I bowed my head to nuzzle my best friend and adoptive sister, Saba. She was little more than a year old and she was going to some place so far away – Vancouver! It was so far that I couldn’t even imagine the distance. I was proud and sad for her at the same time. I admired her courage and determination. It takes a strong dog to leave all their family and friends behind to follow her dream of world-class sled racing.

I licked her on the cheek, “Goodbye Saba,” I whispered, then moved aside so that Jenna, Saba’s mother, could say her farewells. Perhaps it was the number of dogs that were there that stopped me from crying aloud. Heck, pretty much every dog in town had come to say goodbye to the bubbly wolfdog.

About half an hour later, Saba’s new musher was ready to take her away. He clipped a metal leash onto Saba’s leather collar and led her towards the port where a ship was waiting. I followed at a distance. There was a sturdy boat docked there and I couldn’t help but wonder, would she feel seasick at all?

I lingered behind a large crate filled with something that didn’t smell too great. I eventually discovered that it was salt. As Saba’s musher and a man, probably a sailor, conversed, a rust-coloured dog appeared from an alleyway not far from the ship. He looked familiar somehow. He looked around nervously, before trotting out and meeting Saba with a friendly nuzzle.

“Rus – err, I mean Rogue! I’m so glad you came! I thought-”

Rogue cut her off, “I know, I know, that’s why I couldn’t let anybody see me. I’m glad you’re not gone yet, I really wanted to say goodbye before you left.”

“That’s so sweet of you. And here I was, thinking you were a bad big brother!”

Rogue chuckled, before adding, “Well, you’re the only sibling I would’ve done it for.”

The musher had finished talking with the sailor and gave a firm tug on the leash. Saba’s nerves were now obvious as she walked stiffly up the ramp.

“One more thing? Don’t tell anybody.”

“My lips are sealed.” Sabawas on the ship as she said this. A foghorn sounded, the ship began to move andSaba disappeared from view. I sighed, but turning around I saw a bridge-nosed dog staring at me.

“How much of that did you hear?” he asked accusingly. I couldn’t help but notice his eyes, one brown and the other was the very same bright blue as Saba’s eyes.

“Enough,” I said, not sure of how to answer.

“You can’t tell anybody about that,” he said, and I felt his warm breath hit my face.

“I won’t,” I said simply, but my curiosity was aroused. “But may I ask why?”

“Let’s just say… I have a bit of a reputation around here.” He said, smirking. There was something about his voice… “Oh crap, people are coming. I have to go. Bye, err…”

“Maria,” I said, and then, as he walked off, I said “Bye… Rusty.”

He whirled around and his expression changed quite suddenly; first it was a look of surprise, then of annoyance, and then it faded into his usual smirk.

That wasn’t the last time I saw him. In fact, no more than two days later I, quite by chance, met him again.

My plush bunny dangling from my jaws, I made my way into the forest. Not very far, mind. I didn’t have a problem with wolves but I was very fearful of accidentally intruding into their territory.

I sat down upon a nest of leaves and soft pine needles. I tried to get my head around and work out what had happened in the past week. I missed Saba incredibly, but it would be selfish to wish her back. I wondered where she was, what she was doing, who she was with…

“Ahh!”

Before I had even known what was happening, I was violently tackled and pinned to the ground. I had dropped my bunny in fright. I could hear a soft growling and hot breath only inches from my face.

“Maria?”

I opened my eyes now. Hovering above me was none other than…

“Rusty?”

“The name’s actually Rogue now, but… what are you doing here?” he asked, looking at me curiously.

“Venting,” I said simply. Rogue backed away and let me stand up. There was a silence as I tried to find an excuse to stay with him. “So what are you doing here?” I asked, immediately annoyed with myself at such a dumb question.

“I live here.”

“No way.” I said, even though I did believe him.

It was almost as though he saw right through my lying. “Yes I do, and I’m darn sure you know it.” He said, finishing with his usual smirk.

I don’t remember the rest of that conversation. But it was perfect, just walking through the woods together, his constant sarcasm and jokes making me forget my loneliness. We talked for hours until I realised how long it had been, and that my human family would be worrying terribly about me now. As I told him this he scoffed in a mixture of annoyance and disgust.

“What?” I said, irritated by his response.

“The one thing we disagree with, Maria. You’re wasting your life surrounded by humans.” He said, and the last line was what made me angry.

“Excuse me? Wasting my life? They loveme! And, for that matter, I love them!” I was getting defensive now. I most certainly found Rogue interesting, perhaps even as more than just a friend, but there was no way I’d let anybody insult me or my family like that.

“They love you, you say? Well excuse me, but treating you like a slave doesn’t sound like love to me!” he growled, and that was enough. Without another word, I turned and strode off towards my home. When Rogue was out of sight, I broke into a run, as not to worry my humans any more.

“Daddy! Maria’s back!” It was the young boy of only four years old who had said this. The tall man strode over to the dog and let me in. I rushed over to the boy and his twin sister. The hugged me and squeezed my fur. I loved this sort of attention.

“We were worried about you, girl!” said the girl as she threw her arms around my neck. I gave her a delicate lick on the cheek. She giggled and then, noting the dirt and grass stuck to my wet paws “You’re all dirty! We need to wash you!”

I reluctantly followed them to the shed where an old metal tub lay on the concrete floor. They filled it with warm, soapy water and ushered me in. Normally I would’ve resisted, or at least splashed them playfully, but my mind was on Rogue, wishing I hadn’t left on such bad terms.

But I was too proud, and too passionate in my opinions to find him and apologise. I had done nothing wrong; it was him that had insulted me. I blinked repeatedly after some of the soapy stuff had hit my eye.

Was my pride and passion worth never seeing him again? Probably not, but apologising was just out of the question. He would have to find me. Which, he never would. So, I grudgingly accepted that I would never see him again. If anything was ever meant to happen it would. And it did.

I rolled out of my basket and made my way to the door. Dusty and Ralph would getting back from their mail run today, and no doubt Kodi would be there too, admiring and envying their position on the team. I smiled and shook my head. Why anyone could want to run and pull something heavy for hours on end when they could simply stay at home and sleep was far beyond me. I was content to be a lazy house pet.

I wasn’t even close to the mail office when I heard footsteps. How and why I even noticed was beyond me. Maybe because my house was a bit away from town? I tried to shrug it off, but the feeling that I was being watched lingered. I looked around and for some reason it didn’t surprise me. Rogue was standing only a few metres away, something white dangling from between his teeth. I moved closer to see what it was.

“Oh,” I said, rather embarrassed, “my rabbit.”

“Yeah, I… I thought I’d better give this back to you. And…” he paused and sighed in a ‘you-were-right’ sort of way, then said “I’m sorry. I was… wrong, I guess.” He looked at me apologetically.

I grinned widely, “Yay!” I said, laughing. He laughed as well. And from that moment on, not a day went by that we didn’t see each other. Some days we were alone for hours and others for only seconds, but we always made time to see each other. So I guess you could say we were ‘officially’ dating.