Kodi, please come here” She called. I sighed, then walked to her.

“yeah mom”

She nuzzled me. “Hey, I heard what happened… between you and Dusty.”

I gulped. How did she know. I never spoken to her about it… the only ones who knew was Dusty, Malana, and Achala. I knew Dusty wouldn’t tell my mom, Achala doesn’t care, it had to of been Malana who told her.

“You heard…?” I asked. She nodded.

“Yeah, Malana told me.”

MALANA!! I was about to shout her name out in anger, but I kept quiet. “oh, did she.”

My mom nodded. “Kodi, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

I looked at her “Who?”

My mother turned her head around. “Come here, dear.” Then she turned back. I saw a light bluish/gray female. She had bright blue eyes, and white markings, similar to Dusty’s, except the white marking went past her eye, and she had a darker stripe along her back. She was pretty. She smiled at me.

“Kodi, this is Silvey. She’s new here.” my mother explained.

“oh… uh…. Welcome to Nome, Silvey” I stammered.

“thanks Kodi.” she giggled. My mother smiled at the both of us. She turned to me.

“Kodi, I was thinking maybe you and Silvey could become friends. Maybe you could show her around the town” my mom winked at me.

“That would be nice” Silvey said. My mom took one last glance at me and Silvey, then trotted away. I gulped. Silvey seemed nice… and she was pretty, but I didn’t… couldn’t have a crush on her. I was already hurt by my first crush, and I don’t think I could handle rejection again. I started walking away, and Silvey followed right next to me.

“My real name is Silvia, but everyone calls me Silvey.”

“That’s a pretty name. My real name is Kodiak.” I told her.

“I always loved the name Kodiak” she barked, I felt myself blushing.

“thanks… Silvia is a nice name too.”

She chuckled.

~~

I toured Silvey around the whole town. I showed her the boiler room, the hospital, the butchers meat locker (we didn’t go inside though) the beach, and I introduced her to my dad. She had a ton of questions to ask him.

After that, we watched the sunset together on top of a hill outside of Nome.

I felt myself blush every time I looked at her. I knew I was developing a crush in her. I felt good when I was around her. I didn’t ever want to tell Silvey my true feelings for her. I was too afraid of rejection, the hurt feeling.

~~

A month later, I was out for a walk. I happen to past Dusty’s house. I saw all but one light off. I trotted over to the window, and stood up on my hind legs, and gripped my front paws on the windowsill. I saw Dusty laying in a basket. Ralph was next to her. Tiffany, Dusty’s owner, was holding a bundle. She placed it next to Dusty. I heard a faint whimper, then I saw something in the bundle move. A little newborn puppy crawled out, and to Dusty. The pup was female. It was the same color as Dusty, along with the same front leg markings and face markings, but she had Ralph’s other color.

“Lets call her Wendie?” Suggested Tiffany. Dusty barked happily in response. Tiffany reached over, and grabbed another bundle on the couch. She set that puppy next to Dusty. She licked her pup.

The pup had the same markings, and color as Ralph. He had the same leg markings as Dusty.

“Wanna name him…. Rodney?” Tiffany asked. Dusty wagged her tail as in saying ‘yes!’ Tiffany chuckled. She heard the phone ring.

“Hold on,” she said. She walked to the other room. Dusty licked Ralph’s muzzle, then licked each pup. She turned to Ralph.

“Oh Ralph. Aren’t they beautiful?” she asked. Ralph licked her nose.

“They’re…..beautiful” He commented. She nuzzled him.

I pinned my ears back. I hopped down on all fours. I didn’t wanna see anymore. I sighed, then trotted away…

~~Another month past~~

Dusty’s pups were exactly 8 weeks old. She came back to working on the mail team, so she got Tiffany to watch the pups.

We were in the middle of Nome and White Mountain. A huge snow storm was rising. Snow stung our eyes every time we opened them. I had to lead the team by myself. Kirby decided to stay back at Nome. He decided to let me lead instead of him. I knew that this was more responsibility I had.

Ash was acting even more cautious. Every time he stepped on something, or got his foot caught in a hole, he’d stop walking and crouch back. We soon were crossing a narrow path. We would of took the original, but the storm made us loose our way.

I felt a tug at my harness. I turned, and saw Ralph slipping on some snow. I pulled with all my might, trying to stop him from falling, except he was way stronger than me.

“Whoa!” I heard him cry, He started slipping again. I saw Dusty clench her teeth in his harness, trying to pull him. He was too heavy for her, and she wound up tripping. She fell right in front of Ralph. Ralph held his front paws in the snow. I only saw half of his body. I strained my eyes, and I saw… Ralph was hanging on the edge of a cliff! Dusty was slipping too! I saw Ralph push her up.

Ash grabbed Dusty’s collar, and pulled her up. She was laying on the ground. She quickly tried getting to her feet, then fell. Ash tried to calm her down.

I turned to Ralph. I reached my head forward and tried to grab his collar, but he slipped down. I could only see his head and his front paws, which were hanging on the edge.

“Kodi…” He whispered.

“W…What.” I whispered back.

“Tell Dusty…. Let her know… her and the pups know… that I love them… I’ll miss them.” He whimpered.

“W…what are you talking about?” I asked.

“Kodi….” He dug his claws in the snowy ground, then slipped a little more. “We both know… or should know… that I can’t hang on much longer…” He started slipping faster. His claws slipped. I heard a rumbling noise. I felt my harness being tugged at harder. There I knew Ralph had fallen, and his harness was still attached. I pulled back, but couldn’t. I got yanked to the ground. I struggled to stay on the cliff. I dug all my claws into the ground.

After minutes of struggling, my harness stopped pulling. I got up, and walked a little further from the edge I felt Ralph‘s harness behind me. It was so light. I turned, and saw the empty harness. Now I knew Ralph was gone…forever…

“Kodi?” I heard the voice of Ash. I turned to answer him. I saw Dusty breathing heavily, laying on the ground.

“Kodi, she has a fever. It looks bad… worse..” he explained. I looked at Dusty.

“Put her on the sled” I ordered. Once they did, I started leading the team back. The storm was getting worse. I even started coughing. I heard Mr. Simson, our musher, coughing as well. So was every one on the team. I had some things to worry about. Getting the team back to Nome safely, hoping everyone wasn’t getting a fever, hoping I didn’t get sick, hoping Dusty would be well, and how she’d take it when I told her Ralph was gone…

~~~~

When we got back to Nome, I took Dusty back to her house on the sled. After Mr. Simson unhooked all of us. I grabbed the rope attached to the sled, and started to drag it.

When I got to Dusty’s house, I dropped the rope, ran up the porch, and scratched on her door. I soon heard Tiffany coming. She was saying some sorta welcome, thinking I was Dusty scratching on the door. She was surprised when she opened the door. She started at me with wide, confused eyes. I barked at her, then sprinted to the sled which held Dusty. She gasped and ran to her sick dog. She hugged Dusty.

“Oh, Dusty… are you ok?” She asked. Dusty was to sick to respond. She carried Dusty into the house. I followed her, and slipped between her and the door. She looked at me and sighed, but them she nodded as in to welcome me in.

She took Dusty into a room. She placed her in a comfy basket.

“Mommy Mommy!” I heard her pups yelp. They ran towards her.

“Mom? Mom!” Wendie whimpered.

“Shh.” I shushed them. They both looked at me. “Your mother needs rest. She’s sick. Go play in another room ok?”

“Ok.” Wendie barked. She ran away.

“Your not the boss of me!” Scoffed Rodney. I growled to myself. I hated pups like this. I got Face-to-Face with him.

“Ok. Rodney” I growled. “I know I’m not the boss of you… but you mother is very sick. She needs to be left alone for a while. And if you keep bugging her, she could die!” I lied about the ‘she could die’ part. Rodney looked at me wide-eyed, then scampered after his sister. I chucked to myself.

“Cm’here doggie,” Tiffany called. I knew she was talking to me. I ran towards her. She was sitting behind Dusty. I slowly walked over. I licked Dusty on the nose. Her eyes snapped open. She blinked her eyes a couple times. She looked at me with a disappointed look. As if she wanted Ralph to be there instead of me. I gulped. I knew I had to tell her the bad news.

“D...Dusty?”

“…Kodi? W…. where’s…”

“Ralph?” I asked. She nodded. “Well, Dusty…. I bring bad news…” she eyed me. I sighed, finding the courage to tell her. Just Tell her.

“Dusty…., Ralph….. Is…..gone… he fell… down a cliff…. On the mail run” I told her. She started to cry. I saw her eyes mist up, then a tear rolled down her cheek. I got up and left her. I didn’t know what else to do; say.

~~~~

It was a couple days after Ralph’s death. Dusty recovered from her fever. I walked by Silvey’s house.

“Kodi!” I heard Silvey call me. I turned, looking at her. She was looking at me through the window of her house. She signaled me to stay, then leaped down. Moments later I saw her exit from her doggy door. She started running to me from her porch. Only she didn’t see the lose board. Her foot caught on it, and at that moment, she tumbled down. I ran to her rescue, but I got to close at the wrong time. She crashed into me; we both fell to the ground.

I rose my head up. Not knowing she was raising her head at the same time. Our mouths were touching in a kissing way. Our eyes were locked. I was shocked. Her expression was surprised mixed embarrassment. I pulled back.

Previous Page

1 2 3

Next page