This was it, the moment Alex had been waiting for, and she fidgeted anxiously as Claudette adjusted the harness. With a nod from Firestorm and the signal from Claudette they were off. It was exhilarating, even the beginning of blizzard wasn’t enough to dampen her sprits. Her eyes were forward and nothing could distract her from her goal, winning this race.

It seemed like mere seconds before they were deep in the woods surrounding Nome, she shiverd in in anticipation, something was in the air, ‘Change’ She thought. Out of nowhere a strange scent filled her senses. She glanced nervously at Firestorm as the rest of the team began murmering, ‘Do you know what that is?’ ‘A bear,’ ‘I heard they eat dogs’  The team slowed and Alex felt her entire body freeze with fear, what would they do now? As the rest of the team began to bark Alex shock off the fear that paralyzed her and joined them hoping that the barking would scare the dumb beast off, Alex shut her mouth as Firestorm commanded but began to shake with anger and fear, Firestorm had taken on a bear before and Alex would gladly risk her life for the team if it came to a fight with a bear. Did Firestorm not think Alex was brave and strong enough to take on a dumb beast? She opened her mouth to ask but before she could the bear turned and walked away.

“Yeah!” She exclaimed as Claudette gave the signal to begin running, “We scared it away!” It may just be luck but Alex couldn’t help but feel confident that her barking scared a big mean bear away.

All seemed to be going well for Alex, the team was running at a steady but fast pace, if we keep this up we will win, she thought to herself. But then came a sound, a sound that sent shivers down her spine, a wolf howling in the distance. Alex had never met wolves before but she remembered what had happened to Dulcina and that image sped her on towards the finish line that is until the sudden stop jerked her back, making the yellow harness dig into her. She looked around at her teammates in confusion, she had been so focused on escaping the wolves, big hairy beasts with Dulcina’s blood dripping from their fangs, that she hadn’t noticed the scent of the pack or their calls. She braced herself, the beasts were close and it was either run or fight, by the look on Firestorm’s face Alex knew what she had to do.

Run, Run you Clever Girl



I based Alex's experance on KalahariMeerkatfan's entry for the lead dog  Firestorm. I like to think that while all the team had different feelings about the race their stories all intertwine.  However the words and drawing are my own. 

Turtorial (C) Hellokids.com 
 Snow Brushes (C) Allendra3
Trees Photoshop and GIMP Brushes (C) redheadstock
Firestorm (C) KalahariMeerkatfan