you flea-bitten mongrel!’ she had yelled as he fled out of our small home. And from that moment on he would have nothing to do with us. Seeing our father leave had brought most of us joy, but not for Lucy. She became angry with our mother, and things became quite hostile between them. On the eve after we turned twelve weeks old, she was quite careless. She was trying to sneak into the meat locker even after our mom had warned us of the butcher’s new dog. She was caught red-handed with a string of sausages trailing from her mouth by the butcher’s dog. But instead of taking the fall for her own stupidity, she cut a deal with this dog. She would tell him why the meat was disappearing and where our small family hid if he promised to let her stay as another pet of the butcher. He had been reluctant at first, but he agreed. This part came from Lucy’s mouth. But we came in when we were abruptly awoken by the sound of shrill barking. There were loud footsteps that echoed to us as we heard a loud click from above. Then suddenly, everything became quiet. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears interfere with all other sounds as we waited for a sound that would hopefully relieve us. There was a loud bang and a bright flash of light as wood splintered from above us. We all looked up in shock and surprise and that’s when I saw the butcher’s face for the first time. It was a bright red and seemed misshapen as his mustache twitched. He grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun in his big hands and we heard another clicking as he aimed the barrel towards Mother. In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves running through a gale-force blizzard as the butcher stumbled clumsily out of his house, cursing. His dog and Lucy watched us run from the door, both having smug faces. Lilith and Hal had run with Mother, Steele had gone the opposite direction, and I, in my cowardice, hid myself in a fallen trash.”

Burt paused for a moment and let out a deep sigh, as the memory continued to play in his mind.

“I heard another gunshot that shook both my body and my hiding place. I peaked out, heard a howl, and saw a large dark figure fall to the ground. The two smaller figures to both of her sides stopped briefly before they fled into the storm and I quickly lost sight of them. I shrunk back into my can, feeling a small bit of comfort of not being found by this cruel, cruel man. But I still felt that stinging realization that my mother wouldn’t be there to comfort me, or any of my siblings ever again. I can still remember crying myself to sleep in my despair and loneliness that night.”

The black and white husky blinked twice as he tried to hide a select few tears. He couldn’t remember how many years it had been since he had last cried. Usually he was too busy watching over Lilith and Hal to really think of all they had done. He focused carefully at this small dog at his paws. His fur matted with sweat and littered with scars. He bowed his head silently and continued to speak.

“From there on, our stories have varied, but I’ll try to keep the other stories straight. After that night, I tried to pick up the scent of my sister and youngest brother, but it proved more difficult than I thought. I still made it to the town which they had found refuge in, but it took days longer than I had wanted, and I was quite hungry for I still had no proper skill in hunting. When I entered the town, I collapsed at the front step of a small building. The owner saw me and opened up his door. He leaned down, and gently took me in his arms, carrying me inside the building and feeding me his table scraps. I would soon learn that this was this town’s telegraph man, and I became his loyal companion. So overall, you can say that I’ve had a rather plush life.

“Next came Sister. She was not only devastated by seeing my mother’s life taken from her by her very own eyes, but also by how it had been the sibling she had trusted the most that turned on her. She was never able to trust anyone anymore, except her brother’s of course. Her and Hal had stayed together for a short time, before they had a fierce argument and decided to split up for awhile. She became a regular street dog, fighting for survival every day by digging through trash cans and fighting over the smallest scraps. That did nothing to aid her in her mental instability. She would have been a great leader, had she the capacity to trust another soul. But after I found her again, which is harder than you may think, I took her to our veterinarian, hoping that they could do something to help her, and thank the stars, they actually accepted her. Both the vet and his wife did the best they could to gain her trust, and for a second, I thought they had succeeded and I saw a glimmer of the sister that I once knew, but it was never meant to be. She now fakes her trust with them, and only pretends so she can protect herself. Things have been shaky with her.

“On to Hal, maybe one of the more tragic tales of our small family. He completely lost it once he saw our mom die. He couldn’t handle it, and after he had fought with Lilith, he scrounged for food like her. But he made a mistake one evening. He broke into the house of an individual that he wouldn’t soon forget. He had reached the handle of a refrigerator when he felt a rough hand grasp the scruff of his neck and tug him away violently. He was the town clown, and I mean that quite literally, and as punishment for sneaking around his home, he planned to make Hal his pet, and not one that he would love either. As his first act, he took out his paintbrushes and a paint, and it wasn’t a face paint that would come off easily. He painted him up to resemble him in ways, a clown, a thing he would never live down. And as a final hurrah, he put a nose and hat on him, but the string would not stretch, so as Hal grew, the string eventually fused within him. As a custom of this clown, before they would leave, he would attach a mask to Hal’s face that was connected to a canister. He said he ‘borrowed’ it from the dentist’s office, and it would make Hal giggle in delight seconds after, setting him up for the part of a clown immediately. If Hal did anything that displeased his master, he would be beaten and hurt. A year of dealing with this torment was really starting to take a toll on his mind and body, and he heard word that a circus was coming to the near area. His master worked him extra hard because he wanted desperately to get out of this town, and join an actual circus, so that made things worse for him. They were accepted into this circus, but shortly after, the human in charge and every human involved was taken by the police. This did set Hal free, but it also freed him from any restraint that his master had laid on him, so there was very little to hold him back. He eventually returned to White Mountain, and I reunited with him, but it was after he had already taken a few lives in the process. He turned his old master’s house into his own place that he could do with as he wished, and that’s where we are now.

“And finally, we move to Gregory Steele. I know you know most of his life from hanging around him. I heard that your group of four used to be pretty close knit and that he was quite the buzz of the town, but I doubt you know everything about your once good friend. That night made something click inside of him. He felt exactly the way about Lucy, as he had felt when our father left. He was the only one of us besides Lucy to stay in Nome, and for most of the time, he was able to hide his anger towards her and to hold himself back. Most of this was because he had other things to distract him, such as being the lead sled dog and a husky named Jenna. But he felt extremely threatened when this character named Balto started to move in on her. So he did his best to try and keep him away from her, but his efforts were simply useless. And after the whole Diphtheria Scare, he was heartbroken and enraged when he completely lost Jenna, and he vowed to return the favor one day. He came to us in White Mountain, but didn’t speak except on the rare occasion, most of the time he would stay isolated to think, but he left one day, and we couldn’t find him. We later found out that he went back to Nome to try and get revenge, but he failed miserably. He returned, and begged us to help him, and of course, we agreed because we couldn’t see him suffer, and now here we are.”

He saw Star looking up at him, completely awestruck and his mouth hung open. Burt chuckled quietly and patted Star on the head.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s probably a lot of information to process.”

He closed the curtains with his tail, plunging the room back into darkness before he silently padded over to the door. He glanced over his shoulder and spoke to Star once more before he exited.

“I also apologize again. See, I’m always quite conflicted, and so this is one side of me. While I’m with my siblings, I won’t be the same as you see me now… Just warning you.”

Burt smiled and stepped out, closing the door most of the way. He saw Hal grinning at him from his torn up chair.

“Shall we continue Brother? Or do you wish to continue spreading our life stories to more?”

“You know I had to say something, besides, this may earn us pity later on,” Burt whispered quietly.

“Ah, excellent thought Burt, but please, don’t be too cunning. I wouldn’t want you taking my job away from me,” Hal snickered.

“Rest assured Brother, I won’t. But we can continue on if you like.”

Hal jumped off the chair and walked over to Burt. They gave each other a brotherly embrace as they both smiled.

“I would love nothing better. But first, could you teach me Morse Code?… Just in case.

Burt smiled. “But of course Hal. It should make things easier lest we are separated by towns.”

“Excellent.”

Spirits in Nome ran high as everyone prepared for the celebration of another year passing. Smoke poured from the Manson chimney as