Chapter 4 - Realisation

Stone put all of his strength into running after the wolf. The snow was deep but his large paws stopped him from sinking into the snow. Although he was quite a distance away, he did not stop running. His eyes fixed on the black shape in front of him, he thought about what Kipper had said. He remembered first coming here and pretending he was a dog like everyone else, following humans around, chasing his tail and lugging around great animal bones. He smiled to himself, still running. He was a terrible dog; everyone just laughed at him.

Maybe, he thought, if he'd only accept that he was different…

He remembered rolling in the mud and curling his tail behind him when he ran.

…If he'd be himself…

He remembered one time when he tried to dig for bones and ended up making a fool of himself.

…If he'd just believe…

The snow was beating down fiercely now, Stone had to shade his eyes slightly. The black shape was edging away more and more from him.

…That he was not “different”…

He found himself having to bow his head down to cover his face from the blizzard. He could no longer see the wolf clearly.

…He was unique…

He began to run slightly faster.

…Not a dog…

Faster still.

…But a wolf.

Stone, still running, bared his teeth and howled loudly, his howl finally sounding like his fathers. Not like his childhood's.

He lifted his head from the ground and bounded forward faster than he'd ever ran before, his legs tireless. Glancing to his right, a shape formed in his imagination. It was his mother, running beside him. She smiled a wolf's smile (which is mostly just from the eyes) and howled. Stone felt a sharp pain in his throat.

“Mother…”

She howled again and then left his mind, forever.

If wolves could cry, Stone would have been fighting back tears.

He bared his teeth and ran at the speed of light after the black wolf.

He caught up with it very quickly and caught a hold of the wolf's leg in his teeth, pulling it to the ground. The black wolf dropped the girl's necklace and scratched at Stone's face, a scarlet line of blood now ran down his muzzle. Stone bit he wolf's leg as much as he could until it kicked his face with the other leg. Stone yelped and jumped back. The wolf growled and ran away, over the hill, limping on its leg. Stone stood and recovered, panting deeply. He looked around for the necklace and picked it up in his teeth. Blood still trickling down his face, he began to trot home.

The little girl was crying. She hugged Rain with self-pity. When Stone first re-entered the village, no one really noticed. Rain was first and ran up to him, barking happily. The girl looked up and laughed, half way between happiness and sadness. She ran up to Stone and took the necklace from him, replacing it around her neck. Stone sat down in front of her, taking to mind that everyone thought he'd turn on her. But, to his surprise, the girl lent on her knees and put her arms around him, in a tight hug. Stone didn't expect this, so just sat there.

A woman ran up to them and patted his head. Stone recognised the woman to be Rain's owner. Then he realised; he'd just saved Rain's girl's prized possession from that wolf!

He threw back his head and let out a howl of victory and everyone clapped and cheered.

The woman spoke:

“Well done, Stone, we were watching you…”

Another man also walked over to him. Stone immediately recognised him as the lead musher in the town.

“You'll make a great Sled Dog, Stone,” he announced happily.

The crowd cheered more.

Rex walked off, sulking angrily.

The man pulled out a collar. The gold tag read “Sled Dog”.

“May I?”

Stone stood up and backed away.

Emma spoke up:

“Come on, Dad, he's not a dog…”

She looked again at Stone.

“…He's a wolf.”

Emma knelt down and pulled the necklace from her neck.

“Here,” she said

She placed the wolf's tooth around Stone's neck.

Stone's eyes glittered with pride.

Rain padded across the snow to him, a look of sheer admiration on her face. Kipper also ran up to him, barking and wagging his tail clumsily.

For the first time in his life, Stone finally felt like he really belonged here. Not as a dog, as he'd first expected, but as himself. As a wolf.





Hello, My name is Stone. I am a white wolf from northern Alaska.

I've never really felt that I was equal. But I know one thing;

Being equal isn't always who you really are.

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