Chapter 10
Epiphany
Jake was preparing Everest's dinner. She had been quiet for the rest of the day after returning from the church, as if in contemplation. "Good," thought Jake. He then called his pup into the room for her evening meal.
Everest cautiously walked up to him; her face plastered with a distinct look of remorse.
"Here you go, Everest," stated Jake.
Immediately afterwards, Everest burst into tears.
"I can't believe, sniff, I was so mean to him, sniff, I never knew, sniff, how rough he had it, sniff, and his family, sniff, poor Konstantin, sniff, poor Vasili! I can't imagine, sniff, how frightening, sniff, it must be, sniff, to see the same thing that killed your brother, sniff, affect your son. Sniff, sniff, sniff."
"Bingo," thought Jake.
He then went over to her, and knelt down
"Everest, look at me," requested her master.
Everest looked back at him, the tears still clearly in her eyes.
"Do you know why you feel this way, Everest," asked Jake.
Everest was silent.
"Because you now understand why what you did was wrong," explained Jake. "And you're sorry," he added.
The snowboarder then threw his arms around her and told her, "And I knew, that with a little help, you would realize that.
Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place for her.
Jake then kissed her on the forehead. "I'm proud of you, Everest.
"So, what now," asked the husky with a sniff.
"Tomorrow, we will go down to Porter's Café, and you'll give Ivan a heartfelt apology, and that'll be the end of it," he promised.
Notes:
Everest's punishment: Jake decided to take this route because he felt that the lack of understanding was the real problem, and that's what needed to be addressed.
Jake's mood shift in chapter 2: Jake is initially quite angry, because he suspects shes might have been deliberately offensive, but calms down when realizes "Oh, she just lost her temper (that isn't as bad)."
Going easier on her: What Everest did was the least bad (of the the 5 pups to land themselves in big trouble) and because (unlike the other 4) her transgression wasn't deliberate* (just lost her temper). So, Jake felt no need to be harsh with her. Ryder and Carlos would not have been too harsh either.
*Skye, Tracker, Xochitl, and Chase (implied) knew what they were doing was wrong.
It's official! Everest has learned her lesson. All that remains is one final chapter to wrap things up. It was actually quite hard not to give away spoilers when writing a story, but the reason I chose to be rather cryptic was to put the audience in Everest's shoes.
