Pathway Home ~ Part One

It all starts in Alaska when World War II breaks out...

Andhra was sitting quietly by her little igloo, fashioned just for her, or for any dog. Around her, the thick snow had receded into thin layers, covering everything, such as her fur coat. She listened intently to the cry of birds, and the other dogs breathing. The wind blew strikingly cold, which made her blink more oft times. Her blue eyes shone brightly in the grey afternoon. She sniffed, heard, looked with such intensity, it was hard to believe she belonged only to the race of dogs, for at this point, and for a long time, she had proved to be outstandingly intelligent. She was perhaps three years old, certainly no more, and already she had taken to the way of the world, understood very well her employer, and her good nature had become a routine for everyone. The boy of her owner, whose name was Lewis, often came to stroke her back, and she didn’t mind him burying himself against her warm-self. He was coming now, and she looked up questioningly at him. He just smiled and squatted beside her and then she noticed he had gloves on, sign that he would be staying out in the cold long enough. As usual, his fingers ran through her fur. She looked away, pretending to ignore him. When she wanted to be alone, she did that, and so, she always did that. This time, however, he would not leave her side. He scratched her behind her ears, admiring her white and black coat. He always loved to look at her snout. Her head was white, except for the black color that came from behind her ears and covered her forehead to end in a cross between her eyes. The was also a little brown spot on one of the sides, which for some time, the little sister had thought was dirt and had tried to rub it off, and had to resign herself that it was part of Andhra. Lewis tapped the b***h’s nose once, and laughed when she back her head away and shook it.

“ How about you and I go for a walk while the others sleep ?” he said, untying the chain that held her to a post. She was standing up before the words were completely out of his mouth, and he shook the snow from her paws. Already she was pulling on the chains in use of leash and he had trouble restraining her. “ Calm down Andhra. I know you haven’t been out for a while, but I haven’t got any muscles left.” ‘Course not, the dog thought. You’ve been throwing things around. She just slowed down for him, and they walked peacefully. In other words, he walked with an arm stretched out far in front of him and she pulled harshly, trotting all around him, barely missing wrapping him up in the chain, sniffing the snow, the bark, the bushes, anything that she could put her nose on. The walk was silent, and that was what was relaxing for both of them; the silence was the last one that made up the trio. Today, however, Lewis had some things on his mind. He walked absentmindedly, and Andhra could certainly notice things such as not observing the forest"that which he usually did. He was there, looking at the ground, but not really being there. That made her halt, and she stood straight, ears pricked up, looking up at him with her neck stretched out. Her sudden stop took him by surprised and he looked down at her.

“ You’re wondering what’s going on aren’t you girl ?” he went to sit on a log, letting the chain on the ground because he trusted his little husky. He swiped out the snow first, knowing it was no good because it would remain wet. He sat down anyway. She came to him as soon as he was seated, lied down and continuously looked up at his face, her eyes always avoiding his. “ Well, there’s no harm in telling you. At least, you won’t cry,” he half scoffed and she cocked her head, wondering what could be so funny about not crying. Was he going to tell her why he had been so absent in the last few weeks, why he was in constant disagreement with his parents. “ You see, I’ve grown up, and well, things turn out different when you grow up. You take more responsibilities, and you’ve got to answer to the government’s call…” his words caught on the breeze as he stopped. She still looked at him, listening with her full attention. “ Papa’s leaving and so am I. And mama, well mama thinks we’re better off selling the whole lot of you,” there was anger rising in his voice as he nodded to where they had been coming from. He meant all the dogs. He meant her brothers and sisters, and her parents. She sat up and stared at him, and to him, the look looked piercing and blank at the same time. He sighed, shook his head and looked away. “ I don’t know what I’m talking to you about this, you probably don’t understand anyway.” At that, she barked. She understood very well, she wasn’t daft. She barked twice more, and he stroked her head. “ Hey girl, there’s nothing to bark about.” She wanted to shake her head like he did to say know, but it would have been ridiculous so she just turned her head away, her tongue hanging and her breathing becoming quicker. “ Let’s go home,” he said, trying to reach out for the leash. Before he could do anything, she had already moved away, and was a good distance from him, watching him as he attempted to approach her. “ That’s not funny. Heel Andhra,” he rolled his eyes. He stepped towards her and she growled. It wasn’t a very loud growl at first, but it increased violently of volume as he took another step nearer. Her black lips were curled back and her white fangs were intimidating. Lewis stepped back, but she kept up the growl.

“ Alright,” he said, putting his hands up in the air. “ You come home when you want,” he said and turned his back on her. She followed him, but kept a wide distance between the two of them, so that he could not turn around and snatch her leash. He turned around a few times to see if she was there. Each time he stopped, she became inert and watched him with her piercing blue eyes. They reached home in a much shorter time than they had taken to go to the fallen tree place. Lewis did not try to come tie her up but disappeared right inside the cottage and close the door quietly. She went to lie by her little ice home and watched the light through the windows. She silently lay there, her snout between her paws when M. Denson, Lewis’ father came round the back. The other dogs by this time were up, trying to get his attention, tails wagging all over the pace, dogs barking relentlessly. But he was aiming for Andhra, she was his goal. She sat up and he stopped, looking her over.

“ Lewis said he had some bits of trouble with you. Now sweet girl, you’re going to keep it cool, okay ?” he came slowly to her. She just looked at him, watched as he bent down to pick up the chain. He smiled and tied her back in place. “ There you go. What did you do to Lewis. Ain’t done nothing to you, that kid.” She nearly rolled her eyes and slipped back into a lying position, half closing her eyes as he stroked her flank. “ It’s a shame, you’re a good girl. If I didn’t have to go, I’d certainly keep you.” That got her full attention again, and she was lying straight instead of on her flank, looking at the man’s face. The man had a bear, trimmed short, and dark brown. He had bags under his eyes and wrinkles when he smiled multiplied. He had thin hair covered by a big warm hood, and his eyes were soft and kind. He looked at her a moment, and patted her head. “ You’ll be alright. Someone good will take care of you.” The b***h knew she would be alright, but what about them ? Where were they going, what were they doing, splitting the family like that ? He went back to the little log house and she barked. She had never barked so loud and so aggressively. She was standing to her full height and she barked, and barked. The other dogs listened to her and stopped their yapping. Everyone was so surprised that within and without the house they came about. There was Lewis and his three sisters who came running, and so did their mother. Mister Denson turned around and stared at her.

“ What’s wrong with her ?” Beth wondered aloud.

“ I don’t know,” Lewis replied in a whisper. With them there, she stopped barking and faced them. She didn’t recede, just looked with a death gaze upon them.

“ Mommy, she’s scaring me,” Diane said, clutching her mother’s warm skirt.

“ Don’t worry Diane, everyone gets fits sometimes,” Sariah, the eldest of the sisters replied. She put an arm around the little girl’s shoulder. Mister Denson was the only one who could not go away after a while. Everyone were acting normal, tending to their chores in the house, caring for the dogs, but he, he could not help but hold that blue gaze which had never been held in his eyes before. Andhra looked back too, her eyes sharp. She was trying to say something, he could tell. Had she understood ? Could she see what was happening now ? He came closer to her, she didn’t do anything, just never let his gaze go. He tried to touch her and that’s when she reacted; she snapped her jaws and growled, backing away. He fell backwards with astonishment. Lewis saw it from the window and turned away toward the fire. He could bear to see his favorite dog slipping away like that just before their parting.

 

Denson had to leave the dog alone. No one could approach her within five meters or she started growling violently and snapping her jaws aggressively. It was hard for everyone, knowing she would be taken away and that already, she was on her way. Maybe that was it. Maybe she knew she couldn’t afford to create any more bonds with those children because they were sending her away, some place she didn’t know. One thing she didn’t know was where they were going, why were they leaving. The answer came sooner than she thought. One early morning, Lewis attempted to come again. He approached her, and kept at a five meter radius. She raised her head and looked at him.

“ I’ll tell you everything Andhra, if you come for a walk with me,” his voice sounded hoarse and she felt guilty on the inside. She stood up and came as far as the chain would allow and licked his finger tips. That made him smile of relief, but it still remained a sorrowful smile. They went back the way they always went for walks. He picked up twigs and threw them, and she went to find them again. He sat down on the same, old fallen log.

“ I told you Papa and I were leaving, didn’t I ?” she came now and sat beside him, listening. “ Well here we are going, to war.” He was silent a moment and looked at her face, the blue eyes looked softer than usual. “ They say it’s the world war two. We’ve been at war with Japan, and losses have been horribly great. But I’m not going there. We’re going to help the French, the English, keep them out of the Nazis’ hands. I’m so young, I think I’ll die there. What chance do I have really ?” he looked blankly around. “ I’ve shot animals, yes. But that was because it was needed to eat. Now I’m going to shoot men. I’ll never be able to get over this. I don’t want to go.” Shooting men is like shooting an animal. Because they are so much worse than us in wars. Andhra put her paws on his lap and licked his face. He grinned and pushed her back down again. “ You sweet girl. You know we’re going to have to sell you, right ? The family won’t be getting enough money, and you’re worth quite a bit, so are the others. Besides, mom and the girls are going to be moving back to Grandma’s, in Massachusetts. We’ll be leaving Alaska.” She didn’t argue on that, because she would have no choice in the end. They were leaving, all of them, and she might be leaving Alaska too if she was sold to someone somewhere else and shipped out. The one thing she knew she had to do was to keep Denson and his son alive, and she couldn’t do that if she was shipped somewhere other than where they were going.

Author's Note

If you keep bugging me for part 2 (if you like it) it will eventually come one up. I hope you enjoyed this one because I always wanted to write from the perspective of an animal. Tell me if you think you have some ideas to make it better.