“ I remember few things from my childhood, since new memories take up that space. However, my sister Saba remembers everything that I don’t. So we will tell them apart. Right now, I will tell the beginning, of what happened.”

“When we were born, blind and defenseless, we lived with our mother, enjoying our lives. Every now and then, a new scent would come, and mix up with hers. Eventually, we got used to it. As we crawled around, nursed from our mother, sleep, whine, or listen to the songs we heard in duet, I noticed others with me. Crawling around the warm bodies, I soon came nose to nose with something cold and wet. I started to whine, and heard another whine from it. I grunted then, and did the same thing the next day.

   Soon enough, every day I met the same cold thing, we exchanged whimpers, and then would go back, doing the normal things puppies would do. One day, as we did the same, my mother laughed, and so did someone else.

     That night, I remember having a strange dream. Everything felt soft and fluffy, but my vision was still black. Suddenly, I heard a laugh, and found myself moving towards the source. Again I heard it, and followed once more. I tripped against a fluffy bump, and fell down something, that was kinda like a slide. And when I got down, I felt the wet and cold thing once more. Just then, it laughed, and I realized it was the same one I had been chasing.”

  Saba

“Living comfortably, I always crawled around, looking for the same wet thing that always touched my nose. I wondered if I’d ever see it, and get a good description, cause every time I was near it, and felt it, I had a good feeling. Kinda like happiness, but, bigger. I guess I call it, Joy.

  Having passed two weeks, my siblings started to open their eyes. I, however, still waited for my time. Instead, I decided to look around for the wet thing that I always seemed to find. This time was different. I had a lot of difficulty finding it, maybe cause my siblings didn’t depend on luck anymore, so they made different trails. I started to whine, scared of loosing whatever it was, and never ever knowing if I would find it again.

   Of course, I was expecting my mother to comfort and nuzzle me, but all I felt, was that wet and cold thing rub against my tail. Startled, I turned my head towards the direction of the tail, and I felt it. I was happy again, having found it, but I was still curious about what it was. Just then, I started to open my eyes, and I saw, a puppy, the same size, and red, like me. Who was touching my nose, and I was touching hers.

    That puppy, had a white muzzle, and the rest of it’s face was red, except for the ears, which were brown. It’s paws were white, to the elbow, and it’s back legs were also white and red, same as the tummy. It’s eyes, were orange, and by the scent, it was a she.”

Joy

    I had opened my eyes, and seen my mother for the first time. Looking at her, to get a good description, I was proud of her. I had a beautiful mother, with a white face, orange eyes, shining red fur, and her voice, her sweet soft voice. “ Welcome to the world, Joy.” I heard my name for the first time, and yipped when she finished saying it. She smiled warmly at me, and chuckled.

   It was sunset when me and some of my siblings had started to open there eyes. I listened carefully as my mother addressed them by their names. Dingo, and Alue. Those were the only ones that I knew, the rest would open their eyes tomorrow, I thought to myself. But, that night, I just went to sleep, very tired.

   I had the same dream once more, but, this time, it was different. I could see everything now. The soft and fluffy feelings were clouds, pink ones that looked like cotton candy. I saw something blue stand out between the others, and somehow felt myself moving towards it with ease. Seeing it closely, I saw crystal clear water. And in it, was a puppy, who had a red muzzle, markings to the elbow, and a white tummy. I cocked my head, and it did the same, startling me. Just then, I realized that was me.

   Soon something else appeared next my reflection. It was another she-puppy, who looked like my mother, only without the bandanna, younger, and different leg markings and brown on the tip of her ears. She didn’t have her tail curled either, it was flowing, like mine. Neither did she have orange eyes, but dark brown. She laughed, and ran away. I followed, running after her, but soon lost her. Frowning, I kept walking, not noticing a fluffy bump.

    I rolled down a hill, enjoying the ride, and at the bottom, I looked up at the sky. I heard that laugh again, and looked to my side, there was the pup, laying by my side. She was smiling, and soon enough, I did too.

   When I woke up, I was much interested in finding that pup I saw in my dream. None of my siblings looked like that, especially Alue. I was sad, cause I wanted to find that pup. Just then, I heard the same whine the cold and wet thing I would always find with my nose. Following the source, I found one of my siblings, who was still blind.

    She opened her eyes that instance, and I realized she was the pup I saw in my dream. I smiled at her, and she did the same. Both of us were happy for finding each other, and then we became inseparable.”

    “One day later, after me and Joy had met and Aisha and Kodi opened their eyes, a brown wolf dog came in. He carried the same scent all of us wanted to know about. Whining, Joy and me crawled towards him. Thanks to my mother, I found out he was my dad. And we were happy, cause he loved to play with us.

    When we learned to walk days later, we were happy. Because now we could cover more ground, and visit daddy’s boat. I loved going to the beach, smelling the salty sea, chew and play with uncle Boris. Those were the days. Joy enjoyed it also, especially using uncle Boris as a squeaky toy when we were teething. He didn’t mind…          much.”

   “One time I was looking around town for daddy, since he had promised to tell me the story of how he rescued Nome, and I wanted to know so bad how he did it. Unfortunately, he never had enough time to tell us, being famous and all. And I alone, walked out into the town, set out to look for him. I was determined to find out what happened that day, and only would I know it from him and him alone.

     Walking through town, I noticed a shack, where one room was full of males congratulating someone, and other full of females, congratulating someone else. Momma had said something about going to a puppy shower, but she didn’t specify where. I decided to go and see if my daddy was maybe with the males, and I entered a room.

    It was quiet, but that didn’t last much as some dogs entered, grabbing the dog food bag, and serving them clumsily into bowls. After that, they grabbed a big plate, with dog bowls full of food, and walked away, into the open door. They seemed like waiters or something. I walked out, sniffing the food bowl, and then continued walking to the hall where the dogs disappeared.

     Two doors stood at the door, one at the corner, at the other end of the hall, and the other in the middle. Both of them were full of voices, which were so loud, I couldn’t distinguish male from female. I started walking, until I came up to the closest door. I scratched on it, prepared for the unknown.

    Perking my eyes as the doggy door opened, a little dog, bigger than me, but little came out. She was a bushy dog, with white hair and grayish purple fur, a muzzle, almost white like mine, only a stripe on top, like papa’s. She also wore a black collar, with a gold license, but it didn’t seem very new.

‘ Can I help you?’ She asked me, smiling at something I seemed to have.

  I shook my fur, looking at the other room, full of the same voices that ring a bit harshly my ears, I looked back, nodding.

‘ I’m looking for my papa. Have you seen him?’ I asked in my childish sweet voice. She smiled even harder, and invited me to come in. I agreed, and walked in, try not to be rude, but a silence came over the tempering noise as I walked in, although all eyes were on the little dog.

‘Who was it, Dixie?’ A bigger dog asked. She had a deeper voice, and yellowish creamy fur, with some tints of brown too.

‘ A little puppy who said she was looking for her father.’ The dog, who went by the name of Dixie, answered. She glanced at me for a second, still smiling. All of the females gasped when she mentioned puppy, and came closer, asking where the pup was.

I slowly showed myself from behind the dog, my tail wagging slightly at all the faces that had their attention on me. I liked this, and jumped out from behind, yelling boo! All the dogs, gasped, but I think they were just acting along. I said hello, and soon enough all of them went Awww.

‘ She must be one of  Jenna’s litter.’ A female said, walking towards me.  She was uh…   fatter than the others, but at the time I didn’t know why. I just nodded, wagging my tail as hard as I could, surprise took me when their fur didn’t mess up as if a helicopter had just landed.

‘ She takes after her mother, that’s for sure.’ The yellow afghan said, smiling at me. My mom says that she and the little dog were friends of her, and never had Sylvie smile, if not because an other reason than gossip. The female who addressed me as Jenna’s daughter was a white and cream husky, with brown eyes. She seemed nice, and spent more time with me than the others. But I think it’s because she wanted to know how a puppy’s mind was at that state.

   After a while, I was telling all the dogs about how I loved to go to the beach, and play in the water with Uncle Boris and my siblings. The female mentioned that maybe she should let Uncle Boris baby sit her pups. And I covered my mouth with my paws, claiming that I’ve said too much. That made all the dogs in the room laugh, and made me happier.

 ‘ Joy? What are you doing here?’ A soft and familiar voice asked from the doggy door. I looked around, and smiled when I saw my mother. I stood up and ran to her, hugging her in greeting. All the females went in awe when they saw this.

    I asked her if she knew where dad was, and she said he was in the other room, congratulating and hanging out with the father of the pups. I ran out the door, and into the other room, where all the chatting ceased, and I found papa. Pretty soon after that, me and the others were listening to the story of how he saved Nome, including the female dogs.

   “One night, mom sang us a song she said that was hers and daddy’s song. It was called Reach for the Light. As she sang it to us, trying to teach it, we sat by the fire, humming along in our mind. I asked mom where daddy got it,

“ From a dream, Saba.” Was her answer.

     When we got to sleep, Joy woke me up suddenly. I told her to go back to sleep and let me rest, but she insisted. After more pleading, I finally gave up, and quietly followed her upstairs, and into a room full of toys. Apparently it was a playroom. I looked around, and was about to explore, until my sister pulled on my ears. She told me that we should practice singing, and then we could explore around.

     I shrugged, and we started to sing. Actually, we just sang the notes. Do Re Mi, the basics. Once we mastered them well enough, we headed to bed. I slunk next to mom’s side, and soon after fell asleep.

     The next night, we did the same thing. Me and my sister would go upstairs to sing with a recorder we found in Rosy’s room, and we’d sing along with the lullabies, vocalizing together.

      Finally, after a couple of days, we learned daddy’s song. Joy was especially happy, cause that night we’d be able to sing together, with words too. Still not used to getting up, Joy had to beg me once more for me to get up, and I did.

   Climbing up the stairs, we warmed up our voices, and then started singing. We made ten or twelve errors, but Joy thought it was a good number, since we had just learned the song that day.”

    “ We stayed up much later that night, practicing the song. Luckily, a bucket of water in the morning was able to keep us wide awake. I always woke Saba up, telling her to come on and practice with me. Pretty soon she was used to it, and then I was the one being waked up. But, I didn’t hesitate like my sister. The instant she said up, I was up.

    We enjoyed greatly singing together, and soon enough it became a habit. One night, it was raining and thundering outside, and I was scared to leave my mom. Saba insisted for me to come with her, but I wouldn’t budge from our mother. After a while, and I had heard no more thunderclaps, I got up and walked with Saba, we went up the stairs, and into the playroom. Once there, we started warming up, singing Do Re Mi and such.

     Ready to sing, we were opening our mouths, but instead of a voice, a thunderclap. Startling at it’s sound, I ran and hid behind a toy trunk. Whimpering, I wanted to go downstairs, and nuzzle with my mom. I looked around, but didn’t see Saba. I called her name, and nothing. Soon enough, the light went on, and I saw Rosy there, nudging her eye with her hand, and my mother by her side.

      I whimpered, and Rosy looked around, suddenly more awake. Jenna walked around, and called for us to come out, although she didn’t know who was there. I shot out, and nuzzled my mother, getting more scared as another thunderclap rang through my ears. She licked me, and comforted me, trying to calm me down. And it did, a little.

      I asked her where was Saba, and she looked up, calling her name. Just like before, no response. She started sniffing around, as Rosy held me in my arms to keep from still getting scared. My mother kept looking around, calling Saba’s name, but no response. Then, she heard a thump, and walked towards a pile of stuffed animals.

    Picking out a toy, one by one, I soon saw red fur standing out from the rest. My mother nudged it, and soon Saba’s face appeared. Jenna sighed, and grabbed her by the scruff, then taking us both back to bed."

     "One night, when only cold winds surrounded the empty streets, separated from me and my siblings thanks to the shed, I asked Saba if she could lend me her stuffed teddy bear she found in the pile of animal toys the other night. She said no, and I don’t blame her, for she’s very attached to it.

     Thinking for a moment, I realized something, and built up a plan inside my little head. That night, as every one was asleep, I stood up and looked at Saba, who was sleeping next to me. Gently grabbing the teddy bear she held in her paws, I ran away, and then returned back, ready to sleep.”

“ That morning, I woke up, and yawned. Something didn’t feel right, and I realized my teddy bear Willow wasn’t with me. Almost bursting up in tears and crying, I started searching for him, waking up the rest of my siblings in the process.

   I found Willow nowhere, and cried to my mother that Willow was gone, and had disappeared. I saw Joy half smiling, and got mad at her, asking where was my teddy bear. The only thing she said was,

‘It’s for your own good.’

    Confused and depressed, I pounced on her, threatening her even to give me back my stuff Willow, but she stubbornly refused. I knew I couldn’t hurt the closest sister I had, so                                                                                 I layed on the ground and cried, wanting my Willow so badly. My mother scolded me, telling me to behave well, but I didn’t listen and kept crying. Suddenly, I stopped and laughed as hard as I could, yelling for my attacker to stop.

  Joy was tickling me in the tummy, looking everywhere for a new place to torture me. I laughed and laughed, my abdomen hurting oh so much. Finally, she stopped, and by then, I had forgotten about Willow (can’t believe that happened) and rough housed with her and my other siblings.

  A couple of days later, and I was outside the shed, admiring the light blue sky that surrounded us with what seemed an eternity. Joy walked up to me, she smelled dirty, as if having been digging somewhere else. Another scent mixed with hers, and it seemed familiar, but I ignored it, not looking once at my sister.

   She talked with me, and then just happened to bring up the subject of Willow. I turned my head to face her, wondering why’d she talk about it with me, and I saw my familiar teddy bear between her jaws, carrying the same strong earth scent as her. I smiled as my face brighted up and I grabbed him, then walking off with him, carrying my head up high, being careful as not to get him any dirtier, a cheerful spark of hope in my eyes.

One morning, when we went to visit daddy, and would stay with him as I saw mama talking to him, about something. I thought about a moment, maybe she was talking to him about what happened the other night. Any way’s I pushed it aside, and kept on playing with uncle Boris, just like the others.

   That afternoon, an idea popped into my head and whispered it into Joy’s ear. She nodded with me, and both of us went to tell mom and dad that we wanted to sing for them the next day. Daddy asked me if we couldn’t do it today, and both of us said no.

     We’ve regretted saying that ever since the next day, even if my parents know how well we sing, neither of us have had the chance to sing Reach for the Light to them. It was adoption day, and humans took us away.”

“ I lived ever since with a nice man, who studies the wilderness of Alaska. He owns a book store, renting and selling for a living. He’s promised me he’ll never move from Nome, so as long as nothing happens with Joy, I’m fine. Although I wish that something new could happen everyday.

      Inside the house, I sniffed around, shaking uncontrollably, for I wanted my sister to be there, with me. I’m very close with her, and that’s why. I looked up at him, sadness in my eyes, and I whimpered. He shushed me, and calmed me down, stroking my red fur gently, he said he’s never had a wolf dog before, or a pup from a famous canine.

    I found it a bit weird for him to normally call me wolfdog, my dad had already explained the story, telling us that we should be proud of our heritage, but I never knew what to think of it, telling the truth it confused me, actually. But, I guess it’s because of my sister Alue, who I see from time to time, as she lives her happy life in the forest, although I sometimes forget she’s got a pack now,. Aisha tends to get depressed from time to time, but Joy was always able to cheer her up those days, naturally.

My owner put a collar around me, but after a while I took it off, hating it. He’s still trying to put a cloth around my neck, but he always fails. It’s funny how I see his reaction everyday when he finds out I got rid of it again.

    Days past and I still hadn’t seen my sister, to put it bluntly, those were the most boring days of my life, I don’t know how I made it through, and I’m the most adventurous of my litter. One day, and I was walking down an alley that I used as a short cut. I heard a growl, and started to trot, ignoring the fact that it came from a puppy.

    It ran through my ears again, but was much closer, and this time I started to run. Soon enough, a red blur slammed into me by the front, and I layed on the floor, dizzy and confused about what just happened.

    I looked up, and would’ve scolded the person if Joy wasn’t standing there, the warm smile she normally weared on her face. She made some jokes, I chuckled, and soon enough she took me to her house, so I knew where I could maybe find her sometimes. And then I showed her my house, and my owner’s book store.

   Soon enough, we’d spend time down at the beach, practicing in chorus, singing together Reach for the Light. But every time we tried to show our parents the song, something would come up, and we’d lose the chance. Joy tells me every time to keep hope, and I did, knowing that her spirit said the right things.

     As we grew up, our talent for singing did also. We would sing songs in holidays, parties, or just for fun. When we were turning into one year olds, a bad rain storm washed Nome pretty bad. I lay inside my house, sighing. It was random, and I wanted to sing with my sister. We were supposed to practice some lullabies that day, but I was sure both of us knew it was canceled.”

“ I had to stay inside, looking at the window as rain hit against it hard, and then slid down. I sighed, bored. Then, I did something random. I got up, and walked outside, where the porch gave me cover, but only the wind could reach me. Without thinking, I ran out in the rain, my fur getting wet all the same.

   No opportunity of turning back, I started to run the way to Saba’s house, the rain partially blinding me. I didn’t notice a rock, and tripped, regaining balance with my front paw. However, I winced as I stepped on it with hard impact, and it collapsed. I fell anyway, and my white muzzle turned brown, along with my underside, and my legs.

   Not thinking anything, I got up and kept running, but this time I looked for cover. I found a tree, which escaped the tall buildings that blocked others, and hid under it, shaking off the extra mud on my fur. My paw still hurt, and I figured it was sprained.

  Having enough cover, I ran once more to Saba’s house, and finally got there. Carefully climbing some boxes outside, I got to a window, and pawed it. I waited as the rain kept pouring on me, for Saba to open. And believingly, she did.”

“ I looked at Joy, her fur messed up, wet and brown like dad’s. Sighing, out of how funny she looked, I let her in and help her clean of with my towel. As she entered, she looked a little limp, as if she was hurt or something. But I thought I was imagining, for she couldn’t have come here hurt.

    She started warming up, and I was confused. But, she had more will in those things than I do, and I love singing, so I just smiled and warmed up with her. Pretty soon, we were singing together a lullaby we had invented, doing it as softly as we could. But I noticed Joy hardly put on weight on one of her paws.

  When we stopped practicing, I couldn’t help but keep on eyeing her, observing the paw. She barely winced when she stepped on it, and kinda limped when she walked around. I finally worried and asked her about it, but she denied it and we kept on practicing. Sighing, I kept on talking about it, but she kept denying.

   Finally when she was gonna go back home, she fell on her paw. I helped her get up, asking over and over why she didn’t tell me, but she said she didn’t want me to worry, it wasn’t serious. However, I noticed her looking at the rain worriedly, when she thought I wasn’t looking.

   After, when she said she was ready, she started running home, and I saw her fade between the heavy rain drops. I frowned, lowering my ears, because I knew she could get hurt, more than she was. Finally, I fell asleep. I didn’t see my sister the next day, but, I found out why thanks to the gossips.

   Joy had come down with a high fever, and a bad sprain. I started running towards her house, going as fast as I could. When I got there, I didn’t see her outside, and I wasn’t expecting to. Praying that the gossips were wrong, I walked inside, and saw Joy sleeping. Her paw was wrapped in something, like a bandage, but it didn’t look like a cast.

  I walked towards her, my pads lightly touching the floor. I watched as her ears pricked, and her eyes opened. She yawned, and greeted me, her tail flickering around.”

“ Saba again asked me about my paw, and I said it was just a sprain, nothing more. She then asked me why I was smiling, and I said I needed a vacation, but never expected this. We both chuckled, and she layed down next to me, noticing how hot I was. I moaned, complaining about her complaints.

   Of course, I was just tired. She asked me if I could sing, and I tried getting up. However I just tripped, from the headache and the fever. I sighed, the answer being no. I layed there, bored. Just then was the perfect time for my parents to come in. I greeted them both  and mom licked my forehead, going on with how worried she was, dad complaining jokingly how my mother worried.

    It was hard for me to stay awake, since rest was something I needed because of the fever. The comfy bed I was on didn’t help either. Pretty soon, I had my eyes closed, trying to rest them. I opened them when Saba asked if I was still awake, but I moaned, complaining about how tired I was. Mom told me to rest, and I did, soon enough my breathing calmed down and I was asleep.

    When I woke up, I was once again alone.”

“ In a week Joy was able to recover, although she had a small limp in her paw. It was barely noticeable, and anyways she got rid of it. She was so happy to be outside again. The only thing she would do for those couple of days were run and run and run. I got so tired with that, but looking at the good side, now I can catch up with Kodi’s team.

Days past and we kept growing up. Joy was much more mature, in a way. She’d still be funny, and we’d always run around, playing. But her being serious was something strange to me… in a way. I wasn’t used to her being like that. Thankfully, all that changed when my mom told us wonderful news. Everyone enjoyed(and still does) the new arrivals. Blitz, and Yakone, and Suka and Miki. I know we’ll all miss Shila, and I still wonder what would’ve become of that other white with red puppy.

Ever since the incident, with Anene and mom, Joy has been a little quieter, but she’s still the same playful sister I’ve known. Personally, I feel the same way, but now, I still ask myself the same question. What will become of tomorrow? As far as I know, Joy always tells me with her spirited self, “Nobody knows, but I wanna make the best of it.” And you know what I think? “Never will our story end.”