Chapter 1- Back Through Time

It was the year of 2030 in Nome, Alaska. A scientist, named John, and a dog-part-wolf, named Molly, were dragging a strange contraption across the snowy beach. The sun's first ray was peeking out from behind a mountain, and the birds were just starting to wake up.

Finnaly, they stopped. John leaned on some rotten wood, the remains of a boat. There was a rumor about that very boat, that it was once the home of Molly's great, great, great (You get the idea) grandfather, named Balto. Molly squirmed. Apparently, she missed eating her breakfast in the morning. Her stomach growled.

"Hold on, Molly!" John shouted. "I didn't even start testing the time machine! Sit!" She obediently sat, and rolled her eyes grumpily.

After he set up what turned out to be the time machine, he held up a twig that he put in front of the time machine.

Oh, gosh, why did he have to take me here? What is a stinky time machine, anyway? She thought. Molly barked to get her owner's attention.

"Oh, what time will the twig get transported to? Hmmmmmmm..... the year of 1923! And remember, the time machine can only transport to the past. It will be gone from our time forever." said John. He set the dial to that number. "Who knows what'll happen when we discover many things, like what those wooden boards were once, Balto, George Washington, the Titanic, cavemen, dinosaurs..." His voice droaned on, and on, and on, and on, and on.....

She was very annoyed. She didn't care about John's stinky invention! What she really asked was if she could just go home to eat breakfast.

After a while, she just couldn't handle it anymore. She absolutely HAD to eat her missed breakfast. Molly only crossed the path at the wrong time. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain. Light flashed over her like a more ferocious type of aurora. She was getting transported to 1923.

Chapter 2- Meeting the Pack

Finnaly, Molly tumbled onto the "ancient" land.

"Oh, I'm free! I'm finnaly free!" she rejoiced as she ran to a nearby woods. "I've always wanted to be a wolf!" She forgot about her hunger at the time.

After running a good 5 minutes, Molly found a rather large pack of wolves, 20 strong, in a clearing. She looked around, and spotted a cozy den.

"I hope no one lives there," she sighed to herself as she strode to the den. When she was barley a foot away, a snow-white wolf walked out. She looked as mad as a disturbed beehive.

She growled, then threatened, "If you come near this den again, you will feel my claws at your neck."

Molly cowered, with her tail between her legs. "I'm sorry!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted five tiny pups in a cozy pile in a corner of the den.

"Then you better be," she snarled as she walked back into her den.

Molly trotted to an edge of the clearing, gathered some leaves into a pile, and drifted off to sleep for a nap, despite her hunger.

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Next morning, she was awoken by a strange, unfamilliar (of course) sent. She followed the trail to find a wolf covered in reddish mud.

"You've got to wash that off," said Molly, leading him to a nearby stream. When she washed off all the dirt from the body, she saw a very bad wound, and that he was a dog, not a wolf.

"What happened to you?!" Molly questioned, as she reached for some dry reeds.

"Chased out of the pack," the dog replied. "When the pack realized that Aniu and I have decided to start a family together, they attacked and chased me out. And as for Aniu... She is hated by the pack. They used to treat her as queen or something, because she dedicated so much of her life for her pack. She would give anything for them. But now she already has pups."

"...Oh," was the only thing she could manage to say.

She was thinking hard.

That white wolf who threatened me earlier, could that have been Aniu?

She was digging even deeper into her memory, at the time she was at puppyhood, being told stories about the hero of Nome.

...And Aniu, she was the mother of Balto! He must be the father of the hero! He should be very proud... if he knew what his son will do to save the town.

Molly snapped back to the present. She took a glance at the dog. He had his head cocked at her, as if he were saying, What are you doing?

Molly grinned sheepishly. "Oh, ummmm... erm, sorry." and put another grin behind it to finish it off. She ripped off some reeds to use as a bandage for a large wound on his front leg.

"There you go," she said in a finshed tone of voice.

The dog bowed his head in respect. "Thank you." After a pause, he said, "I would like to give you this as a reward. You have been one of the kindest dogs -- and wolves that I've ever met. You are the most ready to recive this."

He pulled out a golden ringed necklace, and placed it around Molly's neck. "Treat this with lots of care; protect it with your life. Once it's lost, its gone forever." Suddely, the dog stood up, and charged out of the forest.

She sat there for a long time, as if dumbstruck. "That was odd," Molly said to herself. "Might as well go back to the pack."

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Back at the clearing, the bustling pack actually stopped to look at her. They all growled. Their eyes reflected hatred. The alpha male came out of his den, obviously bothered.

He spotted Molly out of the 20-some wolves. "You are not welcome here. Especialy as a dog."

They knew Molly was part dog. But they were smart enough to tell that she had some wolf in her, too.

"Get her."

The whole pack pursued after her, and she quickly fled. She managed to get back to the clearing, but stayed a little bit away from the clearing's edge to save herself from being chased, and possibly injured or killed.

Chapter 3- Escape

Molly took a quick whiff of the air. Some faint tinge didn't smell right. It wasn't anything with the pack; it came from the heart of the woods. It wasn't even normal for a forest. Even though every instinct told her to stay away, she ignored it and went in the direction of the source.

The scent was stronger, and more identifyable, as Molly walked near it. It reminded her of that night when she and John built a campfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The memory swiftly gifted her with a few tears of homesickness.

The cloud of memories popped when Molly saw what it was. She struggled to run away from the horror that would swallow her up, even with Balto's running skill that she inherrited.

"FIRE!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. The wolf pack didn't need to hear it, though, because the smoke was already clogging their noses with the smell.

The wolves screeched in terror, grabbed their pups if they had any, and dashed to the closest edge of forest. That would be toward Nome. That's where Molly had come from.

Molly wasn't focused on running away much at that time. She counted the cubs coming from Aniu's den. Two hitched a ride on Aniu, and a yearling male was staggering with another two on top of him. There was one pup missing, if she counted the number right back when Aniu threatened her.

It was just luck that Molly managed to jump away from a falling, stil burning tree. Glowing, hot embers jumped up in the air, and floated back down like snowflakes.

Gotta get outta here! FAST!!!

She sprinted to the den. Surely, there was a little pup sitting wide-eyed in a corner of the den. She couldn't blame him for being so frightened, with his mother gone, and an orange monster devouring his home ravenously, as if it hadn't been eating for a whole month.

Molly grabbed him by his scruff and ran faster then a flash of golden lightning. Now, she knew how defencive a mother must be to protect her child.

The thought lingered through her mind. Could this possibly be.... Balto? Molly's pace slowed down, but then she sped back up. He SHOULD be Balto. He was the one who who got separated from his mother first. He absolutely HAD to be Balto! Molly's jaw grip tightened aroung the young Balto, respect taking all the control. She didn't notice Balto flinch slightly. ...And if he's gone... I'm gone!

Molly skidded to a stop. The bright orange blinded her.

"Dead end!" A wall of fire blocked her and Balto from escape.

Suddenly, a huge, burning tree crashed onto the path. Its immence heat and embers engulfed the two of them. They were trapped.

"Oh no! -cough- What are we going to do -cough, cough- now?!"

The scruffy puppy whimpered. Now, I have to think like a TRUE mother. What would I do? Molly thought for a few moments. Well, there's nothing else I can do, so I have to take the chance. Nome will never be saved if I don't do it!

Molly positioned herself in front of the closest place to escape, and waggled her behind. I can do this, she thought. She ran toward the fire, gathering momentum and speed for the live-saving action. She leaped off of the scorched ground with all of her strength. All four of Molly's paws sailed high and far into the air.

Molly landed with a thud on the snow-packed ground, then sped away from the fire. She rolled all over the snow to get rid of that horrible smoky stench. Even though the scent was gone, that memory would stick to her forever like the the fur on her body. She did the same thing to the puppy to rid that horrifying smell.

After the round of cleaning was done, she stood up, and let the memories of storytelling linger through her mind.

Now, who raised Balto? Molly turned her gaze to a rotten boat, that triggered her memory instantly. It was the same one that John had leaned on before Molly was transported to this mess of a time period. This is where Balto lived! Boris must be living there!

"Hey Boris!" Molly hopped into the boat and startled the poor goose.

"Ahhhh!!! How do you know my name? Are you going to eat me? What's that you're-"

"Be quiet, and listen to what I say," Molly cut in. She put Balto down. "You have to take in this lil' guy and raise him. Don't give him to someone else, that town will need him." She whisked her tail to the small town, Nome.

"I'm supposed to raise him? Why not a dog? Or a wolf?"

"Just do it. Oh, and also, he's a wolfdog."

"Oh great. He's a wolf too? I thought I was joking about a wolf! What am I going to raise next, polar bear cubs?!"

"Oh, he suuuure got the prediction right about the bears, Molly muttered to herself. She began to walk off of the boat.

"Hmmmm... what am I supposed to call you little pup? Buster? Bandit? Oh, how about Bently?"

"Call him Balto," Molly said as she walked away.

"Balto? Ok, so Balto, y'little boychick." Boris held him up and looked at him eye-to-eye. "Looks like I'm stuck with you. Don't worry, I'll show you a Russian dance or two." He flashed a big, goosey grin.

Molly hopped off of the boat. I can't believe it! I saved Nome! Well... kinda. THAT'S Balto's job.

The fire scared the rest of her worries at the time, and now they were coming back. Molly lied down in the snow. Ok, maybe I wanted to be away from John for a while. Maybe I DID want to run off as a wolf and join a pack. And all that has come true. She felt a few tears trickle down her muzzle and fall on the snow. ...Maybe I wanted it at the time, when I thought that was bad, but this is even worse. I don't want to lose every triumph that I made back then, every friend I had. Maybe even my enemies have taught me a lesson or two. I can't start over fresh and clean. I can't bear it. Now I possibly won't find a home, because poeple usually adopt those little... cute... puppies..... She sniffled. I want to go home!

Molly was just about to stand up, when the cold, metallic necklace around her neck started to get unusually warm. She looked down at it in surprise.

A golden light was flooding from it, and was growing. Growing, growing growing... until it blocked her vision. The golden light encircled her like an eggshell, and before she knew it, she felt a blast of cold air rip at her fur.

After a while, the wind died down. The golden color seemed to melt around her from the heat of the cold sun.

"Woah- what was that?" Molly asked herself. She gazed around. She was in the same place, but the air smelled different. There wasn't even a whiff of ash from the fire. The birds were singing their hearts out. When she turned her head to the forest, it was much further away. And there weren't any ashy remains of the partially burnt forest. That's strange, she thought. Her cloudy confusion cleared up when she saw the boat. Well, it didn't look like a boat; it was just a pile of old, rotten wood planks.

"I'm home!" Molly cried. She immediately took off for John's home. She was about to embrace everything in the house. You might think that she's crazy, but I guess that's what happens when you once thought that you were never going to get back to your home.

... But first, Molly was going to embrace John. She clambered up the stairs into his room.

"Molly!" John shouted! He ran to Molly, and hugged her. "I thought you were lost in year 1923!"

I WAS lost...

... But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered to her was that she was home. And that Molly could eat her missed breakfast.

The End

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Balto, Boris, and Aniu are copyrighted (c) to Universal Studios.