Even before I had come to Nome, I knew I wouldn't like it.  Whenever one of my owners spoke of the place, the words 'snow' and 'cold' always wormed their way into the conversation.  I had been living with a nice family in Oregon at the time, playing outdoors nearly every day with my owner's two daughers, Rey and Lexa.  They were nice girls, who played with me often, teasing me with chew toys and sticks.  I loved my life in Oregon.  The air was always fresh and crisp, with the occaisional stray leaf that rode the breeze.

So, when it was time to leave, I was greatly saddened.  I'll never forget the day when a couple of men took all the furniture into a large van and drove away with it.  No matter how much I barked, the family didn't seem bothered by the men coming and stealing their things.  I couldn't make sense of it all until, a few days later, the word 'moving' came to my ears.  I stared at Lexa, who had spoken the dreaded word.  Surely we couldn't be leaving this wonderful place?  Surely Lexa was just joking, as she oftentimes did?

But Lexa, for once, was being serious.  For the next day, when I awoke, everybody was already up.  This was strange because I was usually the first to wake, waiting patiently for somebody to let me outside.  Everything was in turmoil, the excitement in the air.  The occaisonal "Where's my coat?" or "I can't find my toothbrush!" was exchanged between members of the family.  Finally, everything seemed to be ready, and I was led (reluctantly) outside to the vehicle the family owned.  After that, it was a long trip to Nome.  Even now, I remember the many hours spent on the suffocating car, not knowing where we were going to end up.

Every few hours, the girls would begin to grow cranky, and we would stop for a bite to eat, or to just stretch our legs.  We slept in the car, the adults switching control of the wheel so the other could get some rest for his or her next turn.  After a while, it seemed as if there was less and less visible ground and more and more snow covering it.  As soon as the white stuff began to appear, Rey and Lexa pressed their faces to the car windows, looking at it all with wide eyes.  I personally grew bored of the snow after an hour or so.

Finally, we had arrived at our destination: Nome, Alaska.  The town had a quaint feel to it, with wooden houses and shops lining the streets.  And the snow-there was tons and tons of it, everwhere.  It felt like this place was permanently set into Winter.  The kids begged to be let out and explore, but their parents wanted to get to the house first.  When we did come to the house (Allen, Rey and Lexa's father, kept getting lost),Renee (their mother) exclaimed at how beautiful it was.  I didn't see what the big hullaballoo was, it was, after all, just a house.  Inside it was warm, a huge contrast to the weather outside (which I hated) with two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.  A dog bed was set up for me in the corner of the kitchen, and I flopped down onto it gratefully; I hadn't gotten much sleep on the drive there.  I closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep.

I awoke the next morning, thinking that the past events had been nothing but a dream, a long and horrible dream.  But it wasn't until I had my eyes completely open that I realized that I was truly in Nome, where I didn't belong.  Rey and Lexa were already outside, playing in the snow.  I decided to get up and go outside, with the help of a doggie door.  Outside it was very cold, and I shivered.  If there was one thing I knew about Nome, it was that there were a lot of huskies.  Big black ones, smaller red ones, and even brown dogs dotted the streets.  I sighed.  How was I ever going to fit in here?  It seemed as if the only breed of dog here was a husky, besides me, the German shepherd.

I was sitting on the porch, thinking about how I could get one of the many dogs to speak to me, when I saw three dogs (a dog that looked different from the others, and two huskies walking on either side of him) striding towards me.  I perked my ears to let them know they weren't going to surprise attack me.

"Hello" the dog in the middle said to me as soon as he had come whithin earshot.

"Hi" I answered, looking at him.  He was a tad bit bigger than myself, with light gray fur that had black, white, and brown splashes all over it.  His eyes were different colors, one an icy blue, and the other a warm brown.

"Who may you be?  And if you don't mind me asking, what in the world is a German shepherd doing in Nome?" he said, apparently holding back a snort.

I glared at him.  How could one dog be so...rude!?

"My name," I said through gritted teeth, "is Lucy.  And to answer your second question, I'm not sure why my family decided to come here, it's none of my buisness."

"But you obviously don't like it here.  Why did they move here if they knew you would be miserable?"

More rudeness.  This dog hadn't grown up with a nice family, that was for sure.  I flattened my ears, scowling at him, and looked away, hoping he would leave.  But no, he walked around to face me, smirking.

"My name's Oso, if you care," he said.  I was just about at the end of my rope with him, "I'm a shepherd too, but an Australian, not a German.  It's nice to meet you."

I didn't buy his act.  He knew he was getting on my nerves, and he was having a good time, too.  I gave him a frustrated sigh, and began walking away when I heard one of the huskies say to him, "Smooth."

I just snapped then.  I whirled around, grabbed a bunch of that stupid Oso's fur and slammed him into the ground.  He yelped in surprise.  His husky friends ran off, yelping in terror.  I growled, loud enough for him to hear me. 

"It's a fight you want, is it?" I heard him whisper before he kicked my stomach, forcing me to let go.  He sprang up, and tried to bite onto my neck.  Months of tussling with my brothers and sisters suddenly became useful, and I dodged, his jaws closing on air.  In that small second of surprise that he hadn't bitten me, Oso froze.  I used that to my advantage, biting down on his furry neck.  He yelped in pain, squirming.  I let him go, after squeezing my jaws together, as tight as they would go.  Once he realized that he was freed, he bared his teeth at me, but ran away.  I sighed.  I wasn't making a lot of friends here.

~*~Two Months Later~*~

My life in Nome was becoming easier.  My fur grew thicker, until the cold was actually bearable.  Renee (along with Lexa and Rey) took me on walks daily.  We even walked with no leash, just a collar.  I was free to roam as I pleased, knowing that if I got too far, someone would call me back.  Occaisionally I saw Oso, but no words were exchanged.  However, a lot of growls were passed between us.  It was on one of these walks that Renee happened to pass a shop that caught her eye.  She dragged the reluctant Rey and Lexa into it, telling me to sit outside the shop door. 

As I waited, I was aware of a large black husky sauntering over to me.

"Well, hello there.  Aren't you a pretty thing?" the husky said, smiling at me.  His smile, though, didn't reach his eyes, wich looked hungry, and not for food.

"Hello" I said simply, trying to ignore him as he came closer.

When he came a little too close for comfort, I edged away, my heart thudding in my chest.  What was I going to do?  There would be nobody to stop him from what I thought he was planning to do; the streets were unusually empty.

"What're you doing here, all alone?  Don't you know it's not safe?" he brushed his tail against my throat.  I gulped. 

"M-my owners are inside." I said, trying to remain calm.  My voice, however, broke.

"No need to be nervous, miss.  I mean you no harm." he circled to my backside, and I braced for what I knew was going to come.  I had heard plenty of stories where dogs had mated with other random dogs on the street.  I felt him on top of me, and I let out a tiny sob of fear.

There was a sudden growl, and I felt the weight suddenly lift from my body.  I opened my eyes.  The black husky was several feet away, blood on the white portions of his pelt.  I whirled around, to see who had saved me.  I gasped when I saw Oso, his teeth bared in a huge snarl.  The black husky got to his feet, and snarled back. 

"Leave us alone, I got to her first!" he yelled to Oso.  This seemed to only make him angrier, because he yelled even louder to the husky.

"You disgusting-GET AWAY FROM HER!!" he screamed, leaping into the husky as he tried to get on top of me again.  I scrambled out of the way, yelping.  The horror of what I had just experienced left me shaking, my eyes unseeing of the scene before me.  Oso was snarling viciously, trying to bite the husky.

Finally, he managed to grab the husky's neck.  He bit down, hard as he could.  I remembered the battle we had had.  He must have learned a thing or two.  Meanwhile, the husky was yelping loudly.  I closed my eyes-it was all too much to watch.  I could hear the snow bieng kicked up by the struggle.  To be honest, I was surprised that Renee and the kids hadn't come outside to see what the commotion was about. 

Then, suddenly, there was a loud snap, and the noises of struggling dissapeared.  I opened my eyes cautiously, to see the husky, gone strangley limp, in Oso's jaws.  I crept forward slowly.

"O-Oso?"

He looked up.  I looked from him to the husky and back, then said,

"Is...is he-?"

"Yeah," he said, dropping the