It was yet another sleepy autumn morning in the little town of Nome. The clouds had been rolling in and impeding the sun's rays from brightening up the day. Many people were still in their beds, sleeping the day away. Even the usually cheery wildlife in the area had seemingly gotten fed up with the lack of energy and decided to retreat back into the woods from whence it came. It had been raining a bit, so the streets were damp and muddy. Not a single living thing seemed excited that day, except for Kaltag. He had woken up early that day for a very special occasion: He was going to take a break from the boredom of waiting for the snow to fall. Kaltag wanted to do something besides sitting in the kennel and waiting for the excitement to begin. He woke up just as the sun broke the horizon and made his way under the fence via a well-hidden hole that had been constructed just for these kinds of days. After making his way to the other side, he took one glance back at the kennel to see if he had been caught in the act of escaping, and saw that it was safe to proceed with his "vacation". He turned his head to the wilderness ahead of him, only to come face-to-face with the one thing he didn't want to see most. Blue eyes, gray fur, and notched ears. He had run into, of all things, Star. He quickly decided to run the other way when Star opened his mouth. "Where are you going?"

"Ummm...", Kaltag had been caught red-pawed. "I'm going to take a vacation!", he had blown his cover. "Stupid,", he thought, "That was so stupid!"

"Can I come, too?", asked Star. Now was the time to make a critical decision. Either Kaltag turned back and dealt with his boredom, or let Star come with him and hope that they would get along just fine. Kaltag decided to take the latter decision and hoped he'd have no trouble with Star's antics.

"Fine,", Kaltag answered reluctantly. "But I want no trouble from you!", he added. Star nodded in agreement and grinned from ear to ear.

"Where are we going?", Star queried.

"Into the mountains.", Kaltag replied. "C'mon! Let's go before the musher catches us!", and off they went into the Alaskan wilderness. Star followed eagerly as Kaltag searched for his provisions just outside of Nome. "They should be right over here...", he said to himself. Kaltag pushed some bushes aside and found that his burlap sack of provisions had been untouched and ready for the trip. Kaltag's triumph quickly revealed its bittersweetness, though. Kaltag had prepared enough provisions for the trip, but there were only enough provisions for one dog. Kaltag would have to ration the food. He then placed the sack in his mouth and slung it over his back. He would now have to make the trip last no more than two days. They followed a path up the mountain to their destination, which was a small forest glade. The day seemed to go by slowly for Kaltag, who was now planning on a vacation from what should have been his vacation and his alone.

"Are we there yet?!", asked Star.

"No!", replied Kaltag, who was now completely miserable from Star asking the exact same question every five minutes. As Kaltag trotted miserably ahead, Star followed behind with a bounce in his step. Clouds began rolling in over their heads, which seemed to be attracted to Kaltag's foul mood. The mountains and the adjacent forest grew suddenly quiet. Star repeatedly ask Kaltag if they were there yet, which made Kaltag even more miserable than before, which made the clouds grow darker with each question Star asked. "I don't see how this could get any worse...", Kaltag muttered to himself. A sudden downpour ensued, which made matters worse and added a kind of cliche humor to the trip, much to Kaltag's dismay. As Kaltag grew even more unhappy, the storm became more severe. Now, it was raining hard and lightning was striking close by. Eventually, Kaltag noticed that something was amiss: Star was no longer speaking. Kaltag looked behind him to see what he expected to see: Star was no longer following him. Kaltag knew that searching for Star in poor visibilty caused by heavy rain would be dangerous, so he kept moving forward. As night fell, Kaltag decided to camp on the trail, for he could no longer see where he was going. He began digging a hole into the side of the mountain until it was large enough for him to sleep in. He put the burlap sack in front of him, and went to sleep.

  The next day was considerably sunnier than the day before. Gray Jays flew by whistling whee-oo, and a red squirrel rushed through the forest, searching for its cache of mushrooms. The Bog Wintergeens were in bloom, which added a nice touch of pink to the forest. A few Arctic Fritillaries weakly fluttered by, old and worn out from the end of mating season. One of their number alighted on Kaltag's snout. Stirred from his sleep, Kaltag opened his eyes. "HOLY COW!", he exclaimed. His exclamation scared the butterfly away, and Kaltag calmed down for a moment. He dragged the sack out of the hole and entered the bright sun. He decided to get his bearings by looking at the sun's position. He was heading in the right direction. Suddenly, he realized that his sack of provisions was empty. He shoved his head into the opening, and found that the sack had a sizeable hole in it. He shook the sack off of his head in disgust, and realized another thing: He had still not found Star! He began to panic and trot in circles while muttering to himself. He decided that the best way to find Star would be retracing his steps. He immediately ran down the mountain trail, which was now muddy from the rain. He ignored the mud that was slowly beginning to cover his body, and ran directly ahead, searching for Star. He looked into the forest beneath the trail only for a moment when he suddenly lost his footing. The mud was now so slick, that he was sliding down the trail. With a straight stretch of trail ahead of him, he saw no reason to regain his footing. Without warning, a raging river of mud and debris cascaded down the mountainside and into the forest below, levelling everything in it's path. Part of the mudslide made a detour down the mountain trail, and began chasing Kaltag. Now, Kaltag was attempting to regain his footing in hopes of jumping out of the way of the mud behind him. He lifted one paw up, set it down on the trail, and began to twirl around. He was now facing the mudslide, which was drawing closer to him. Suddenly, the river of mud leaped forward and enveloped Kaltag.

  It was now getting closer to nightfall. The sun was beginning to leave its job of warming the earth and letting the moon replace it. The flow of mud down the trail had stopped, and had completely silenced the usually bustling forest. Suddenly, a bump began to form on the surface of the mud. The bump sprouted one ear, then another. The bump slowly separated from the mud until Kaltag's head was revealed. By now, he was frustrated, and wanted nothing more than to go home. He stuck his paws out of the mud and pulled himself all the way out. He looked at himself, and saw that the mud had solidified on his fur. He shook himself, and accepted the fact that the mud would not completely part from his fur until washed off. Pressing onward, he finally reached Nome at sunset. He headed for the kennel, and entered through the hole beneath the fence. He ignored all the eyes of the dumbfounded dogs that followed him, and fell down next to Nikki. "Don't ask.", grumbled Kaltag.

"Okay, I won't.", replied a flabbergasted Nikki.

"Kaltag! You're back!", announced Star, who was obviously not lost and obviously okay.

"Wait?! What?! Who?! How did-", stammered a very confused Kaltag. He finally managed make a complete sentence. "What happened?!"

"Well, I saw this butterfly, which I think is called an Arctic Frittermary or something, and I decided to chase it. It was crawling down the trail when I lost sight of it, so I decided to head back home. So here I am!", explained Star to a now infuriated Kaltag.

"Hey, Star. Look over there and tell me what you see.", ordered Kaltag.

"Okay. Let's see. I see a-", WUMP! Star was incapacitated by a quick bash on the head.

"That was making me worried sick!", shouted a grumpy Kaltag.

"I think I had that one coming...", stated Star, who was now seeing many little Kaltags prance around his head in a circle.