charge. Stop,” he said in his tenor voice.

“You heard correct Morris. A dog that goes by the alias of Henry is now in power. But still, this is most dire a’ situation. Best add it to the list.”

“Henry? Stop. List? Stop. Doc, what have I missed? Stop.”

Doc patted the chubby dog on his back and smiled. “I’ll tell you later, Old Friend. I forgot that you have very few visitors, but it’s too much to explain in one night.”

Morris nodded his head, his small ears flopping back and forth as he licked his lips. He waved a small paw as a farewell and left the house. Doc knew that when he awoke next, he would have a long day ahead of him.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Balto tossed and turned uneasily under his small tattered blanket. The brown and tan hybrid shivered violently each time a frigid, bitter breeze caressed his body. Boris waddled back and forth in front of the wolf-dog, deep in thought. He squeezed between his eyes and sighed heavily.

“No, no. Could not possibly work,” he muttered to himself quietly.

He could still remember the events of yesterday morning vividly in his mind. When that dog had come to their home, demanding that Balto come with him. Boris had tried to keep the dog at bay and away from the sleeping Balto, but it had been no use. Boris had been shoved aside like a train shoving a stalled car out of its way. He had walked over to Balto and violently shook him, immediately waking him up. The dog would not give a reason of why Balto was needed at the boiler room, but instead he gave harsh commands and a set of snarls and growls. The look Boris saw in Balto’s eyes when he was finally taken away was that of fear. Oh how the snow goose wished he could have done something to protect his little one. Boris shook his head and stopped his pacing.

“Oy. Vhat a horrible year this is being.”

Boris looked up into the sky. The stars glimmered brightly in the night sky, the moon now mostly hidden behind a thickening wall of clouds. And very soon after, the stars began to fade as well. Boris sighed and a small snowflake fell down clumsily and landed on his beak. He felt the snowflake with the tip of his wing and his thick, bushy eyebrows rose. He glanced back up at the sky and his other wing shoot up at it in a scolding manner.

“No! No! No snow! Not right now! You are not velcome here!” he shouted.

The air was clear once again as he gave his command. He smirked happily and began to waddle away when a conglomeration of snow suddenly plopped onto his head. Boris flicked the powdery mess from his skull.

“Bad snow! I said, no falling!” Another flake fell between his eyes to which he blew a sigh out of his beak. “Oy. Is snow use.”

He chuckled at his own pun when he heard a loud yawning. He turned back to see his pooch beginning to show signs of awakening. His webbed feet flopped against the deck as he made his way to Balto.

“Ah, a good morning to you Sleepy Bones,” Boris greeted warmly.

Balto folded his front paws and laid his head on them, staring at the floor sadly. “Not now Boris. I’m just not in the mood.”

“C’mon Boychick. If you are just sitting here, then your life will be wasting away to nothing.” Boris placed a wing on the hybrid’s back.

“But what’s the point in living anymore? I’m even more of an outcast than I was long ago, but what’s worse is that I actually fell in love, and now I can’t see Jenna, or my own children,” Balto sighed heavily.

“Well there is no point if that is how you look at it!” Boris bounced Balto’s muzzle in his wings. “Listen. We are going somewhere so you can be taking your mind off of all these things.”

Boris began to walk away and Balto opened his mouth. “But-”

The goose flung a wing into the air. “Nope! I am accepting none of the objections! You are going to be happy whether you like it or not. I will give you two minutes to be ready before I drag you out by tail.”

Balto actually gave a smile, small as it may have been. “Really? Somehow I doubt that,” he chuckled.

Boris turned back and gave a wry grin. “You would be amazed by what we gooses can do.”

Balto stood up and shrugged of his blanket, stretching out on the ground and giving another loud yawn. He moved over to the bird and nudged him.

“Well, I don’t want to take the chance of that then, so let’s get going.”

“Ah, excellent idea, listening to old Boris. I am liking it already!”

The two exited the boat as snowflakes began to slowly coat them. Minutes later, the plank up to Balto’s boat began to sag heavily. A brown dog with a heavy coat walked up slowly and scanned the old ship, frowning when he didn’t find a single soul.

“Drat. Now what am I to do?” he muttered to himself.

The dog shook his pelt quickly, sending the fluff flying high into the air. He squinted his eyes as he saw the first signs of daybreak showing themselves. The dog sighed as he padded onto the deck, spotting an old bone and water dish.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait here until he gets back.”

The dog walked over the deck and found the cabin of the ship. He studied the small objects littered in a set of boxes before spying an old blanket. He shrugged his shoulders and lifted one end of the blanket, sliding into it easily.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Jenna curled herself tighter into her basket. Along with the crackling of the fire, she could hear the delicate sounds of the snow flakes hitting the panes of her windows. Her miserable eyes blinked a few times as she kept trying to sleep the day away. But there was no such luck. She pushed her muzzle underneath one of her legs to warm herself up more. She heard the pet flap open from behind her. A quick sniff of the air told her who it was, and she lifted her head for the first time today and looked at him. Dingo stood there looking at her as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Ugh. Hey Mom. I was just talking with Kodi and Haida, and they told me I should come check up on you. Are you… doing okay?”

Jenna lowered her head again. “I’m still breathing. Does that count?” she muttered.

Dingo sighed, “C’mon Mom, don’t make it any harder than it has to be. None of us are doing that well to be honest.”

“Dingo, what am I supposed to do?” Jenna asked. “I’m locked inside this house, while Balto is locked out of the entire town. Things couldn’t be worse…”

“Yes they could… At least Dad is still alive. And besides, I say that that whole thing last night was bogus. You should be allowed to see Dad whenever you want!”

“Yes, I should, but I’m not. You just don’t understand-”

“Of course I understand!” Dingo cut in, “I’m not a little pup anymore. Listen to me. I don’t care about any rules that that dog makes. We’re going to see Dad right now, and that’s final!”

Dingo went around behind her with the intention to shove her out the door, but she stood up instead, a look of a determination on her face.

“You’re right! I’m not going to let someone tell me who I can and can’t see!”

Jenna padded over to the door and Dingo followed behind her. The stepped through the dog door together and out onto the street.

“One question though,” Jenna began, “when did you get so forceful Dingo?”

Dingo grinned, “I’ve been spending more time with Boris, let’s just say that.”

She gave a small laugh at this comment. “Well that makes perfect sense then.”

They both began to smile as they headed down an alley, the quickest route to Balto’s boat. The snowflakes danced around them gracefully as the sun fought to show itself through the gray clouds. They passed by tall timber fences and two-story buildings with wooden-clad sides. The two came to the exit of the last alley before the town ended and the outskirts began when a figure surprised them both by jumping in front of them.

“Henry… What are you doing here?” Dingo asked, slightly taken aback.

“Now, now, now. Look what we have here,” Henry replied, paying no attention to Dingo, “I see we have a wanderer. I believe that I ordered you to stay inside your own home Miss Jenna. This sure doesn’t look like it.”

Jenna frowned. “I wasn’t going to stay there. What you put into effect last night was completely uncalled for, and unfair…”

“But Jenna, I’m hurt. I was only doing this for your own protection,” Henry sighed as he bowed his head, “I thought you would have appreciated that fact a little more.”

“To be honest, you only made things worse…”

Henry moved along side her and then leaned uncomfortably close to her. “Well, I think I can make things better again,” he whispered into her ear.

Her eyes widened slightly and her jaw dropped. She was about ready to either shoot him down or just shoot him right there, but something came to her mind. She glanced quickly to her left and right and saw a downed, open trash can with its lid right beside it.

‘Well Jenna ol’ girl. We’ll see if you still have it,’ she thought to herself.

Jenna giggled and wrapped her tail around his, smiling enticingly at him. She leaned on him and looked into his brown eyes.

“Hmm, that sounds awfully nice. How about we have a