CHAPTER 4: First Sight
The next day I told Curly my story. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as hers, but hey, I don’t choose the way I live. She was though, a bit surprised, probably just to make me happy, but she is a very good actress.
You know, I wouldn’t have even imagined the Curly that bossed everyone around, being the queen of her street like she said. Of course I would have imagined her fiery red eyes, and the sound of her menacing growl, but only faintly.
I can’t even believe I was the one that changed her back into her old self, not that I ever wanted to see her other self, but I still don’t understand. Why me? I mean anyone could change her back the way I did. Why do people wait for me to do this? I’ll probably never find the answer, but I guess that’s not important right now. Because Curly’s back to the way she was at pup hood. Now I have to figure out where we’re going. I was almost positive we’re in
I’d decided to rest because it’s not like there’s anything else to do in this stupid cage. Curly’s already asleep, so I can’t talk to her. I put my head down and closed my eyes, but I shot them open again, because of this screeching sound filling my eardrums to the extreme! The sound is like nails to a chalk board, but ten times louder! At once the whole car of the train was shaking violently side to side. But the good news was, my cage was right-side-up again! Next we were all being forced to lean forward in our cages, because…the train was stopping! When it finally ceased, we all fell backward immediately! I thought this was only to pick someone up again, but I was wrong.
After all that noise all I heard was…nothing. Absolute silence. Even the loudest of dogs did not dare to make one sound. I was scared to death as the silence was killing me. But as I looked over to Curly, she seemed only curious, but didn’t ask anything. But I bet inside, she’s just as afraid as I was, as all the dogs were. We all kept waiting for something to happen, but it was still silent. How long was this going to last?!
I was about to go completely insane, when suddenly, I heard something coming from the doorway. It was soft at first, but immediately got louder. It was like the nails on the chalkboard again, but lower and softer than when the train was stopping. Finally, the door opened very slowly, and a harsh, cold breeze shot from the crack of the door to all of us. I shivered. Both from fear and coldness. Slowly a few men stepped through the door and it was warm again. Some of the dogs were whining as they do everyday, and in no time the room was loud barking as always. I was really relieved when the silence was all over. But now I have to worry about what those unknown men were doing in here. I was getting more worried as they started to go down my aisle.
“Well, see any you like?” A familiar man said to the two unknown ones. The familiar one was the one who fed all of us on the train. He was pretty nice to us. At least nicer than the big man.
The two unknown men were looking around, but one of them stopped at me. I started to panic. He seemed to like me.
“Hey, look at this one.” He said. Then he started to feel around my body.
“Wow! You’re a big fella aren’t you? How much for this one?”
“Hmmm…$70. How about it?”
“Okay. You got a deal!”
Then I widened my eyes in horror. I was sold! And I couldn’t do a thing about it. I layed down and whimpered. Now I’ll REALLY never get to see Judge Miller again. Curly looked so worried when she looked at me. I knew she wanted to help. She was now sad that WE’LL never see each other again. Curly put a paw on the wall of her cage. I did the same.
“I’ll really miss you, Buck. You are the nicest person I’ve ever met. You made me who I am again, and that means more than you know.”
“I’ll I told you was to listen to your heart.”
“And you have no idea what that meant to me. Thank you.”
“Your welcome. I’m really glad I met you. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have a friend on this train.”
“Friend.” Curly repeated, smiling. “I haven’t had one of those in a long time.”
I smiled as well.
“Well. I guess this is goodbye. Take care, Buck.”
“You, too Curly. And wherever you’re going, I hope it’s a good place. Goodbye my friend…I’ll always be in your heart, you know, because I changed it.” After that, I was being let out of my cage. I jumped to the floor. And was being lead on another leash one of the two mean had. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Curly, shedding the last tear I’ll ever get to see her shed. She looked at me and mouthed the word, “Friend.”
I smiled, shedding one tear as well.
While we were walking to the door of the train, one of the men felt his pocket and stopped.
“Oh dear! Hold on there! I need to get something!” The other man and I waited while he went back to get whatever he needed. I thought about who Curly might be sold to. I hoped it was someone nice, someone that could be a friend to her like I was. I hoped that Curly will be changed completely, into the good pup I know she is. She could be anyone’s friend. I wished I could spend more time with Curly, now, for the first time, I wanted to be on that train. I didn’t care what amount of food or water I got. If I was with Curly, then nothing ever really mattered. But…That’s all going to change now. Now that I’ll never see her again.
The man returned with his hat in his hand. But his other hand he was pulling something. Something that was…CURLY?! I couldn’t even breathe when I saw her being pulled by the other man. That meant she was sold, and now she was going to be my friend always.
Wow. I guess my wish had come true after all! And I was so happy!!
“What the- You bought another dog?!” Then man who waited with me asked in a surprising tone.
“Well. She seemed pretty lonely. And she looks strong enough. So why not? She could make a great addition.”
“*Sigh* Fine. We’ll keep her.”
I howled with glee as I ran to her, hugging her for the first time, since we were in cages the whole time. She stunk though, but at the time I didn’t really care.
“I guess fate gave us a chance to be friends after all.” Curly said while we were still hugging.
“Now we can both start all over again in a new life.”
“But…” She pulled away. “What would that new life BE exactly?”
There was a silence. I actually DIDN’T know what that new life would be. Nor did I know if it was going to be good or not. I knew that Curly didn’t know as well, and wasn’t really waiting for my answer. She was thinking about it also.
The two men took us to the door, the door that would take us out of here, for good.
I held my breath. I didn’t know what was going to happen as one of the men reached toward it and grabbed the handle. I held it even harder when a huge blast of wind came from the open door, but then it stopped. And we walked out.
I was utterly amazed! It seemed Curly was too. All this white stuff falling from the sky and landing on the ground for me to stomp in it. I didn’t know what it was, but I liked it, well, except for its unbearable coldness! I thought my toes were going to freeze off! Curly curled into a ball, rocking back and forth, shivering. I knew she didn’t like the cold so much either. But was WAS this white stuff? First I sniffed it. No scent at all. Then I stuck out my tongue to taste it. No taste. I just felt a drop of water on my tongue.
Then I realized. Judge Miller had once told me there was this thing called “snow.” Where it’s white and fluffy, but very freezing. And it floats gently down to the ground. It was just water, but frozen in crystal form and it melts back into water when it touches something warmer that it. So this was the first time I was standing in snow. I smiled, for the billionth time today. I couldn’t help it. I would get used to snow quickly, but Curly…She might take a while.
CHAPTER 5: The Harsh North
After we ran around in the snow for a bit, our new owners took us by our leashes and walked us. It was so nice to be able to walk freely again! I think Curly was having fun with it, too! And it was nice having a best friend to be at my side. We both looked at each other and smiled, again. No matter how difficult this new life would be, at least we would go through it together.
And I think that was going to start right now. We were walking through the snow when a small dot peeked over the white-covered land. That small dot turned into a bunch of dots, which eventually grew into buildings. It was a town. Curly and I looked at each other with worry, now. Who knows what would be in that small village!
As we got closer, a sign came up over the horizon. Our new owners stopped to look at it, I guess to see if they were in the right place. Oh, how I wished I was human so I could read! But I had to wait for them to tell each other. Luckily they did. We kinda learned to understand human during our travels on the train.
“Well, were getting closer. At least we made it to
Curly and I both exchanged glances that were too surprised!
“Oh my gosh, Buck. We’re in
“ I know. I can’t seem to figure this out. Why are we taken to
“Calm down. Look, we can’t do anything about this, Buck. Humans-apparently- rule the world.”
“I know. It’s just, it all came on so fast. A week ago I thought I would live at my owner’s place forever. But now I’m in
“Shh. They’re talking again.”
“Alright, I’ll go get the boat ready while you get the other dogs.”
“Okay. C’mon guys.” The man took both our leashes and pulled us.
“Okay, seriously, how do you LIVE with this?!” Curly asked as we were walking. She was trying to claw her leash free.
“I’ve lived with it my whole life. And I turned out fine.”
“Your version of “fine” is a lot different than my version, Buck. But you really let humans pull you like this?”
“My old owner never pulled me, he just tugged and I would automatically come along.”
“You house dogs…”
“You street dogs…”
Then Curly and I started laughing as we finally got into town. After that we just stared with amazement, but mostly horror.
This small Alaskan town was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I thought it was going to be someplace where people are smiling and happy, but I was dead wrong.
This place was full of people all right, but definitely not smiling and happy. They looked tough looking, mean, grim people, especially the men. And the dogs…
The dogs were the worst part! Some of them looked almost exactly like Curly when she was in her frenzy. Some looked like they were going to die any second. But the majority of them, just plain mean, like their owners. None were happy. Now I was afraid I was going to turn into those kinds of dogs while being in this town. I didn’t even want to know what was going through Curly’s mind when she saw this.
We were astounded. Was this going to be our new life? Is this our fate? What did we do wrong? So many questions!
Luckily, we were out of that horrible town as quickly as we came in. And we went to the docks. Looks like we were going for a ship ride now. I’ve never been on a ship before, so I was a little nervous at first. Curly didn’t seem to mind, though. I guess if you’ve gone through your family’s death, you can get through anything.
Soon, everything was loaded and ready to go. But where? Was this trip ever going to end? I don’t know if I’ll ever be alive for the answer!
“Guys! Come here!” One of our new masters called as the ship was leaving the dock. His name was Francisco, as I learned recently. Curly and I padded to him and he patted our heads.
“I’ve got some new friends for you to meet. They’re coming up right now. So be good.” After that he left for the other dogs. What do these men want with all these dogs? I’m sure he doesn’t want us all as pets. I guess I’d find out.
In a short minute, two dogs came up from the stairs, one wearing a magnificent collar, and one wearing nothing. The dog wearing the fancy collar was pure white, and looked very regal. The other one looked kind of lazy and bored, ready to pass out. He seemed like he was a reddish-brown husky.
Both dogs were looking at us like they just saw something utterly gross. They probably looked at Curly first (jk).
I waved my paw hello to be nice, but I don’t think they noticed.
“So, this is all our owners could afford? Must be a slow week.” The white one said.
Well that was rude. I thought.
“Lets just get something straight, mutts. And since you’re newbies, I’ll say this slowly:
“Okay. But just remember: I’m watching you…” Then he walked away and back down the stairs as the boat was finally leaving the dock. I looked at the other dog.
“What’s his problem?”
“Eh. He’s just consumed all of that power of being the leader. I’m Dave by the way. And the white one is Spitz.”
“What’s Spitz the leader of anyway?” Curly asked.
“Oh. I thought you knew. Oh well. You’re on a dogsled team now. Spitz is lead dog and I’m at the wheel. You guys will probably be in the middle.”
“A sled dog team?” I repeated. “You mean we’ll be attached to a sled and be forced to carry things from one town to another?”
“Yep. Sound like fun?”
“Not really. Doesn’t that hurt, carrying really heavy things for about whatever miles?” Curly asked Dave.
“Well you won’t be carrying it yourself.”
“I know, but how much weight is actually on that sled?”
Dave shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“By the way, Dave, Do you know where we’re going?” I had to ask.
“Geez, you guys ask so many questions, and I don’t know that either. Sorry.”
“No that’s fine, I’m just curious. I’ll know when I get there.”
“So Dave, when do we start dog sledding?” Curly asked Dave. She seemed a bit excited when she asked it, too, like she wanted to do back-breaking work.
“Stop with the questions! And it’s after we land in
“When?”
Dave gave them a mean face, but he answered anyway. “About a day or two, maybe. We’ll never know what could happen at sea.”
Curly nodded, done with questions.
But I wasn’t. I still had millions left! Why exactly are we here? Why are we stolen from our homes and be forced to work? Why do they need dogs from places like
“Well, it’s getting pretty late. It’s probably been a long day for you hasn’t it?” Dave looked at us.
“Yeah. It’s really been a rough week.” I answered. Curly stayed silent.
“Okay, so I’ll show you the bedroom and you can get some shut-eye.”
We both nodded and followed Dave down the stairs, below deck. The bed room was a bit shabby, like in movies you see when they show the old lower deck of a boat- wooden walls, barrels full of who knows what, stacks of bags everywhere, and it gets pretty dark, too. The only difference is the small pile of pillows in the far corner of the room. Actually one big pile and one small one. Spitz was already sleeping on the small pile.
“Spitz doesn’t like to share.” Dave pointed out. “The big pile is for the rest of us.”
“Well that’s pretty mean. Shouldn’t you do something about this?” Curly asked.
“I tried. He broke a bone in my leg and I couldn’t walk for a week. Never doing that again!”
Both Curly and I gasped lightly.
“I can’t believe he would do such things to you. Does his owner know?” I asked.
“Apparently not. Everyone in almost all the towns of
“Aww man. I’m sorry.” Curly said to him.
“Don’t worry about it. I got used to it over time. But I feel sorry for you. Because he’ll start being a jerk to you in a matter of days. He gives newbies probably a week to get used to things, then he strikes! But let’s not talk about that right now. I’m probably going to ruin your week. Let’s just go to bed.”
Curly and I nodded and we all walked to the pile of pillows. Curly and I got the softest because we were new and this was sort of a welcome present. But soon after Curly and Dave were fast asleep, I lie awake thinking. This was my home now, my family, my life. Judge Miller and I are now just a memory packed away deep in my thoughts, locked. And now I’m the servant of a great hero who is apparently a jerk.
CHAPTER 6: A New Way of Life
For the next few days, we stopped in various places around
And that time had finally come at last.
That day Dave got up early to see what our masters were doing and they said they spotted their destination! Curly and Dave shouted with glee when he told all of us. Spitz was happy, but an evil kind of happy. I was a bit joyful, but only because we’re finally getting off this stupid boat. But a bit nervous and angry as well. I never wanted to do dog sledding and I don’t want to now, but Curly always said it was now our way of life, and we can’t deny it. I, annoyingly, took her word when we finally landed. And I was ready for training, even though I never wanted to be. The minute we landed our masters got the sled ready. There were two sleds, one for training and the other for the real thing. The training sled was a little smaller, I guess lighter, but still looked heavy. But it also had nothing on it, while the other sled had all their camping supplies. Francisco called Curly over to be attached to the training sled. She skipped merely to her master to get her harness on. I watched with curiosity as he was putting the harness on her and attaching them to the sled. After that he told her to stay put until he was safely on the back. When that was taken care of, he shouted a word I have never heard before.
“Mush!” He shouted. Curly just stood there, unable to understand the word. Francisco pointed forward. “Mush!” He shouted again. That gave Curly the idea that he wanted her to pull it, and at that moment she shot forward in eagerness. It was a bit hard for her, I can tell, but as soon as the sled caught up with her, it was so easy! I waved goodbye to her as she ran farther away from me. Soon it will be me attached to that sled, running as far as my legs will carry me. This was one of the worst days of my life, so I thought.
In a matter of hours, Curly came back, exhausted, but happy. And there was a huge pile of wood on the sled now. I ran to ask her how it was, and what I will be experiencing. And she told me it was tiring, but loved every minute of it. She said she has never run that fast before. Now it was my turn.
I really didn’t want to do this, but I had no choice if this was going to be my new life. So I let him put me in that awful harness, and attach me to the now light sled. I saw one of the owners pack that wood on the other sled. Francisco did the same thing to me as he did to Curly. He yelled, “Mush!” and pointed forward. Luckily in no time I got the message, but didn’t go until he got really angry. He was about to whip me when I suddenly shot forward! Pulling the sled was a bit of work, but eventually I got the sled to work with me, and we were both on our way.
I didn’t really know where I was going, but all I knew is that I was running. Judge Miller used to take me to a field where all the dogs would run and play. I always loved to run in that field, but I was always on a leash. Then, I just realized, that the only time I wasn’t on my leash, was when I was inside the house. Now I’m…well, not free, but now that the sled caught up with me, there’s nothing holding me back. I never realized it before…I think I was actually going to like this.
We stopped along the way to take a break and pick up some wood. And after that, we were on our way back. And for the first time in a long time, I was having fun! I never thought running would be so awesome! And when I returned, all I wanted to do was to keep going!
We all took a long 30 minute break before we did the real thing. We told everyone our stories from birth to now. Curly went first, then I did. Dave was next and this was his story (With Dave actually speaking):
I was born like any other dog in
“I love you, too, honey, but this isn’t about me. I want you to live like we should have lived ages ago, in town. And I can’t make it by running. My aging bones might not make the trip. Oh, I do wish there was another way, but I’m not letting you fight that hunter. He has a gun. Please, son, I want you to live on our family, and you can’t out here.” At that moment the hunter saw us and began to shoot.
“Which way?” I asked quickly
“That way!” She pointed to my right while dodging a shot. “I love you!”
“I love you, too!” I licked the side of her muzzle, and ran. And at that moment, she was shot, a bulls-eye. Luckily the hunter never cared about me, so he let me go. I went to the town, was a stray for a couple months, and was taken in by a nice family. Unfortunately, after about a year or so, the family had to move and couldn’t take me with him. At first they didn’t know what to do with me, but then they had and idea, and got me a job as a sled dog, so I could have another family, and do my favorite thing, running. I did have a lot of practice the day my mother died, and in the end I decided I loved it! So it was the perfect job for me, that is…before I knew what it was really going to be like.
My first musher was terrible! Not at mushing, but at being a good caretaker. He wouldn’t give us much food. In fact he only gave us and entire fish each if we placed first in races and get messages to towns on time. But that was hard work, and we barely achieved any of that. My team and I were so exhausted and hungry that we didn’t even care about sledding anymore! Just food! Finally he quit mushing when he realized we were just about to pass out or even die. He was so angry at himself, my team, and me, that he committed suicide the next day. With no one to own us, the five other dogs on my team just scattered in all different directions, looking for a new home, a better life. I didn’t know what to do after that. I sat, thinking. I wished I could go back to my human family. They loved me, and cared for me when no one else would. Or my real biological family. I also wished they came back to me, to tell me everything was going to be okay, even though it wasn’t true.
So I became a street dog again for the next couple months. It wasn’t really that bad. At least I got more food than when I was a sled dog. I was a bit happier for the first week. But that’s because some certain alley dogs left me alone until that day. There were five of them, all boys except for one. They had never seen me before, so they figured I was new at this street dog lifestyle. They came up to me, and started talking to me with a welcoming tone. They seemed very nice for the first couple of days, so I started to hang with them, but that was a big mistake.
Soon they started to call me names, kick snow in my face, and beat me up on occasions. So I left them. But it wasn’t that easy. Let’s just say that they didn’t know I wasn’t a newbie. I kicked their tails, and sent them running away from town. Soon after, someone found me. It was a young man who seemed nice. And he WAS nice. But he didn’t keep me long, because his job was to rescue street dogs and sell them. Later I got sold to another musher. Then I kept getting sold, musher after musher after musher. Until finally, I got sold to this one, and met Spitz. Then months later I met you. That’s my story.
All of us were amazed at his story. Especially Curly. But it was a happy-amazed. Because she found someone who’s family is gone, too, and could relate to her, and could feel the same pain. I, however, was just amazed. Even Spitz listed for a little bit, and was surprised as well. He didn’t tell his story, though, but it must have been hard considering he’s been a real jerk. But it didn’t matter if he told his story or not, because it was time to go. The mushers were ready in packing their stuff, and now they just needed the dogs. I gulped. I was a bit nervous about that we are now going to run together, pulling a heavy weight. What if I don’t make it? Well, I guess there is one way to find out, and I KNOW I’m not backing out of this, because that feeling while I was running was the best of my entire life.