Fell rolled his eyes back the other way and grinded his teeth together. “I did.”
Kirby waited for the room to grow quiet, even though it was already quiet. Clearing his throat like a great speaker, he began. “Five hundred miles of the harshest trail anybody has ever seen. Testing the will of man and dog, possibly brining us together, or ripping us apart.”
Dusty turned to face Kirby.
“Winds so strong that they could pick an entire team of dogs up and throw them off a mountain.” Kirby went on, Ralph turned to listen in also. “Ice rough enough to rip your paws to bloody shreds – and this is only in the first few miles. Not to mention the fame that the winning team would have, and the ladies that will swoon over us. Now can you believe that we’re going to run this race?” He finished with voice of utter excitement.
Ralph’s ears perked straight and narrow at the mention of ladies. “So what’s this about … ladies?” He tried his best to sound uncaring.
“The girls.” Kirby stated flatly. “Every girl. From the big to the small, from the awful built, to the well built.” Kirby gave a flirtatious growl
“Oh,” groaned Dusty turning back around. “Males.” She spit out distastefully
Ralph’s attention still held fast. “So, all the girls would be after us?”
Kirby opened his mouth to speak--
“--You mean like they do now?” Dusty snickered.
“Ha ha ha, you kill me Dusty.” Kirby laughed derisively
Ralph, still unmoved, turned to speak again. “So, who exactly would have the most girls after him?”
Perplexity wracked Kirby’s face; ears twisting, eyes moving off and away inadvertently. “Well, I suppose it would be the one who wears the golden collar.”
“And who’s that?” Ralph asked on the edge of excitement.
“Well, I guess it would be …” Kirby’s eyes moved across the room towards Kodi’s lost form. “Our leader.”
Kodi, suddenly realizing the eyes of half his teammates were on him, looked up unaware of what was happening. “What?”
“Oh nothing.” Ralph turned away and stared back into the deepness of the boiler. In his mind he could still remember all the stupid things Kodi had put the team through, and all the pain from the extra running Ralph had had on his toe. “Just talking, that’s all.” Ralph finished with a bitter tone.
Kirby turned away also, and the eyes of his teammates were no longer on him. Kodi could feel the pressing of the room and his ‘friends’ against him crushing him back into his corner. He needed to get out of there.
Kodi urged himself to his feet and began to ramble towards the door. His head hung low between his front legs, but his eyes scanning his teammates for their irate looks. They all turned their heads slowly towards Kodi and let a single judging eye cast across his slinking form. Fell and Kip both watched him move from out under the shelf and across the room with high-nosed eyes – even though they weren’t particularly mad at him. Kodi then crossed between Kirby and Ralph. Both looked at him over their shoulders with a scowl; both thinking about the particular hell Kodi had put them through. Dusty didn’t even feel it worth her time to look at him.
Kodi stopped at the door and leaned his shoulder hard against it. A long groan signaled it opening, followed closely by a blast of arctic wind that chilled the room. Fur twitched on end on everyone. Kodi pushed into the darkness and cold, kicking the door closed with his left back foot before cowering into the night.
The room was silent; all eyes rested still against different places throughout the room waiting for the heat to return and fur to drop back down.
“Serves him right.” Dusty scolded.
Kirby looked straight at Dusty. “You know Dusty, it isn’t all his fault.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Dusty shot back.
“But what about what you said last night?” Kirby shot back even harder.
Dusty was silent.
Kirby stepped closer to Dusty, and Dusty watched him out of the corner of her eye, waiting. But Kirby stopped short, closed his mouth, opened it again, then closed it and turned away. Casting one more glance towards Dusty,Kirby moved slow across the room and found himself a spot tucked back under the benches. He curled himself around three and a half times, then laid down facing the wall; letting his mind slink into the recesses of sleep.
Kodi felt horrible to the point that he actually felt sick. Although he had been feeling quite sick all evening, it seemed to be coming through with an exceptionally atrociousness now. He stumbled left and right through the streets bouncing his shoulders against the siding to either side. Moaning horribly and feeling his stomach turn and gurgle as he did. Words spilled forth, never being spoken to any general audience and always being slow and moaned. His eyes looked, but did not see.
“Why?” He cried to himself, then moaned a cluster of words.
What’s wrong with me? Kodi asked himself mentally. He didn’t appear to be well at all. Is this guilt eating me up that bad? Am I falling apart because of this? What am I going to do? Kodi asked himself over and over again.
The night seemed to crowd in around Kodi. Wind zapped the life from him and drowned his fur in swirls of snow that came up from around the edges of buildings he passed. Nothing seemed to make any sense: Kodi felt completely lost.
Kodi ducked into a dark alley stuffed with trash. Maybe I need some sleep. He thought feeling suddenly sleepy. He looked for something soft to crawl under or pull over himself. Then it came, his stomach. It twisted violently and threw itself forward against his chest and spilled it’s contents onto the snow in front of him with a loud hack that could be heard halfway across town. It came in two waves from him, at first exploding violently out and away, then a low emptying of what hadn’t made it out in the first wave until he was completely drained.
Sitting back with an almost amazed look on his face, along with some half digested slump across his lower jaw, Kodi looked around him slightly dazed; but at least he felt better. Two wooden barrels nearby welcomed Kodi’s exhausted form. He wedged his body between them and sat with his back to the wall letting his stomach settle itself. Kodi’s eyes closed and opened meditatively, looking towards the black sky above with an estranged hope. A hope for an answer, a way to turn the story, or anything, anything.
“KODIAK!” Came the sudden scream.
Kodi’s eyes dropped instantly and he threw himself against the side of the barrel in shock, knocking it down in front of his feet. Feet tangled around the barrel as Kodi ran. But he didn’t get far as the barrel rolled under his front legs and lifted his stomach into the air, tossing him over to the side. The realization of who was yelling at him made Kodi curl his tail between his legs, and tuck his ears back against the side of his head.
Slowly Kodi turned his head to look down at the far end of the alley where his mother stood surrounded by a yellow glow of a lantern. Her eyes were dark, but burned with a fierceness of death. Breath escaped her lungs with a hiss, followed by the crackling of the steam as it froze in midair.
“KODIAK!” Jenna barked again, her powerful mother toned voice funneling down the alley, causing Kodi to wince as he stared from his shocked position on his back.
Without another word, Jenna moved down the alley towards her son with a stride of pure hate, pure vengeance, and pure energy. It only took a moment before she stood above Kodi, looking down with a coldness and superiority of a abhorrence filled mother.
“H, hi … mo-”
“Don’t you ‘Hi Mom’ me.” Jenna ordered. “I don’t want to hear a word out of your mouth.”
“Yes mom.” Kodi submitted and sucked his neck down, trying to become as small as he could to escape his mother’s wrath.
“Now stand up!” His mother ordered.
Kodi rolled over to his stomach, but kept his body close to the snow so he didn’t stand over his mother.
Jenna scowled. “I said stand up!”
Kodi did, and stood just slightly taller than his mother, but made sure to keep his head and shoulders low, along with his tail.
Jenna growled “Who do you think you are? I want to know. Who do you think you are?”
Kodi wasn’t sure how to answer, and waited for his mother to continue, or make an order for him to answer her.
A tense standoff passed, and then calm seemed to come through Jenna in a single exhaled breath of disillusioned reason, relaxing everything, even her fur until she no longer looked full of rage. Her eyes even looked calm. But the feeling of extreme displeasure filled the air around them.
She heaved a breath and leaned in close to Kodi. “I’m not mad at you; I’m
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