“Mush, mush!” called Mr. Drago from the sled. Blitz closed his eyes and clenched his teeth together as he picked up the pace. Behind him, Haywire and Ambyr panted as they tried to keep up.

“Would it kill you to slow down a bit?” huffed Haywire. “I’m dying here!”

Blitz kept his eyes on the trail in front of him. “This mail is already three hours late! We can’t afford to stop now!”

“We’re not asking to stop,” panted Ambyr. “We’re asking to slow down.”

Blitz couldn’t hear them. He panted as he continued to sprint forward, struggling to keep one paw in front of the other. “Come on,” he said. “Move! We’ve got to make it back double-time!”

“No one’s gonna go anywhere if we’re all too tired to do anything! Not everyone here is as fast as you are!”

Haywire grunted as his collar yanked him forward.

Blitz couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They’ve only been mail dogs for a couple of months, and they’re already starting to complain. Didn’t they realize the urgency of speed and endurance? Well, it was his job to set the example for them, and that’s just what he’s doing. Blitz looked down at his paws, panting. No one’s going to slow him down. Not when they’re already behind schedule. It’s going to take something much bigger for him to even think about slowing down.

“WATCH OUT!!”

Blitz looked up to see himself about to run head-on into a tree. He barked loudly in surprise and quickly jumped aside. The dogs behind him were quick to react as they followed his lead and leaped out of the way as well. But the sudden change in course threw Blitz off balance. He struggled to regain his footing, but the panic soon took over his body, paralyzing him. Blitz fell to the hard ground, tumbling over himself, and entangling his legs in the reins. Haywire and Ambyr couldn’t stop, and jumped right over Blitz while he continued to crash land. The other dogs dug their paws in the ground, and halted. Mr. Drago got down from his sled. “Blitz?”

Blitz opened his eyes. He was spread on the ground. He looked at one of his hind legs. It had a bleeding gash slashed in it. He tried to get up, but his leg hurt too much to even twitch it. He whimpered as Mr. Drago came to his side.

“Looks like a pretty chewed up leg.” He went back to his sled, and pulled out a medical kit. Haywire and Ambyr, along with the rest of the dogs all had worried looks on their faces. Mr. Drago came back with a roll of bandages and anti-bacteriant. It stung when he applied it on his leg, and Blitz whimpered again. “I know, I know...just hang in there. You’ll be fine, boy.”

After a few more minutes, Mr. Drago smiled at him as he finished bandaging up Blitz leg. Haywire and Ambyr leaned in and helped him to his feet. Blitz had a minor limp to his walk as he staggered to all fours. What happened next puzzled him. Mr. Drago detached Blitz’s collar and traded it with Ambyr’s.

“You’re not in any condition to be running around,” said Mr. Drago to Blitz. “Take it easy...you’ll overwork yourself!” He patted Ambyr’s head. “Don’t worry. Ambyr here will cover for ya.” He smiled again at Blitz and started walking back to the sled. Blitz looked at the ground, and couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.

“Mush!” called Mr. Drago. The team moved forward. With a careful paw, Blitz followed, still keeping his eyes on the ground. It’s not like he needed to see where he was going anymore.

* * *

“What were you thinking?” Ambyr yelled in their new boiler room. Blitz was sitting down, his ears lowered, and looking at the ground. “We warned you to slow down, and if you’d listened, none of this ever would’ve happened!”

“I-I’m sorry,” said Blitz. “I just wanted to get here on time.”

“On time?! Blitz, we were three hours late! And then, when you injured your leg, you made it five!”

Blitz didn’t say anything. Haywire, who was standing nearby, looked at Ambyr. “Cut him some slack, will you? Of all dogs, I thought you’d be happiest...you got to be lead dog for a few hours!”

“This isn’t about that,” growled Ambyr. “Now that Mr. Hurry-Up’s leg is out of commission, we won’t be able to run until it fully heals! The mail is a full-time job, Haywire. What’s a sled team without a lead dog?”

Now, Haywire was silent.

“I’ll tell you what. Nothing, that’s what it is, nothing! Now, we get to sit on our tails while a replacement team does all the work...our work. And you should know – humans don’t feel too kindly about healthy dogs turning lazy on them.”

Haywire’s ears perked up. “It’s just a cut,” he said. “When is our next mail duty?”

Ambyr scowled. “In two days.”

“What if we can get Blitz up and running again before our next work day? We could patch up the cut, and take away the limp.”

Ambyr looked at Blitz, who was still focusing at nothing. “I sincerely doubt that.”

Haywire leaned closer to Ambyr. “I betcha two bones we can.”

Ambyr narrowed her eyes. “...And by ‘we’, you mean you and Blitz?”

“You mean your not going to help us out?”

“We have a deal, don’t we?”

Ambyr and Haywire crossed their paws and spat on the ground.

“Now, it’s official,” said Haywire, looking at her challengingly.

“Two bones...two days.” Ambyr crossed the room and walked out the door. Haywire watched as she left.

“You’re about to lose something very precious,” said Blitz to the ground.

Haywire turned to him, surprised. “What do you mean?”

Finally, Blitz looked up and started at Haywire. “Two days? It’ll take at least two weeks for this to completely heal...how many work days would we miss then?”

“We’re not going to miss any! You’re gonna get better before the day after tomorrow, I know you will.”

Blitz’s eyes returned to the ground. “Speak for yourself. I’m such a failure.”

Haywire’s eyes narrowed as he lowered his head and forced Blitz’s head up. He turned around and slapped Blitz across the face three times with his tail.

“Snap out of it, Blitz! Listen to yourself! A couple hours ago, you wanted nothing more than to bring the mail safely back to Nome. Now, you’re letting a measly cut on your leg stop you from doing your job, YOUR JOB?!”

Blitz’s eyes were wide, filled with a combination of shock, realization, and embarrassment at the same time. He violently shook his head from side to side.

“Haywire....W-What’s gotten into me?”

Haywire heaved him to his feet. “I dunno...but whatever it is, we gotta get it out! Come on, this way.” He started heading for the door, but looked back as Blitz tried his hardest to stand on his own, wobbling. Haywire sighed. “Let’s start with that limp of yours.”

Blitz had never been so determined in his life. He worked even harder that he had running the mail! Wondering if his priorities were set straight, he continued to bear with Haywire’s constant yells and rants about how much he wanted those two bones, and how Blitz was going to help him get them, whether he wanted to or not.

Haywire supported Blitz while he got to his feet, then suddenly let go once he got on all fours. He made Blitz walk a hundred yards on his own. If he stopped or fell, Haywire would shake his head and yell, “No, no...do it again!”

After a few hours, Blitz finally stopped and sat down.

“What’re you doing? C’mon, get up!

“Haywire,” panted Blitz. “I...I can’t keep constantly doing this...it’s murder!”

Haywire trotted up to him. “Well, now, you know how we feel. Now get to your paws, kid, and try...again!”

That was the first time Haywire ever called him “kid”, and it felt a little awkward to Blitz. Usually, it was Ambyr’s job to call him that.

With a growl, he clenched his teeth and struggled up. Haywire ran down the field and yelled. “Alright, you ready?”

Blitz nodded.

“Okay...one...two...three...GO!”

Even in tryouts, Blitz never knew he possessed such speed. With a grunt and a sudden burst of energy and determination, he leapt forward and sprang down the field.

“That’s it! You got it, you got it!” exclaimed Haywire.

For a couple of seconds, Blitz was so focused on himself, he almost lost control again. In those painful seconds, it seemed as if he completely forgot how to walk, and he started tripping over his paws. He had one more second to react, and Blitz spent it by looking up. The thoughts returned, and he quickly regained his balance.

After he crossed the finish line, he panted as he waited for Blitz to tell him to do it again. But other then tell him to go back, he told him something even better. “You’re too concentrated on yourself. Don’t think about what you’re doing, just do it! Look up and stay focused! Have a little self-confidence! Sheesh.”

Still panting, Blitz nodded.

“Good...NOW you can go back and do it again.”

Running back and forth with