there...that was, until we got exported here.”

“Those humans had more use for us here than they did there,” Gill said. “I hated New York. Too crowded.”

Haywire shook his head. “Whoa, hold the howl!! You mean, you two weren’t born here, in Alaska?”

Gill and Blitz shook their heads.

“Huh...you never can tell about a dog by his looks, can you?”

Gill raised an eyebrow, and Ambyr had to stride over to Haywire and nudge him hard on the ribs.

“What, do I have to be a Husky to live in Alaska?”

Ambyr threw Haywire a look that told him to get out of his own mess. He held up his paws in the air. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that. Anyway, why were you two exported?” He quickly wanted to change the subject.

“Our owners didn’t want us anymore,” Gill said with a sneer. “Because they thought we were ‘too much’. So they sent us out to have jobs.”

“I left to join that mail team,” Blitz said proudly. “And Gill –“

“I got sent to the docks,” Gill finished. “I’m a service dog there. You guys should drop by every now and then.”

Blitz nodded. “Yeah, we should! It’s not too far away from here, is it?”

“About three to five miles.”

Ambyr silently gestured to Blitz, frowning at him, and running her paw across her throat. Blitz didn’t seem to see her.

“That’s great! We’ll come visit you some time!!”

Ambyr sighed and rolled her eyes. ...This is what I get for trying to be friendly.

“Gill and I were just telling Haywire about these pranks we would play on our owners! They were so hilarious!”

“Yeah, like that time we brought snow inside the building in our mouths, and dropped it on the floor? There were humans going SPLAT all over the place!!”

Everyone, except Ambyr, started laughing.

“Yeah, good times,” Gill continued. He got up from the floor and shook himself off. Ambyr inched away from him. “Anyway, Haywire, why don’t you and Ember –“

“Ambyr”, she corrected.

“Yeah...you and Ambyr let loose a while, so Blitz and I can catch up on old times? What do you say?”

Before he could say anything, Ambyr interrupted. “Don’t bother,” Ambyr said. She went up behind Haywire and started pushing him towards the door. “We were just about to leave anyway.”

“We were? Aww, but I was just about to –“

Ambyr bit down on his tail.

“YEEEAAAHHH!! ...I mean, we were just about to...go...pick up some chow!!”

“Right, you are, Haywire, now let’s go get that doggie bone you wanted oh so desperately to get.” She quickly hurried him out the door, and shut it closed behind her. “MY GOODNESS, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT GUY?!”

Haywire cocked his head. “What, you mean Gill? What’s wrong with him?”

Ambyr pushed him forward. “Oh, nothing...unless you don’t count being extremely rude and a total jerk-off as anything.”

Haywire laughed. “You’re so judgmental, you know that?”

“Okay, I admit I’ve had my dealings in the past, but at least I have a reason to hate this guy!”

“Look...they BOTH come from that weird place they call...New Yolk, or something. You don’t see Blitz acting like that.”

“He did back then...Would you ever have known Blitz had a bad streak then?”

“Okay, okay...let it go, alright? Believe it or not, this guy means a lot to Blitz. So cut him a little bit of slack, will you?”

Ambyr lightened up a little, and her breathing returned to normal. “Yeah...I guess you’re right.”

“Good, now let’s get that doggy treat you promised.”

 

Some time later that afternoon, Blitz and Gill were walking along a line of shops that surrounded the road. They stopped and gazed longingly through the window at the butcher shop. Gill licked his lips.

“Don’t even think about it...the guy doesn’t let dogs into his shop.” Blitz said it with a tone and rolled his eyes. “He said a dog got into his meat locker before.”

“Eh, I’m not aiming for the meat locker,” Gill replied, still looking through the window.

Blitz gave him a look. “...Uh-oh...I know that face!! What are you planning?”

Gill turned and smiled at him. “Just a small dare. You up for it?”

“Listen, Gill, I –“

“It’ll be just like old times, remember? You, me, and our little human friends! What do you say?”

“Gee, I dunno...”

“What happened to you, Blitz? Don’t you remember how much fun we used to have? Lighten up a little!!”

Blitz stared at him, then nodded. “Fine, okay then. Tell me whatcha got.”

Gill leaned in to closer to Blitz and raised a paw to his ear. “Alright...here’s all you have to do...”

 

The butcher wrapped a slab of meat in a wad of paper, and dropped it in a bag. He smiled a toothy smile at his customer as he handed it to her. “Thank you!!” he chuckled.

The woman quickly took the bag and nodded, turning towards the door, and hurrying out before he could talk to her again. As she pushed the door open, and strode away, Blitz quietly snuck in. Wow...I’m inside!! I’m really inside!! He looked around at all the delicious snacks hanging around. He felt like leaping onto the counter, and grabbing a steak or two, but he had to resist, remembering the dare.

Blitz stealthily crawled towards the counter. The butcher had his back to him, and was humming a very strange song out of tune.

Blitz gulped as he watched the butcher raise his arm, a gleaming sharp knife clutched in his hands. With a swipe of his palm, a nauseating CLUP sound echoed throughout the shop. It kept on repeating itself, CLUP...CLUP...CLUP...CLUP... until Blitz thought he’d go crazy. Blitz shook his head around, and caught a glimpse of Gill watching him outside through the window. He gestured to him and tilted his head towards the butcher. Blitz nervously nodded back in reply.

The butcher continued to hum and sing as Blitz carefully closed in on a rack of packed meat on the other side of the shop. Keeping an eye on the butcher, he slowly crept forward, hovering low to the ground. When he was about halfway into the room, the butcher suddenly stopped chopping, and started pacing behind the counter.

Under his padded fur, Blitz began to sweat. He forced his paws to inch forward, slowly but surely gaining more ground. A beam of light reflected off of the butcher’s cleave, and Blitz struggled to keep his eyes forward.

The crawl was only a few feet away, but it seemed to extend for fifty yards. Blitz heaved out a sigh as he finally reached the meat pack. He threw a glance over his shoulder to see Gill looking anxiously at him. He urgently gestured for him to keep going.

The butcher started humming a tune as he worked, slicing and dicing more slabs of meat. It made Blitz feel even more hungry and scared at the same time – a very awkward combination of feelings. When the butcher turned his back to him, Blitz instantly seized the moment to grab a wrapped pack of meat off of the shelf, and turn around. To see Gill with a wide smile plastered onto his face.

“Make a run for it,” Gill said through the glass.

Blitz frowned at him, then dropped the pack of meat, mouthing to him, “Are you crazy?!” He looked over at the butcher, still oblivious to his presence, humming with his back to him.

“Now or never, Blitz!! Come on!!” Gill urged.

Blitz picked up the meat again in his mouth. Someone save me, he thought to himself. And with a quick burst of speed, he darted forward.

The butcher, struck with realization, turned around, and spotted him. “HEY, YOU!!” he bellowed. He took a step and grabbed his cleave, waving it in the air. “STOP RIGHT THERE!!!”

Blitz’s heart was pumping so fast, he had trouble breathing. From the corner of his eye, the cleave glimmered in the light, casting him a mischievous smirk.

“BLITZ!!! OVER HERE!!” Gill yelled. With a reeve of his hind legs, he kicked the door to the shop open, and Blitz came bolting out. He didn’t stop at Gill’s side, but rather kept on running. Gill, laughing at himself, Blitz, and the butcher, trailed behind.

The butcher came running up to the doorway, still waving his cleave around. “MENACING DOGS!!!” he shouted. “WAIT UNTIL I SEE YOUR OWNERS!! IF I EVER CATCH YOU IN MY SHOP AGAIN, I’LL MAKE MINCEMEAT OUT OF YOU!!” A few people on the street stopped and stared at him, some scared, and others very confused.

Gill continued laughing. “Later, sucker!!” he said.

When they were well out of range from the butcher’s fury, Blitz heaved a sigh as he dropped the pack of meat to the ground. He looked down miserably at it. Oh, how it looked so delicious and mouth-watering, but some feeling kept him from falling upon it and devouring it. Lowering his ears, Blitz suddenly realized what he was feeling was guilt. He turned around as Gill came running up behind him.

Gill slapped Blitz on the back. “That was totally awesome!!” he said, grinning. “What a rush. Did you see how mad that crazy butcher was? Hahaha!”

Blitz gave a weak smile to him, but said nothing.

“What’s wrong,

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