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” 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.

“Oh… K… Kodi… er….heheh” She stammered. I got up on all fours, and I felt my feet racing away. When I was a little further. I looked back at her. I saw her pinning her ears down. She sat there, looking ashamed. I decided to go back and apologize.

“S…. Silvey?”

“Hm?” She looked at me. I saw her eyes misted up.

“Are you ok?” I asked. She nodded slowly.

“I guess…?” she sighed. I licked a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…. I shouldn’t of ran away.”

“It’s ok. I understand why you did. It’s just so hard because I….. Well…..” she kept pausing. It looked as if she wanted to confess one of her secrets to me.

“What.” I whispered. “What is it.” She dug her nose in my neck. My face felt hot with blushing.

“I…well. It’s hard to say… but I….. L……love….. Like you” she confessed. My eyes popped open.

“Really?” I asked, looking at her. She nodded.

“It’s hard to admit it. I was afraid… of rejection” she admitted.

She was afraid of rejection? So was I! I licked her. She looked at me.

“Silvia….Silvey… I liked you too… I too was afraid of rejection”

She giggled. I chuckled back. We soon were nuzzling.

“Kodi? Wanna be my…. Boyfriend?” she asked.

“Yes!” I barked. She smiled at me, I smiled at her. Our eyes were locked.

The moment was distracted when I heard paw steps coming towards us. I turned, seeing Dusty. Her eyes were filled with a mix of Sorrow, anger, and confusion.

“You know Kodi…” she growled through clenched teeth. “Love Hurts”