I watched as the playful waves lightly rolled onto the shore. This is my part of the beach. Nobody knows about it, except for me. It’s where I go to think. It was hidden away by large pile of rocks and fog. My mom always told Ralph and I to stay away from the rocks... But That made me want to check it out.

Oh! I’m Toby by the way. I live in Nome with my brother Ralph, and our parents. Ralph wants to become a mail dog, so every night, he goes out running around the town like crazy. His owners aren’t worried, because they realized that he does this every night. The first time he did it, they were scared, so was I, and our parents. But it’s a routine for him. He says that if he runs, he’ll get stronger. I guess so. But why in the middle of the night? Anyway...

My owners are George and Maria. Maria is a lady in her late twenties, with brown curly hair and a really comforting smile. George is about the same age, except he has black hair. And it isn’t that curly. And his smile is more proud, rather than comforting. he makes me proud, too. George and Maria are mates. They’re really nice and let me explore when I want to! They’re the best owners a pup could ask for. They argue sometimes, which I don’t like, but that rarely happens.

When they let me out, I usually meet up with Ralph, and his friend, Kirby. Kirby is really funny. He likes to tease Ralph about his crush on Dusty. Dusty is training to be a mail dog, along with Kirby, just like Ralph! I hope Ralph gets on the team, so he can be with her! He can’t even talk to her. he gets all shaky and nervous. So I decided, that today, I’m gonna find Dusty and introduce her to Ralph! That’ll help break the ice! 

So exiting my hidden spot on the beach, I walked towards town, to find Dusty. I found her scent and followed it, to find her yelling at two adolescent dogs. I decided to watch from afar. She appeared to be defending her friend...Er... what’s her name again...? 

“So you guys should just bug OFF and leave Kiara alone!!!” 

Thank you Dusty. 

Kiara, that’s right. She’s the quiet one. I really never talked to her, but she’s bullied a lot.  As I got a better look, I noticed that in the midst of the havoc, Kiara was slowly backing up, trying to escape. The two older dogs noticed her and shouted: “Aw, look, there she goes!” and started laughing, hard. She turned around as fast as she could and broke into a run, then bumped into me. She gasped, and I saw tears flow from her eyes. In embarrassment she pushed me out of her way and ran far from the town. The dogs laughs echoed. “Faster than a hare could run! Did you see her legs?” “No, did you see her FACE?” the voices of the dogs faded away as I picked up her scent and followed it. 

I found her, sitting in the snow, alone. She heard my footsteps and I saw her body jump.

“ ...what?” she sniffed, trying to be tough. I looked down, trying to think of something to say to the shaken little figure in front of me.

“ Look, those guys back there... They’re dumb.. Don’t listen to them.” There was a pause, then a heard a little sniffle come from her.

“...They always make fun of me.” she squeaked.

“ Why?” 

“ I don’t know.” she responded.

“Neither do I.” 

“You don’t think I’m weird, too?”

“Why would I have followed you all the way here If I thought that?” I sensed a bit of happiness and relief from her.

“...You have a good nose.” she said simply, out of nowhere. I laughed.

“Not really. On my first day home, I was trying to find my brother Ralph, and well, I ended up in my owner’s laundry, tipped it over.... Let’s just say I got in big trouble for that one.” Kiara finally turned around and smiled, giggling at my story, and I finally got a good look at her face. Gosh, she’s really pretty! Of course, I don’t like her though. Girls are yucky. But she’s cool, I guess. We talked for a while as we walked through the town. she showed me her home, it was only a little walk away from mine! And I decided to show her my secret part of the beach. As we approached the rocks, I felt her get tense. 

“Uh, I dunno Toby, It look’s dangerous.”

“Trust me, i go here all the times. theres no danger. Just follow me, and stay close.” we walked through the fog, and over the rocks, down to the shore of the hidden area where the fog cleared. When we were finally there, she looked amazed. For a few seconds, she just stared at the waves and the sky. Her golden eyes were so lit up in the moonlight, as her brown fur danced with the wind’s gentle strokes. 

“Toby... It’s beautiful. It’s so quiet... and calm...” 

“It’s where I go to think. So if anyone’s bothering you, you can always come here to just be alone and think. Oh, and if I’m here, you can kick me out if you want. I won’t min-”

“No, I’d want to be with you.” she looked down. She blushed ever so slightly, then she looked up again, smiling with more confidence. “Truth is, nobody’s ever been this kind to me before.” I smiled. “Well, I’m glad that we’re friends.” “Me too.” she replied. We watched the waves and talked some more, then it got late, so she had to leave, but I didn’t want her to go, she was really nice! I walked her home. We both promised that tomorrow, we’d meet each other at our secret spot at dawn. I went home, very happy that I made a new friend. I curled up on my bed, and shut my eyes.

She's pretty cool, for a girl.