Just some more shameless-self promotion · 3:57pm Apr 5th, 2018
Okay, for a short while now, on DA, I've branched out of horse-words and have started writing dog-words as it were over on DA. Balto fanfiction. Here's my current project, a story called Second Chances inspired by Jack London's Call of the Wild, and the works of The Cool Kat on Fanfiction.Net. Thoughts, and opinions are welcomed.
A chocolate brown dog, rather sturdy in build groaned as he pulled himself into the waking world and felt the warmth of the spring sun beat down on him from his little perch on the front porch of his home.
A clock chimed several times in the background.Bong,bong,bong, it went. 7:00, it rang out alerting the residents of the small town of Nome, Alaska that it was time to be up and about and to start a new day.
“For God’s sake, couldn’t that old tower just be off the mark via an hour or so for just one day…?”the dog thought to himself as he tried to pull the blanket back over his head.“I really want to get some more hours of sleep in… But no, not if that damn clock has anything to say about it…”
He chuckled, wondering what it’d be like for the humans if the clock was even a little off for one day? He’d noticed they were very organized creatures, liked to keep to schedules. They’d probably panic and go into a frenzy if anything was a little off.
Come to think of it, he’d seen a lot more humans in Nome these days. Lot of new dogs as well. It was a growing town, he admitted that much, but this was something new. If Snow -For that was the Mackenzie River husky’s name- had kept his eyes on the papers, something he never really cared for reading, he would have gained the knowledge that farther out in the north, times were a-changing.
Out east, towards White Mountain, men groping and toiling away in the darkness had found a certain precious yellow metal. Gold, they called it. Because Nome was a port town, and because the transportation business was currently booming, strong able-bodied men and with equally strong able-bodied dogs had been arriving left and right. Strong muscles for which to toil, and thick fur to protect them from the cold the dogs bore.
Honestly, even if Snow had cared for such things, he wouldn’t have been caught up in their foolishness and the matters of money anyways. Gold ran out eventually, and they would leave, much to Snow’s pleasure. He wanted to be left alone, thank you very much and not have a bunch of new dogs to bother him coming into his life.
Of course, the obvious solution was to ignore them, and that’s what he’d do. For Snow, life was just relaxing on the porch of his master’s home and just watching the day go by. He was an older dog, about sixty in human years and preferred not to be bothered. In his younger years, that might have been different as he had once been a more adventurous sort getting into all sorts of trouble, but not today. That was a lifetime ago, and he was content to spend the rest of his days snoozing on the porch and just sitting and observing.
Life didn’t offer second chances. He had his chance at being something for one fleeting moment, but he gave it all up long ago for a life lazing himself away and listening to Louis Armstrong tunes.
Thing was, and perhaps Snow was too stubborn to realize this or he just didn’t care to think about or even mildly entertain the idea, life did sometimes come around and offer one any second chances. But they almost always came in the most unexpected of ways. And for one grumpy and aging Mackenzie River husky named Snow, that was about to happen. He just didn’t realize it yet.
Nome’s older residents weren’t the only ones to notice the recent influx of new dogs and men. The younger ones had taken notice as well. They’d heard their parent’s stories about how Nome used to be this small town in the North that nobody took notice of, or even cared for. It was only after the Diphtheria Crisis two years ago, that people had started to take notice of the small town.
Oh sure, a few people knew of it -Mostly fishermen coming in to stop and sell their catches to anyone with the cash to spare- but it was only recently with the crisis of two years past that Nome had taken it’s place on Alaska’s maps and people’s mindsets.
“Really though,”thought one dog, a charming rusty red furred husky (With white markings on his underbelly and chest area) named Dingo.“Not the way I’d want the town I live in to earn it’s place in the human mind.”
Mind you though, he thought, as he allowed his eyes to wander to a pretty black and white female husky (A very classic example of the breed) new arrivals weren’t always so bad.
“You’re drooling again,” a female voice deadpanned from behind him. “Honestly, you’re about as subtle as a freight train dear brother of mine,”
Saba, Dingo knew. She shared his looks almost exactly, but with one key difference. She bore a seeming “mask” of red fur with only two small spots of white fur around her eyes. Other than that, one could easily tell the relation.
“Hey, I can’t help myself sis…” Dingo trailed off, though it almost sounded like a whine.
“Yeah, but like I said, you’re about as subtle as a freight train, you perv…” she commented, light-heartedly punching him in the shoulder with a paw. Nearby, the husky Dingo had been oogling with his eyes, giggled and walked off waving at him. “...Why you’re so popular with them, I’ll never know. Can’t be the looks,”
“Hey, the ladies love me. What can I say?” Dingo smirked. “And for the record, yes, it is the looks. God knows the males certainly find you attractive. I’ve heard them say you’re cute, even. Why you never accept a date from one of them is beyond me…”
“Because I know most of them are like you,” Saba replied. “Just looking for a quick rut, and that’s that. Love me and leave me. I’d rather save…”
“Yourself for a dog who truly loves and cares for you. Yes, heard it before,” Dingo replied, in a imitation of his sister’s voice as they continued walking through the streets of Nome. “We all have, really.”
“And what’s wrong with that? Not whoring myself out to every dog who’d have me, that’s for sure,” Saba teased.
“...And here I thought you were the gentlest of our litter. Where’d you pick up that mouth?” Dingo teased.
“Might be from spending so much time around you,” Saba snarked. “God knows you’ve got a mouth, that if mom heard it, she’d be washing it out with soap,”
“And we’d share that punishment,” Dingo smirked.
“Et tu, Dingo… Et tu…” Saba sighed.
“I see you two are still going with the same old back and forth.” another voice chimed in, and like before Dingo knew it. It belonged to his other sister, though at first glance you couldn’t tell they were related. While Dingo, Saba and the rest of the six pup litter had inherited their mother’s looks, Aleu was almost a carbon copy of her dear old dad, sporting a light sandy grey fur coat with an even lighter underbelly.
To be honest, Balto had been hoping for her to get adopted, but because of how much she looked like him -And you would normally think looking like the Hero of Nome would be a good thing, would you not?- he knew the chances of that actually happening were very slim. You see, Aleu inherited more than just her dad’s looks. She also inherited some of his wilder instincts, and had a quicker temper than most pet owners would like. Plus, there was her tendency to howl. A fear of wolves was always instinctive in human-kind, and like it or not, Aleu had more wolf in her than dog. So, like I said, the chances of her getting adopted were very slim.
But they weren’t impossible. Thing was, Rosie’s parents had a distinct feeling that Aleu would never get adopted, so they decided to take her in out of the kindness of their hearts. Sure, it meant one more mouth to feed but they were well-off enough to afford it.
“Afternoon sis,” Dingo said.
“So who’s caught your eyes this time?” Aleu smiled. She knew her brother was a huge flirt but honestly, he really lacked the nerve to go up and talk to any female dogs. So instead, he just opted to stare at them from afar. “That pretty Newfoundland, Curly I think it was?”
“No, beautiful husky. Classic fur, black and white colored. ...God that white fur of hers, looks like a crisp new-fallen snow, like on Christmas Morning…” Dingo sighed, nearly sinking into the ground in his lovestruck state.
“Yep, he’s in love…” Saba remarked. “Again. He’s getting poetic. Classic sign of it,”
“So?” Aleu asked. “I think it’s sweet. He needs a mate, what’s wrong with that?”
Saba stared at her sister in abject shock, she was the classic tomboy and never showed much interest in the traditional girly things. So Aleu thinking something “Sweet” was rather odd for her, at least in Saba’s eyes.
“What, I’m allowed to believe in love right?” Aleu asked. “Without, I wouldn’t have been born, nor you for that matter!”
“...Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” Saba wondered aloud.
“Har-har, very funny sis,” Aleu replied in a sarcastic tone before looking back at her brother. “But seriously, if you like this dog so much, why not go out of your way and talk to her?”
“...That’s the flaw in your theory sis,” Saba remarked. “You know Dingo never works up the nerve to talk to any female dog, no matter how pretty they are,”
“So, maybe he just needs a little push. Boost in confidence, you know what I mean right?” Aleu asked. “You know how dad was, he barely worked up the courage to talk to mom.”
“Yeah, except the problem there was he had a certain bastard gloryhound malamute scaring him half to death if he even got near mom, remember?” Saba pointed out.
“Okay… point.” Aleu begrudgingly admitted.
“You do realize I’m right here?” Dingo asked, with both of his sisters having the decency to look embarrassed.
“Er, right…” Saba murmured, rubbing the back of her head with one of her paws. “Sorry, bro.”
“No, no, it’s alright… You have a point, I do need a courage booster if you will.”
“Well, I could pretend that I’m that female husky, and you could try talking to me…” Aleu suggested kindly. Dingo looked decidedly against that idea.
“Ugh, that would be so wrong and awkward in so many ways… Yeah, totally not doing that,” Dingo replied. “I’d be flirting with my sister. Ewww…”
“Yeah… When you put it that way…” Aleu shuddered. “Yeah, no, just no. Definitely not doing that.”
“But relax brother of mine,” Saba reassured. “We’ll get you and that girl together. After all, who better to give you dating advice on girls… than a girl?” she asked.
“...I feel so reassured.” Dingo deadpanned.
Honestly, Snow couldn’t see how half of these dogs could stand the frozen north and the biting winter winds that were a hazard of living in Nome, and Alaska in general. He actually had to burst out laughing when he saw a Dalmation of all things, quite long and lean and with very short fur stepping off a boat. He was a classic example of the breed, that much Snow could tell already.
He noted how nervous the dalmation was, quivering and shivering -And it wasn’t from the cold weather as he took his first steps into town. Alaska wasn’t for the faint hearted, what with the bears and other assorted wildlife, the aforementioned weather, and the nights that could never seem to end. You could go for days without ever seeing the sun, and he’d heard it could drive a lesser dog to the brink of madness staying locked up in a cabin in the middle of a blinding blizzard while the night wore on for days and time seemed to stand still.
Bit poetic of him, Snow supposed, but that’s what it was like at times. Alaska, it could chew you up and spit you out if you weren’t built for it, or had the gall and guts to survive. This dalmatian, Snow thought, probably had none of those qualities.
He pitied both him, and the poor human would probably have to bury him someday soon.
It was a harsh judgement, yes, but soft and forgiving were not the words that first sprang to mind when Snow thought of the Alaskan timberlands. And even if he wasn’t in those timberlands, Snow knew even in a town sometimes you had to fight to survive when the weather turned for the worse.
Snow hadn’t lived for almost 12 years without figuring this one out.
Yeah, that dalmation, he was as good as dead. Give or take a year or so, and he’d just be a short memory in Snow’s long list of them.
A nagging voice in the back of his mind asked:“Well, you’re almost twelve years old and you’ve pretty much seen it all, so why can’t you give that poor mutt a helping paw? Teach him how to survive out here?”
Snow brushed the thoughts away, as easily as one would swallow a piece of kibble.
“Bah!”Snow thought to himself.“What’d be the point? He’s not as strong-bodied or strong-willed as he would need to be, so why teach someone when it’d be pointless anyways? If he was something like a Finnish Spitz or a Portuguese Water Dog, yes, maybe, but a dalmation?”
“Besides,”Snow thought to himself as he watched the dalmation walk up to a black and white husky, and receive an affectionate nuzzle in return.“Why would you need to try to teach someone how to survive out here, when he’s got someone to do it already?”
She was certainly pretty, that much could be said. Sorta reminded Snow of…
“No!”Snow mentally shouted at himself, as an image formed in his mind. A figure, not that far removed from the husky in front of him, if not a little older. Memories flew into his mind like a tidal wave, him running through the snow with that husky, in years past. A promise was made, to keep her safe and warm.
Another memory, a tree cracking in a harsh winter storm and a fearful face and a scream before it was silenced.“...Can’t believe, after all these years…”
He swore softly to himself, and started to walk off back towards his master’s home, when a female voice called out to him.
“Hey, you there!” the husky shouted in his direction with a distinct accent, even if Snow couldn’t quite place where it was from. “Been staring at us for so long, least could have the decency to come over and introduce yourself!”
“Fine, fine…” Snow muttered to himself as he turned back towards the Husky, and he flinched. Those brown eyes… sickeningly familiar. “Name’s Snow. Welcome to Nome.”
“Name’s Jacqueline, though everyone just calls me Jackie,” the husky introduced herself before looking at her dalmation boyfriend. “And this here is Rusty. The both of us… Came up from North Carolina all thanks to that Gold strike up in White Mountain,”
“Ah, that would explain why Nome’s suddenly become such a boomtown, as it were,” Snow said. “Honestly, I’ll never understand humans and their obsession with precious metals. Lived here for 11 years now, and they never cease to confuse… Amaze a bit yes, but confuse and stupify the imagination mostly,”
Jacqueline laughed out loud at that, and Rusty more nervously. Clearly “Jackie” was on top in that relationship, if her behavior (And more accurately, Rusty’s) was any indication. “Yes, that they do. But honestly, we’re not here for the gold strike up east. We’re coming to live here actually, as our Master got a job working with the metalworkers here in town. He wanted a bit of peace and quiet from the towns of the south -Though to be perfectly honest, our old home was fairly isolated so it beats the Hell of out me why he’d come someplace even worse in that aspect- so… Well, here we are!”
“Yes, well a pretty young thing like you,” Snow continued. “Should have no trouble fitting in here. Plenty of girl dogs to gossip with, and what have you. Hell, might even meet the wife of the town’s local hero. Nice girl. ...Hell, if I was just a few years younger. Now if you excuse me, I have no time for idle chit-chat, -if you want that from a dog, go to the boiler room- and I really must be going.” he said, wanting to get away from the husky as fast as he could.
“Well, catch up with you later I suppose… Come along Rusty. Time to meet the townsfolk.” Jacqueline said.
“Y-Yeah… Though let’s hope they’re not all like him…” Rusty stammered out, and as he walked off with his mate, Snow swore he heard Jacqueline singing to herself a very familiar tune…
“Now listen to the jingle, and the rumble, and the roar,
As she dashes thro' the woodland, and speeds along the shore,
See the mighty rushing engine, hear her merry bell ring out,
As they speed along in safety, on the "Great Rock-Island Route...”
I feel like I'm reading an excerpt from a novelization of the movie...not bad at all. Consider me a watcher on deviantart. Look out for the one with Mr Wiggins as the profile pic.
4833632 Okay. (Wait, you really think this is that good? You seriously think you're reading a novelization of the film?)
4833633
Aside from the slight anachronism in the speech as well as some signs of 'early tragic backstory syndrome' from Snow, the story had the same vibe I felt when I watched the movies as a kid. Goes to show how much you love the movies which I respect.
4833888
Thanks. Though I am curious as to what you meant by a anachronism in the speech. I was almost certain everything was right on to the time period...
4833934
Odd, I could have sworn I saw modern slangs when I read this...at 1am. Yeah, I blame my sleep deprived mind.
Apologies for the confusion.
4833948
S'alright. You get some rest now, okay?