"Momma!"

The blizzard raged furiously. The pounding wind forced the young pup’s brown fur irately. He slowly poked his snout out of the broken down crate by the fallen ship, the bitter wind constantly whipping in his eyes.

“Momma!!”

The pup whimpered against the wind and cowered in the back the crate. He was so cold. Where was his mother? Where did she go?

“Momma!!”

There was no answer. Maybe she couldn’t hear him because of the wind… He tried again, louder, “Momma!!!”

Nothing.

“MOMMA!!”

…Nothing.

The pup curled into himself, desperately shivering to try to warm his small body. “Where are you, Momma?” A frozen tear escaped his eye. Somehow he knew that he’d never see her again.

“BARK BARK BARK”

The brown pup awoke with a start. Dimly, he glanced around the crate, blown snow covering half of the opening. Bright sunlight filtered in, a stark contrast to the misery he was feeling inside.

“BARK BARK BARK”

The brown-furred pup froze, his yellow eyes wide, there was another—another thing out there! Slowly, a tiny puppy snout poked its way into the dim of the crate; it sniffed the air, and then was followed by a red-furred face, “Hi!” The newcomer chirped merrily, “I’m Jenna, what’s your name?”

The pup’s ears perked forward, “Are you—are you talking to me?” Jenna smiled and knocked down the rest snow covering the entrance to the crate. 

“Of course, who else would I be talking to?”

“Oh… My name’s Balto.”

Jenna wagged her tail, “Wanna come play with me?” Blato glanced away, “No… I need to wait here until my Momma comes back for me.” He wanted to believe his words. He needed to believe that his mother would return to him.

“Okay…” Jenna sighed, “But if you ever want to come play with me, I’ll be over there, okay?” She mentioned to the small town that lay nearby before scampering away, tail wagging. Balto watched her go. He placed his head on his paws, “…Momma…”

As the days toiled into weeks, Balto discovered several things: One: that humans said he was “part wolf” Two: Humans and their dogs didn’t want him near, and Three: He was very lonely.

Balto always stayed around the broken crate and nearby ship. He couldn’t stand the thought that his mother could have come by while he was away. Jenna would sometimes come by. But she had been adopted, and now she hardly came at all. Young Balto was so lonely.

He climbed into the lower deck of his boat. This was his hidden place. He could always count on being welcomed here. Where was his life going? There was nothing that could lift his spirits. It was like a thousand chains, chains that he could never truly be released from that weighed down his soul.

And he cried.