and smiled obnoxiously at her. “Happy birthday, Ambyr!!”

He nudged her inside. Ambyr couldn’t help but flush as everyone she passed only seemed to cheer and bark louder. She inched her way to the front of the room, with Haywire still pushing her forward, where Mr. Drago, and the postmaster were waiting. They smiled down at her, and stroked the top of her head, and the chin – her favorite places to be scratched. “Happy birthday, girl!!” They both said.

Beside them, Blitz was still grinning. “Whoo!!” he exclaimed. “You didn’t think I’d forget that surprise party you threw me last winter, did you?”

Ambyr looked at her crowd. They were all continued to joyously bark to her. She tried to force a smile, but somehow, she found it hard. She supposed it was because she got all worked up over a false lead. “It was for making lead dog,” Ambyr said, a little confused. “Not for a birthday.”

Blitz only continued to smile and shrug. Suddenly, he reached behind him, and nudged a box towards her, he took the bow in his mouth and tugged.

The box flew open to reveal a beautifully made cake with her name scrawled in red, surrounded by pretty pink hearts. “Happy 3rd Birthday, Ambyr”, it said.

Ambyr put her paw to her forehead. “Am I that old?” she said. “Wow...this is...I mean...well...I don’t know what to say...”

“Well,” Haywire interrupted. “You can say ‘let’s dig in’ for starters!! I’m starved!!” He started to make his way past Ambyr, towards the cake. Suddenly, one of his paws landed on a cat’s tail.

The cat yowled at hissed at him, withdrawing her tail. Haywire then lost his balance, and wobbled around. Ambyr, thinking fast – but not fast enough, tried to catch him, but missed.

Haywqire tumbled forward, and his entire face went SPLAT right in top of the glamorous cake.

The crowd was suddenly silent. Mr. Drago and the postmaster gaped.

Haywire slowly lifted his head...then licked his chops. “It’s okay, everyone!! Who here likes strawberries!!”

Ambyr looked at Haywire’s face. Two strawberries were plopped right where his eyes were. Her confused countenance suddenly lightened, as the sides of her mouth suddenly began to curve up. Before she knew it, she was down on the ground, pounding it with her fist, and roaring with laughter. Blitz then joined her, followed by the rest of the dogs, the cats, then finally the humans.

This...is OUR holiday...OUR day off.

As Haywire licked the rest of the cake off his face, Ambyr couldn’t help herself, but laugh at how the most dreaded day of the year could turn out to be one of the best days of her life...and how she ever thought she would’ve enjoyed any of it without her very best friends at her side.