It was winter in Nome, and all was peaceful. The snow had consumed all the sound that it could, and enveloped the town in a white blanket. The houses seemed to be smothered in frosting because of the recent weather, which was not very calm. Snow Buntings occasionally broke the silence, flying by and whistling a cheery teu as they passed each other. Many people had decided to sleep in that day because they either did not want to deal with piles of snow entering their home as soon as the door was opened, or because their work places had shut down for the day. Of course, some living things will stay active even when the snow had piled up waist high. Such is the case with the hard working sled dog. Only one team of sled dogs had not been snowed in that day, and that team was already prepared to go.

  Nikki, Kaltag, and Star were now getting ready for the day's mail run. They had been standing outside the kennel for quite some time now, and were anxious to start working. "Is it ready yet?", whined Star.

  "For the seventeenth time, NO!", replied Kaltag.

  "No, that's eighteen. Yous said 'no' eighteen times.", corrected Nikki. After waiting for hours, they finally could get into their harnesses. "Finally we get to do somethin' useful!", cried Nikki. Kaltag took lead position with Star behind, who was having trouble with his harness, and Nikki behind with even more dogs after him.

  "Um, do any of you know how to wear this thing?", asked Star. The musher quickly rushed to Star and untangled the harness. He turned around and ran back to the sled as if he was running from the law. The musher obviously knew something the dogs didn't. The musher's whip cracked suddenly and almost hit one of the dogs. The musher's carelessness confirmed the suspicions. Something was up, and it was making the musher worried. Not one dog guess what it was, though. Everyone in the team was too focused on getting to the destination on time to even have a moment to make guesses. The team shot off into the wilderness, carrying the relatively light load of mail. At one point during the trip, the musher started cracking the whip furiously, and accidentally hit one dog's back. The musher's mind was thinking of something else now, but at least the dogs were still focused. They finally reached their destination later than they should have, which was a small village called Council. Council was even smaller than Nome, though it used to be larger. The small post office served the small population of the once bustling town. The musher did not hesitate to bring the small bag mail into the post office, and returned to the sled immediately with a small satchel of mail. He had a blank look in his eyes. The musher was still not relieved. He snapped his view to the sky, which was now being concealed by a large mass of clouds. Nikki, now seeing a chance to talk while the musher was distracted, tapped Star on the back and told him to get Kaltag's attention.

  "What's eatin' him?", asked Nikki.

  "If he's looking at the sky, it must have something to do with the weather.", replied Kaltag. The musher cracked the whip harder than ever before. "YIKES!", exclaimed Kaltag. Off they went back to Nome, with the clouds closely following behind. They hadn't even gone one mile away from Council when a storm suddenly brewed. It started off as a few snowflakes, then some heavy snow, and finally a full-blown blizzard. Visibility was zero, and no one could see anything in front of them. The team would have to stop. Suddenly, stopping, which seemed like a good idea at the time, became the worst decision made during the trip yet. Snow was now enveloping the team. Every dog struggled to escape his harness, and few escaped successfully. Kaltag made it out of his harness first, and Nikki found his way to Kaltag's side after escaping his own harness. "Where's Star?!", shouted Kaltag.

  "Get me out of this thing!", barked Star. Kaltag and Nikki immediately rushed to his side. There was no time to tell Star how to get out of his harness, so the two huskies started nipping away at it. Star got out of his harness in an instant. "Kaltag, what's going on?!", cried Star. Kaltag did not answer, but motioned for Nikki and Star to follow him. Kaltag had no idea what he was doing, though. He did know that what he was doing was better than doing nothing, though. After hours and hours walking, they finally collapsed in the snow and passed out.

   The day after the storm was quiet and peaceful. The spruces and other deciduous trees were the only things that managed to stay above the snow's reach. At the edge of the forest was a single satchel that had been abandoned from the day before. A single Mink emerged from the forest to investigate the satchel. The Mink took a bite at it, and dragged it back from whence it came. Suddenly, the Mink felt a slight rumbling beneath its feet. The mink was thrown aside as Star's snow-covered head broke the snow's surface. He quickly shook off the snow, and took a look at his surroundings. He was at the edge of a forest in a valley somewhere. There were glistening white mountain peaks all around him, and there was no sign of his sled team anywhere. He noticed the mail satchel in front of him, and he tried to reach it with his mouth, but failed. He squirmed and struggled his way out of the deep snow until he was finally free. Just as he went to grab the satchel, a lump started to form beneath the satchel. The lump broke open to reveal a bewildered Kaltag, who was now surprised to see Star in front of him. "Star! Could you get me out of this snow?! I'm freezin' over here!", Kaltag shouted.

  Star was just as surprised as Kaltag was. "Is that a talking head?!", screamed Star as he fainted.

  "Star? Hey! Hey, Star! Oh, c'mon!", cried Kaltag. Suddenly, Nikki's head emerged from the snow.

  "What is goin' on here?", he asked.

  "I'll tell you after you get me outta' this snow!", Kaltag shouted. Nikki managed to free himself after struggling a bit, and began to dig Kaltag out of his snowy shackles. "Thanks, I was freezing!", said Kaltag.

  "Is that the mail bag on your head?", asked Nikki.

  "Why, I think it is!", exclaimed Kaltag. He placed it around his neck when suddenly, Kaltag remembered something. "Star! Is he still...", but Kaltag didn't need to finish his sentence. Star tapped him on the back and made a huge grin. "...Well, it looks like we're all ready to go.", stated Kaltag.

  "Go where? Shouldn't we wait for the rest of the team?", asked Star.

  "Yous thinks that we'll be found? We probably travelled too far away for them to even get our scent!", said Nikki.

  "Nikki's right. We'll have to deliver the mail without them,", agreed Kaltag. "Let's go!"

  "I hope we're doing the right thing..." whispered Star to himself. They trudged through the snow and into the west until they saw the coast. Kaltag had expected this, and he moved south to where he thought Nome would be, but the trio came across a geographical barrier: the mountains. Seeing that it was the best way to find their bearings they decided to climb to the summit. They had an easy climb at first, but the gentle slopes soon turned into steep slopes, and steep slopes into cliffs. They had not gone half way up the mountain when they spotted a Dall's Sheep.

  "Kaltag! Look, it's food!", cried Nikki.

  "No! Nikki, we can't eat it! It'll be the end of us all! We can't deal with a large and muscular male like that! He'll rip us to shreds and toss us off the mountain!", contested Kaltag.

  "But I'm soooo hungry...", whined Nikki.

  "I've got first dibs on the legs!", cried Star as he ran for the sheep.

  "Star! No! Don't do it!", commanded Kaltag just as Nikki ran off as well. "Nikki! You come back here!", but Kaltag was too late. The sheep had spotted Nikki and Star. The sheep took a defensive stance as it was cornered. Nikki stood in front of the sheep as Star took the left flank. The sheep knew it had to attack to survive, so it charged forward and knocked over Star. It set its sights on Nikki, and trampled him. The sheep now saw a chance to escape, and ran down the mountain side. Kaltag watched the sheep bounce down the mountain and then looked at his two friends, who were not moving at all. Kaltag rushed to Star's side. Surely Star, who had been through Kaltag's punches on the head, could survive this. Just as Kaltag thought the worst had happened, Star rolled over and opened his eyes.

  "Did I get him?", asked Star weakly.

  "I think he got us.", groaned Nikki.

  "Next time, don't run off like that! Were you both trying to get hurt?", asked Kaltag.

  "We was just so hungry that we lost control.", replied Nikki.

  "Well, once we know where we are, we can begin to find food.", said Kaltag.

  "Now, is everyone okay?", questioned Kaltag.

  "Yes.", answered Nikki and Star in unison.

  Kaltag began to move up the mountain, and Star followed him with Nikki. When they finally reached the summit, Nome was in view. Kaltag left no time for rest, though, and down the mountain they went. They sprinted as fast as they could into town, and made it there lickety-split. They made their way to the post office, where the postmaster was waiting. The postmaster was glad to see that the mail had finally arrived, and he grabbed the satchel off of Kaltag's neck. He opened the satchel and examined a single letter carefully. He ripped it open and unfolded the letter inside.

  "Why, it's junk mail,", complained the postmaster. "I told these guys not to send me anymore junk mail!"

  Kaltag was confused, then enraged. "Why, why, that was by far the largest, the hugest, the most sizeable...", Kaltag's vocabulary had failed him yet again.

  "Couldn't