Kodi, Dusty, Ralph, Kirby, Jenna, Mr. Conner, Mr. Simson © Universal

Malana © Aluna

Achala, Ash, Ben, Silvey, Cream, Wendie, Rodney © Achala

 

 

You ever heard the phrase, ‘Love Hurts?’ Well all that is true. I loved her, but lost her to him forever… I never told her until it was too late, then watching have pups with him, starting a family with him, and not me… hurts the most… Now I feel that I should of told her before…..

I’ll tell you the story….

~~~~~~

My name is Kodiak, but everyone calls me Kodi. My job is to deliver mail to Nome and White Mountain. I was the second to lead dog. There was me, Kirby, Dusty (the girl I love) then next to her was Ralph, and behind them was Ash, then Ben. Ben looked sorta like Balto, my famous dad.

My crush developed when I first joined the mail team. Kirby introduced me to my new teammates, Dusty smiled at me. I felt weak in my knees, but I refused to fall. Ever since that smile, my crush developed.

I kept my secret to myself for years. None of my siblings, or parents knew. Saba almost found out, but I made sure that wouldn’t happen. Nobody knew, nobody needed to know, except her… After runs, my teammates and I would always go to the beach. Ash and Ben would splash water on us, I ran around with them. I raced with Ralph, Kirby, and Ash sometimes. Mostly Kirby would win.

One day, this man, Duke, wanted to take our jobs with his plane. Mr. Simson, our musher, still wanted to deliver the mail. So Mr. Conner and other humans who where with and against Duke all decided that there’d be a race between the dog team, and the Bush plane. There was a miracle, and we won, but we only won because Duke’s plane had crashed.

We didn’t know about that, we were playing on the beach. Dusty splashed us with water, then walked up to Ralph, and shook water on him. She smiled and ran away, with him chasing behind her playfully. I saw how they were looking at each other. My heart sunk, then it came to mind that they were only friends. I saw her brush her tail under his chin. Could it be true?

 

Sometime later, we heard that Duke crashed his plane, dad wanted to help him. My teammates refused to help him find Duke. I had to refuse too. After my dad left, I felt guilty. Especially when my mother talked to me. I remember what she said had sunk in. “You think your job is worth more than a life?!” was what she had said.

When I told my team mates, Dusty thought I was ‘Joining the other side’ that hurt me… My love, thinking I had betrayed her, betrayed the team. It hurt worse.

Somehow I convinced my team to help find Duke, I know i made them feel guilty when I said “Being a mail dog is all about helping people, but when someone really needs our help… we’re sitting on our butts. If that’s what it means to be a mail dog, then… I’m not sure that’s what I wanna be” Then I left to go find my dad on my own.

What I said before made them feel bad, then they relized that we should help find Duke. They soon caught up with me, then we raced to find Duke.

We later found him, with my dad, and helped them home. We all became hero’s. I was proud.

After that I planned to tell Dusty my true feeling for her. I trotted to her house.

“Dusty!” I cried out in joy. I heard her trot to the porch. She looked down at me with her beautiful eyes.

“What is it, Kodi?” she asked. My heart pounded in excitement.

“Dusty, I wanted to tell you that… that I had a crush on you… for a long time. I love you…” My face felt hot after admitting that. She stared at me, wide-eyed. Was that a good sign, or bad sign. Either way, I wanted her to feel the same about me. She leaped down the porch, and stood in front of me. I expected her to nuzzle me, or say she loved me back, but she didn’t. She sighed. Did that mean she didn’t like me?

“What’s wrong, Dust?” I asked her. She looked at me. My heart began to race.

“Kodi” she whispered. “I can’t…. we can’t…. Ralph….” I looked at her.

“Ralph?” I ask. She nodded.

“Me and him are together, as mates” She explained. My heart sunk. It felt as someone just stabbed me in the heart. I should of known, I mean, I saw how they looked at each other at the beach. It finally hit me that they weren’t just playing, they were flirting. When she brushed her tail under his chin, in a flirty way, and he followed along… How could Dusty choose him over me.

“Oh…” I sighed, then turned my head away. Tears filled my eyes, there was no way how I could deny them from falling. I didn’t want Dusty to see me crying. I walked away. I soon heard Ralph come out of the house. “Hi Kodi!” He greeted.

“Hi Ralph.” I responded, not turning around. I sensed him licking Dusty. I heard her giggle, then lick him back. It was like they loved seeing me hurt. Curiosity came over me, which caused me to turn my head around. I saw them nuzzling each other, lovingly. I broke down in tears and quickly ran home.

~~

The next day, after the mail run, we all went to the beach. Ben and Ash were talking. Dusty and Ralph were chasing each other around. I was too distracted in watching them , I didn’t notice Kirby.

“Hey there Kodi, doing well?” he asked. I turned around, looking at him.

“Yeah…” I sighed. His ears twitched.

“You don’t sound fine, what’s got ya down?”

“Never mind” I said. He raised an eyebrow. He was about to say something, but whatever it was, I didn’t wanna hear it. I just walked away.

I soon found myself walking through the streets of Nome. I heard two familiar voices. I looked up seeing two of my sisters, Achala and Malana, walking on the sidewalk. They were talking about something. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they looked happy.

“Hey Malana, Hey Achala.” I called. Malana turned her head to me.

“Hi Kodi!” she barked. I heard Achala sigh in annoyance. Malana trotted to me, with Achala following. Malana nuzzled me.

“How have you been, Kodi?” she asked.

“Fine” I replied. “I could have been better.” I flattened my ears. Malana licked my cheek.

“Tell what’s wrong” she asked. I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to tell anyone. I knew that Dusty knew, but I no longer cared.

“It’s Dusty… “ I finally said. I was about to explain the rest, but Malana interrupted me with a gasp.

“Dusty? W… what did she do?!”

“It’s probably what she didn’t do…” Achala mumbled. I knew that Dusty and Malana were like best friends, plus I knew that Achala wasn’t very fond of me.

“Hush Achala!” Malana snapped. She turned to me. “Please, tell me what Dusty did?” she begged. I sighed. There was no way I could get out of this.

“Well… I had a crush on her for a while… I never wanted to tell her… because I was afraid of rejection… but I also wanted her to know. I finally told her that I loved her, and when I did….”

“What? Did she reject you?!” demanded Achala. Malana shushed her.

“Achala shut up! Kodi, what happened?”

I felt my eyes tearing up. “She told me she already had a mate… Ralph..” I finished. I felt so hurt inside. I heard Achala snicker in amusement.

“She’s smart then” Achala laughed. “She’s smart to NOT go with you.” she paused laughing, then continued. “even if I was her, I would choose Ralph over You any day”

It hurt that my own sister would say that. Malana growled at Achala to be quiet. Achala rolled her eyes. She spotted Cream, one of her friends, then trotted after her. I watched her and Cream walked away.

Malana sighed. She nuzzled me. “Kodi… it’s ok. You do relized that it was Dusty’s choice.”

“yeah. I do” I said quietly.

“You know, there are other girls out there. I know that there has to one right for you.”

“Yeah Right!” We heard Achala shout. Malana growled in frustration.

“Achala, Will you just SHUT UP!” she snapped. I looked at Malana.

“I gotta go” I whispered. She nuzzled me good-bye. I walked away.

~~~

Months passed. About 3 anyway. I haven’t spoken to Dusty or Ralph ever since…. That day. Not even on mail runs, and when they’d talk to me, I would just ignore them.

One day, they were trying to tell me something, but I kept walking away. I knew Dusty was having enough. She trotted towards me.

“Kodi!” She snapped.

“WHAT!” I growled. I stepped back, bumping into something. I turned my head around, seeing Ralph, glaring at me.

“Kodi, it’s rude to ignore someone” He barked. I glared at him.

“I know” I huffed.

“Then why are you ignoring us?!” Dusty questioned.

I sighed. “I just….I.. Dunno…I’m just… hurt…”

Dusty narrowed her eyes. “I know Kodi…” She flattened her ears. It looked as if she was about to cry.

“Hurt?” echoed Ralph. He saw Dusty looking sad, and he licked her in a consoling way. She smiled, then buried her nose in his neck. He licked the top of her head. My heart was feeling black with envy.

“so what was it you wanted to tell me?” I asked, changing the subject. Dusty stopped nuzzling Ralph, then looked at me.

“Oh yeah… me and Ralph, well… I’m expecting puppies” she explained. She wagged her tail. Puppies?! The hurt inside me felt worse. Oh how I wished it was me, soon to be father of Dusty’s puppies… not Ralph.

“c… congratulations..” I stammered. I turned around and started to walk away.

“Kodi!” Dusty called. “Are you ok?”

“uh huh…” I answered, then sprinted away.

~~~

Puppies?! They are having puppies together!? I sighed. I walked alone on the beach side.

“How could this happen…” I asked myself.

“How could WHAT happen!?” demanded a voice from behind me. I turned, seeing Achala.

“oh, uh…”

“Quit stalling. TELL ME what happened!” she snarled. I gulped.

“Dusty and Ralph are going to have puppies…” I explained. Achala’s expression lightened up a bit.

“Puppies? Wow. I can’t wait to tell Malana!” She knocked me over, then ran off. I slowly got up. I started walking away. I didn’t know, or care, where I was going.

On the way, I heard my mother, Jenna, call me.

“Kodiak! Kodi, please come here”

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