back and forth with constant thoughts of getting better made the day go strangely faster. At night, Blitz ordered him to sprint to the boiler room and get a good rest, because he was already getting warmed up to drill him the next day.

In the middle of the night, Haywire quietly lifted his head. He looked over at Haywire, who was out cold. He leaned over and pulled the red bandages from his leg. Throwing them away, he saw that the wound had stopped bleeding, and that it was already starting to close up. Blitz licked at the wound, and when he felt he had cleaned it enough, he lay his head down and soon fell fast asleep.

Blitz didn’t know what time it was when Haywire suddenly decided to sneak up on him and bark in her ear, but when he did, Blitz jumped six feet in the air.

“Wow...that leg of yours really is getting better,” Haywire said with a grin.

“...W-What time is it?” asked Blitz, rubbing his eyes with his paw.

“It’s 11:30,” said Haywire. “Half the day, slept away, now you gotta make up for it. Come on, let’s go.”

The first few laps Haywire made him do were a bit shaky, but with every trial he completed, he eventually was able to sprint without stopping or slowing down.

“I think...I think I’m all better,” said Blitz happily.

“Not quite.”

Before he knew it, Blitz’s vision suddenly turned black as Haywire snuck behind him and wrapped a bandana over his eyes.

‘Hey! What the –“

“You may be able to run, but you don’t really know how to run. If you wanna avoid having Ambyr tell you off again, you better know how to maintain control.”

Blitz nodded nervously.

Haywire trotted off. “You ready?”

Blitz nodded again.

“Okay...one...two...three...GO!”

Blitz jolted ahead. He tried to remember which paws go ahead of which, and if he was wondering if he was even headed n the right direction. Panic started bubbling in him again. He struggled to lift his head up, and as he did, Haywire’s words came back to him: Don’t think about what you’re doing, just do it! Look up and stay focused!

Stay focused, Blitz thought to himself. Stay focused...no problem.

“STOP!!” Shouted Haywire.

Blitz immediately ground his paws to the ground, and halted. He looked around, even though the bandana still covered his head.

“Wha-Who? Where? Am I gonna run into something?”

“No...” Haywire yanked the bandana off of his head, smiling. “You reached the finish!” He wagged his tail happily.

Blitz looked confused. “...Already?”

“What do you mean, ‘already’? You ran five hundred yards flat!”

Blitz shook himself off and barked. “...That wasn’t really hard.”

“You’re telling me.”

“How’s it going, boys?”

Blitz and Haywire both turned their heads to see Ambyr coming towards them. She had a very unusual smile on her face.

“Real well,” Haywire said proudly. “I hope you’ve got those bones ready. I am so winning this bet!”

Ambyr rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh...anyway, just dropped by to let you know we’ll be headed to Teller tomorrow. You can’t win the bet unless Blitz can safely get us there without screwing up.” She threw them a wink.

“Hope you’re ready to lose,” Blitz said to her.

Ambyr looked at him. “For all our sakes as well as yours, I certainly hope so.” And with that, she trotted away.

“Alright, lap dog,” said Haywire to Blitz. “Let’s try that one more time.”

 

* * *

 

It was so calm and serene, but that all changed when Blitz heard Haywire bark in his ear again. “Get up, get up,” he exclaimed. “Mr. Drago’s looking all over for you! It’s time to go, and now.”

Blitz jumped to his feet. “Where is he?”

Haywire jumped up and down. “Outside the post office. Come on!” He dashed out the door. With a yawn and a shake of his fur, Blitz sprinted out and followed.

Mr. Drago had the whole team ready by the time Blitz arrived. “There you are,” he said happily. “Lemmie see your leg...if you’re in any shape to run at all.”

Haywire, strapped onto the sled, held his breath as Blitz turned around, allowing Mr. Drago to inspect the wound.

“Incredible,” he said. “Nothing but a small scar! How’d you ever get it to heal so quickly?” He patted Blitz on the head and strapped him on. “Hey!” Dr Drago called. “My lead dog’s all better! I’ll be taking that bag of mail now!”

Blitz grinned at Haywire, and Haywire did the same.

“Okay, so you’ve passed the first test,” muttered Ambyr.

Blitz was about to say something smart to her, but was cut off when he heard a word he always dreamed having said to him.

“To Teller! Mush!”

Brimming with confidence, Blitz barked loudly and bolted forward.

 

A little while into the trip, Ambyr finally had to break to silence. “Okay...so I’m interested...how’d you do it, Haywire? How’d you get Blitz to get better so fast?”

Haywire gave her a sly grin. “Anything’s possible when you’re determined enough. You just gotta push yourself.”

“...And speaking of pushing,” Ambyr said, turning to Blitz. “Why are you going this fast? Shouldn’t you be trying to haul tail and kicking it into high gear?”

Blitz looked over his shoulder to her. “Nope...we should all go at our own paces.”

Amby’s mouth dropped, and she looked at Haywire. “Okay...seriously...how’d you do it?”

Haywire laughed, but the sound of his voice became smothered when a thick cloud of fog suddenly rose from the ground.

“Hey, what gives,” said one of the dogs.

Ambyr looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t see the dog behind her. She looked to the side, but could only see a very faint silhouette of Haywire. “Blitz! How can you navigate in this,” she said.

Blitz couldn’t answer her. He couldn’t see a thing either. “Ummm...I think...”

“Remember,” came Haywire’s voice. “Don’t think –“

“...Just do,” he and Blitz said in unison. “Right.”

Blitz concentrated on where he was going. He couldn’t see anything past the end of his muzzle! He looked down at his paws, and a familiar panic started brewing inside.

Focus, thought Blitz. Focus...it’s not any different from being blindfolded.

Immediately, Blitz snapped his head up. He couldn’t bring himself to look at his running paws again. Suddenly, his panic started evaporating.

“I know where I’m going,” he said.

“How? How do you know?” asked Ambyr from nowhere.

“Just trust me.” He dodged a tree with fluid motion, and the team followed easily. “This is going to be a walk in the park.”

As suddenly as they stepped in, the team burst from the cloud of fog. The team gazed as everything became crystal clear and sharp.

“We’re out,” the dogs cheered. They barked happily, and Haywire chimed in.

Blitz grinned to himself. He turned his head to the side, and saw one of the biggest relieves of his life.

“Welcome to Teller,” the sign said.

Blitz and Haywire both looked expectantly at Ambyr.

“...Not a word,” she said.

They laughed as they stopped the sled.

“I’m not worried about the return trip,” Blitz said with Ambyr’s wink. “You could learn a few things yourself.”

“Learn? ...From HAYWIRE? ...Right.”

Then, all three of them started laughing. Haywire suddenly stopped.

“Hey!”

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