph said busting Kirby’s fragile bubble of self love. Dusty’s giggle followed shortly after.
Kirby turned and looked at all his friends spread about the room easing their aches and pains away. Ralph and Dusty sat side by side in front of the boiler, flames dancing across their faces and upper chest like some playful pup lapping at there wet faces. Kip and Fell sat side by side back away from the boiler up on the wooden shelves. The fur on their faces was wet, but starting to dry in - what was compared to the outside as - the intense temperature of the boiler room. Then there was Kodi; he lay back against the far corner of the boiler room under the shadow of the bench, head down against his paws, tail and legs coiled around himself. His ears laid semi flat against his head, set in a space between a dream and a nightmare, being completely ignored by everyone in the room like some garbage on the street. Kodi didn’t seem to mind that he was nothing in his teammates eyes, and by the looks, didn’t look like he cared he was even a teammate.
Kirby opened his jaws and grabbed the white cotton rope that hung on the inside of the door and pulled. The door closed as best it could with the snow wedged between it and the baseboard, leaving the top corner open to the cold, but that was normal. He then turned back into the room and began to saunter his way across the wooden floor. Unnoticed squeaks rising from the boards as he walked. Stopping, Kirby cleared his throat and attained the unnoticed attention of the room. “Can you believe it?”
“What’s that Kirby?” Dusty threw over her shoulder, slipping her head around Ralph’s fat head.
Kirby took a step towards Dusty and raised his chest arrogantly; Ralph turned his head to listen. “My dream of course.”
“Your dream?” Ralph laughed and turned back towards the boiler. Dusty followed, already bored with what was to come.
“Yes, my dream.” Kirby turned away hurt.
Ralph laughed even harder. “I thought your only dream was to gain enough weight that you could just sit on your fat but all day and not do anything … or, or what about the dream where you save a bunch of female dogs that will take care of you for the rest of your life?” Ralph continued on chuckling, his entire body shaking as he laughed.
Kirby growled and moved away from the boiler, a look of hurt spread across his face. “You guys are just jealous because I have a dream.” He huffed and sat down facing away from everyone.
Rolling his eyes then closing them tight and angrily, yet sucking his anger in and preparing himself to kiss up, Ralph turned to face Kirby’s back. “Well, then why don’t you tell us your Dream.”
Kirby raised an ear to this, and turned his head slightly. “What?”
Ralph groaned in his mind. “Why don’t you tell us what your dream’s about. We’re all listening.”
Dusty nodded approvingly without turning her head, and Kip and Fell both bowed their heads once in approval. Kodi didn’t seem to hear anything, his head just laid on his paws and his eyes stared forward.
“Well,” Kirby began to turn around. “I guess I could.”
“Sure.” Ralph turned back to the boiler with an uninterested tone as Kirby began to rant.
“It’s my dream to run the Alaska 500.” Kirby stated matter-of-factly.
Silence reined throughout the room for what seemed several minutes.
“Oh come on, aren’t you guys interested in this race at all?” Kirby fired.
“Nope.”
“Nope.”
“Not really.”
“Hehehehe.”
His teammates fired off in rapid succession – at least the ones that were listening.
“Well … er, why not?” Kirby fought his words out.
Ralph turned his head to the side so Kirby could see his left eye. “It’s just another time in the harness.”
“What!” Kirby leapt to Ralph’s side. “’Just another time in the harness?’ It’s more than that, it’s, it’s … just …” Kirby stopped, the struggle with words ended for a lack of them.
Silence returned to the little room. Kirby looked around him at his friends; none of them seemed to share his same excitement for the race to come. He began to turn away from the boiler and make his way towards the back of the room under the bench, when Fell spoke from just above him.
“So exactly what is so acceptional as to regards of this contest?” Fell’s voice sounded full of genial interest.
Kirby didn’t want to bust the bubble of friendship he was receiving from Fell; but the fact of the matter was that he didn’t know exactly what he had been asked. “Well, you know er … um, a … do you think you could repeat that?” He asked in a tone of confusion.
Fell rolled his eyes in a wide circle. “Moronic simpletons.” He whispered to himself, then straightened up to speak. “I asked, what is so special about this race?”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” Kirby turned away from the benches and took up a speaking spot in the center of the room.
Fell rolled
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