Weeks had passed since Beringo and Aniu had that amazing first date. August was already around and the summer rains had started to increase slowly. Yet, today was a fairly clear and sunny day, but pretty humid for that part of year. Beringo and Aniu had not been on a date in a while and they had no rush, considering the fact that they wanted to make sure that their following one was done just right.
Beringo was walking down the street all by himself and was clearly minding his own business. As much as he did not mind summertime, he was starting to miss delivering mail and snow for that, as delivering mail in dirt and sand would be a pretty bad idea. Therefore, Beringo had to wait until like fall so he and and his friends could return to the business.
At the same time, he and his team had to prepare themselves for the final race of the year this year, 1921. He and his team were going to train hard and prove that they were still in shape and thus let their reputation rise gradually. Should Fritz and his team win, then it was going to be the return to the former glory.
"Beringo, hey!" A familiar voice called for him and Beringo's ears perked towards the one who'd called him and judging by the tone, it belonged to Koyuk. Looking at the red male husky in the alley next to the classy house he and Scottia lived together, Beringo moved closer and politely greeted him: "Hello, Koyuk! What's going on?"
"Nothing much to be honest. Scottia went outside with our master and I didn't feel like going today." Koyuk admitted to him, but Beringo felt that his excuse was not genuine at the best and at the worst, it was a pretty poorly made excuse to which he asked him: "Oh really? I don't remember that you'd stay home just because you don't feel like going, Koyuk."
Koyuk looked around the street where Beringo was looking at and making sure there was no one else looking and eavesdropping them, he asked his friend: "Would you follow me to the basement? I have to show you something and I don't want to show it to Scottia yet. It is a surprise for her!" Beringo's suspicious looks shifted into surprised when he said it.
"Oh, alright?" Beringo wondered what his friend had to offer and he followed him behind the house to the small stairway that was descending down to the metal doors that were halfly opened down there. He followed him inside and seeing that Koyuk was already in the middle of the basement, Beringo's suspicions were lifted off pretty soon.
"Is it pretty dark here for you?" Koyuk wondered, as the darkness was pretty thick over here, with the only sources of light being the one from the doors they'd come in and the lantern that was shining brightly on one broken cupboard. Beringo didn't see any problem with this, telling him: "It is, but not that I can get lost down here."
"Good, that's what I needed to know." Koyuk confidently accepted those news and he grabbed a small leather bag in one corner and spilled its contents on the small wooden crate where he was standing before. Those were the broken glass bottles of various colors, most of them being the bottles from the medicine that could be found in the hospital.
"I hope you are not going to cut yourself, Koyuk!" Beringo was reluctant about what his friend was doing, seemingly not fond of this idea. He only let him know: "Do you see the lantern? Take it with yourself and put it right where I'm standing at!" Beringo grabbed the old, rusty, but pretty bright lantern with his jaws to where Koyuk was standing.
"What is the point of the glass shards?" Beringo asked him, somehow muffled thanks to the lantern being in his jaws. Koyuk's response was just: "Put it right here and you'll see!" He didn't have to ask twice why once he'd put the lantern on the ground. Just then, on the opposite side of the room, to the north, something happened.
"Huh? How? What the…!?" Beringo was stunned by what he'd just seen. The beam from the lantern darted straight through the glass shards and refracted itself into the perfect replica of Northern Lights! They were there, "dancing" in the basement, as if they were looking at the genuine Northern Lights! Koyuk was just proudly smiling over there!
"What do you think? I have learned the trick with the lights this when I was a little puppy! This is something I will impress Scottia on our next date!" Koyuk revealed his plan that had to do something with the Northern Lights. Beringo stood amazed by how the lantern and shards could create something like this!
"What is the count? I mean, what date this is going to be for you two?" Beringo wondered for how long these two had been dating and Koyuk let him know: "This is going to be our third date and I do believe that the third is a charm! Guess why? Because I'll tell her. I'll tell her that I love her! I am going to make a huge step ahead, my friend!"
"Congratulations!" Beringo wished him, knowing how much this was going to mean to Scottia once she was going to find out when she and Koyuk were going to their next date. As for Beringo, he asked him: "Say, you wouldn't mind that this trick with the Northern Lights I use too? I mean, I saw you first making this one happen."
Koyuk now grew suspicious because of Beringo's words when he asked him: "What do you mean? Wait, you're seeing a female, aren't you? I bet that you are!" Hearing him what he was saying, Beringo doubted that Koyuk had to know his secret and therefore, Beringo steadily contradicted his expectations: "Well… no. I'm still not seeing anyone, but maybe one day, be it tomorrow or not, I'll meet a female who I'll love like you love Scottia. How's about that?"
Koyuk was curious how Beringo wanted to use his trick just to see if it would work again. Then, at the same time, Koyuk knew that he could not ask him bunch of questions because Beringo didn't simply like when someone demanded him over and over insanely with those pointless questions and he let him know: "No, I don't mind, Beringo. I will know how I taught you how to use that trick, remember that!"
Beringo could be relieved that he'd dodged this bullet again, this time in front of his friend. Since it was much more humid in the basement rather than outside, Koyuk led him outside to the clear air and when Beringo was about to leave, Koyuk told him: "Whatever you're planning, Beringo, I like how you're being pretty crafty about it. Maybe your female will appreciate you for that!" If only Koyuk knew whom Beringo was dating…
"Maybe so, but be patient about it. There's still some time for me to find out which one is the one I dream the most for and once I find her, you and Scottia will have the honor to meet her first!" He was impressively improvising this entire talk, with the look in Koyuk's face saying it all how he found this search for female pretty interesting.
Just a few days later, it was a warm summer afternoon in the town and for Beringo, this kind of heat was not going in his favor. He rested down in the hall where the cold air was the most prominent. Sure, this warmth was going to cease any day soon, but being like this, it looked like to him that it was going to be one whole eternity.
"Hey, Beringo!" Indiana's voice echoed when he stepped in the hall, looking how his friend was resting under a window from where the chilly breeze was making Beringo feel relieved in these days. "What are you doing?" He asked him, wondering how Beringo was dealing with the hot day, for him to answer: "What do you think, I'm trying to stay cool! How are you doing it anyhow?"
"I… I don't know, maybe that I take a good care of myself every once in a while?" Indiana sarcastically told him, making Beringo regret asking him in the first place. Indiana moved on: "Say, Roger told me that until he was sure about it that we won't tell anyone, but now I can tell you one thing - now he is no longer single!"
"You're kidding, right?" Beringo raised on his legs when he heard his friend say it. A food loving-dog like Roger was made Beringo genuinely surprised by how Roger found a female for himself! Indiana replied: "Do I look like I am kidding? Trust me, I didn't believe my eyes at first, nor did Justin, but Roger does have a girlfriend!"
"How… how did that happen?" Beringo asked, feeling a bit guilty that he had missed it. Granted, he'd been with Aniu a lot now that summer was around and nothing much that he could do until the first snow. Indiana explained to him: "Well, remember when Justin and I decided to take him to hang out with us outside so Dakota and Hallie could prepare you for a date with Aniu weeks ago?"
"Yes?" Beringo wondered where this was going to lead, clearly wishing that he'd been more with his friends lately. Indiana carried on: "Thing is, when we were out for some steaks I've brought up, Roger came eye to eye with this one female, I can't remember what was her name now, and one thing led to another and these two spent the night together while Justin and I looked in amazement by what just happened!"
"Oh ho ho ho! No way!" Beringo was still in disbelief. While he wanted did want all the best for his bulky friend and to find a female, he didn't expect it to be this soon. Nor did Indiana, but that did not stop him from talking: "Roger started seeing that female every three or four days to talk to her and something was brewing between them and only last night he told me and Justin and things between him and that female are now for real!"
Beringo wondered by why did not he hear that before and at the same time, if Roger wished not to tell anyone yet, that he could understand. Now that each one of them had a female for themselves, Indiana was ready to move on to tell Dakota and Hallie but not before Beringo said: "Indiana, wait. I have to ask you something too."
"Huh?" Indiana stopped to look at his friend, who lowered his ears when he had to ask him something, that felt like a massive burden that was pulling him deep down into the water depths. Beringo mustered enough courage to ask: "Indiana, am I a bad friend to you and others?" This was the question Indiana clearly did not see coming.
"What? What do you mean, a bad friend?" Indiana turned around to look at his best friend. Never he'd thought that Beringo would say something like this and carried on: "Look, what I meant to say is, have I become neglectful towards you? Ever since I have proclaimed my love for Aniu, I spend every day or night with her. I mean, I do love her, but the thing is, as if I am losing the touch with all five of you."
Indiana sat down to see what else Beringo had to say and this pressure had been keeping him down for a good while. Beringo let him know: "I don't want to make myself look like… like I don't care for you five. We've been friends since we were puppies, but to think that hadn't it been for Aniu that fateful day, or night, I would not be here today!"
This thought got to Indiana's head and thinking about differently played possibilities, where they either had a new lead dog, or he was the lead dog or the worst case scenario possible, their entire team had been disbanded due to Beringo not returning. Returning to the reality, Indiana knew what were the right words to compensate Beringo's pressure.
"Beringo, my friend, look." Indiana came closer to him to make sure that he had nothing to worry about when it came to his troubles: "You're in love with her and we know it. Just like how I am with Dakota and Justin is with Hallie, it is normal that you want to be with her every time possible. We won't resent you for being with her and besides, all of us but Roger have come to accept the things between you two."
"I don't know what to say?" Beringo was trying to come with the right response and he didn't realize that Indiana had to add: "And because you want to be with her, that's normal! Imagine if Dakota or I lived in two separate places and one of us wanted to be at another's place to make sure we're together! That's what you and Aniu are going through!"
"You're saying that it is normal that I have that feeling that I miss her at any time of day or night?" He wanted to make sure about this one and he was glad that he asked: "Yes, that's the point." Being happy that this was working out well, Beringo happily nodded that his friend could help and now Indiana could move to Dakota.
"Okay, one last thing, Indiana. If I ever become too neglectful towards any of you… will you let me know about my errors?" Beringo asked in hopes that should he ever cross the limit, he was going to be warned about. Indiana replied to him with his back turned at him: "Don't worry, we will! Now don't worry anymore!" Then he moved to Dakota's bed.
Indeed, Beringo could carry on with hanging out with Aniu and at the same time he needn't have to worry if he was going to neglect his friendship with his teammates or others. As long as he had that perfect balance, he could be at peace. Eventually, he knew that the day to go on his second date with Aniu was much closer than it was before.
Since Roger was still at home, Beringo wished to get himself ready for this date without being questioned what he was doing and so, but it was not going to be easy to lure his friend out just like that. Just then, when the sun was nearing the horizon on the west, Roger got on his fours and was ready to go.
"Hey, Roger, what are you up to?" Beringo asked him casually. Roger glanced at one side, then at the another one before answering: "Uhhhhhh, nothing special. Just going to take a walk outside by myself?" He made it sound like an insecure question, thus giving himself away unintentionally.
"Really? Can we join?" Beringo asked, hoping that Indiana's words about Roger having a girlfriend was not a gossip. Roger was caught in Beringo's spider web right here and thus he gave him a poor answer: "No, you can't! You see, this is something only I from us others has to go!" Catch, caught and caught, no escape right here.
"Roooooooooooooooger!" Beringo taunted him for not being sincere and seeing how he was just worsening his pain, Roger exhaled in defeat, revealing: "Alright, I'm not going outside by myself. I don't know if Justin or Indiana told you, but I've been involved in a relationship with this one female I'd been seen for weeks! I'm going on a date with her!"
"You are? May I know who she is?" Beringo was starting to get convinced by Indiana's words and Roger had that look that he was going to tell him, but instead, let him know: "She's not really that social and trusty to the ones she does not know well. I will take you and others to her, but give her some time to get used to you." All in all, Beringo could knock it off at once.
"Alright, you take care and have fun on your date!" Beringo wished him all the best and Roger didn't mind now that Beringo had already known. Roger left the house to meet up with his girlfriend and now could Beringo get ready for his date and he let them know: "Alright, the coast is clear!" Thus Hallie had showed up, something that Beringo was expecting. Dakota and Indiana were outside, taking a walk.
"Okay, Beringo, let's get you ready for your date!" Hallie decided to take her turn into grooming her friend and she made sure that Beringo looked like a proper gentledog for his date in the wilderness, something that Hallie knew: "Where in the wild will you two go tonight, Beringo? I hope you aren't going to get lost!"
"Nah, we won't go deep in the wild! We'll just go into the forest to the first clearing from where I can safely return home." Beringo explained where he and Aniu were going to be for their first date and it was Aniu who'd suggested him where to go. Hallie, who'd been a hard nut to accept whom Beringo was dating, seemed like she was gradually warming up to her.
Yet, not entirely, there were still some drawbacks: "I suggest you to take some food with yourselves because what if she doesn't get any and she can't find any?" Beringo rolled with his eyes because he was not amused by these small prejudices Hallie was giving him. Still, he stopped caring because he knew that she was going to cut it out soon.
"Alright, I am done! My, my, if I weren't dating Justin and you weren't dating Aniu, maybe you and I would be good together. Just kidding, of course!" Hallie teased him once she saw her lead dog being neatly groomed and the look in his face when she joked about the two of them being together as a couple. He said: "Hallie, thank you!"
"No problem!" Hallie didn't bother to go crazy on discipline and being hard on him just because he wasn't really in mood for Dakota's antics. Beringo headed to his bed and there he'd pulled a small bag with something that was rattling in it. Something like glass shards or ice, though it wasn't cold enough for ice for this time of year.
"What's that rattling?" Hallie was puzzled by what Beringo was carrying with himself. He willingly explained to her: "It is a secret Koyuk had taught me! I just need to find an oil lantern somewhere in town and things will be amazing for this date!" Hallie was intrigued by how Beringo was handling all this and he was ready to go, with her greeting him: "Go get them, Beringo!"
He smiled for her support, even from someone who'd been bearing the most distrust to whom Beringo was dating. He nodded to her once he was outside and leaving his house behind, Beringo proceeded towards the beach, but on his way there, he had to take a peek at where Koyuk and Scottia were, although he was not going to tell them what he intended now.
Walking silently near his house, he noticed two red furred dogs sitting on the porch, facing southwards, where the sea was. He didn't have to guess twice who was who. The taller one, on the left, was Koyuk and Scottia was leaning on his shoulder, breathing in his scent lovingly. They weren't aware that they were being watched by Beringo by not that far. Then again, he didn't want to be seen by them, at least not tonight.
"Scottia, when the dark finally falls and when our owners go outside, I'll take you to a special place. Trust me, you're going to love what I'm going to show you!" Koyuk told her what he intended to do for tonight. Scottia felt something pretty coming tonight and she whispered: "Do surprise me, Koyuk. I wonder what kind of surprise you're going to offer me tonight!"
"You'll see!" Koyuk decided not to reveal her anything until later tonight. As for Beringo, who was observing them from below, he smiled at them for advancing in their relationship that he decided to move on. Even with him carrying a bag of glass shards, he left without them hearing who was there. He had to find an oil lantern right now!
Back to Koyuk and Scottia, who'd been looking in the dusk sky, waited for the last rays of daylight to cease on this warm August day. Just then, their owners, classy people of the town, were heard closing the windows and even the main entrance as the couple headed outside, whether on a date or taking a night walk all by themselves.
"Alright, this is it! Scottia, follow me! It is time for us to make a wonderful night for one another!" Koyuk told her what was going to be next and she gracefully followed him. She was burning with the desire to see what he was planning. This had to be something new and original as he sounded like he'd come up with something that no one else had tried before!
"Ladies first." Koyuk offered her politely, albeit for the months they'd been living together, it wasn't until recently they'd been in a relationship and so he was treating her with respect. She couldn't resist but to rub her tail against his chin while exiting through the doors. He chuckled because of that gesture and the face that she teased him that way.
Now that they were on the street, Scottia looked at Koyuk looking at this small bag which he picked carefully with his jaw. It was rattling. This made Scottia comment: "What do you have in mind, Koyuk? That doesn't look like a bag of bones to me!" It was not because bones wouldn't rattle like that in this small bag.
"Don't worry, we need a lit oil lantern and a wide closed space so you can see what this is all about!" Koyuk chuckled when he led his girlfriend ahead. Moving onwards, Koyuk noticed on one barrel a lit oil lantern and it was unguarded. He told her after putting the bag down: "I hope the humans won't throw boots at me for this, Scottia."
She wondered what made him say this but she saw him picking the oil lantern wit his jaws and turned to her. He asked: "Could you take the bag now? Be careful how you're holding it though!" She looked at the small bag with a suspicious look, but agreed: "Alright, I hope whatever it is inside, it is not going to hurt me!"
"Handle with care and we're fine!" Koyuk joked, a bit muffled due to a lantern in his jaws, so he just told her: "Follow me, I know where exactly we can go!" Indeed, Scottia was following her boyfriend wherever he was going to lead her. As long as they weren't too far from the town, then she could accept this. Not even Koyuk seemed to be fond of the idea of going outside the town.
"There we are!" Koyuk stopped in front of some kind of tower and it was looking awfully a lot like a water tower! He was pointing at the stairs that led up and she was suspicious about it: "Don't you think it's a bit dangerous to go up there?" Only for him to innocently laugh: "Nonsense! I went few times by myself and I was fine! Come on!"
He decided to go first to make sure that she had nothing to worry about and even if there was this one creaky stair, they made it safely up there and the ramp offered them a lot of space. Koyuk put the lantern down and asked her: "Scottia, would you give me the bag now?" She gently put it down with the rattling heard upon placing it.
Koyuk took it from over here and looking northwards, he moved to the northern side of the platform and placed what was in bag on the ground. Glass shards of various bottles - medicine, wine, milk, anything. Once he placed them down, he happily moved back to Scottia and asked her: "Do you wish to have Northern lights for tonight?"
"Well, we are on our date and they'd be lovely! Sadly, it's still too warm and too early for them." Scottia loved the Northern lights and she was missing them pretty badly. It was summer after all and she couldn't wait for them for a little while. Koyuk winked to her and moved to the lantern, telling her: "Say no more!"
"But what are you doing with the lantern and shards? I don't get it how that… OH!" Scottia wondered what Koyuk was intending when he was on the opposite side of the platform where the shards were and exactly there he placed the lantern with the main beam aiming at them and from that moment, by the water tower, the lights were shining.
Not any lights, but the Northern lights! The combination of green, yellow, magenta, red, orange, cyan and violet danced in front of their eyes and it was Scottia who was left speechless on this entire sight. Many questions were in her head… how? Where? When? This was a truly outstanding move!
"How did you…?" Scottia asked him when he moved close to her to observe this spectacle. Letting her to lean her head on his shoulder, he whispered to her: "When I was a little puppy, my mom taught me how to summon the Northern lights by using the oil lantern and shards of glass should I ever see them when the nature won't show us to them."
"A… amazing!" Scottia's reaction to this was saying a lot how she was surprised by Koyuk's wits and knowledge. He whispered to her: "And I know that you love the Northern Lights too, Scottia! And do you know what else I love here… or should I say who? You!" He got this off his chest by the best means necessary and how he used his opportunity.
"Koyuk… I… I love you too." Scottia's heart was pounding stronger when she heard him claiming his love for her and it was about time he'd done it. She nuzzled him by his neck with her head and warmly whispered: "Thank you for showing me the Lights, Koyuk. They're a marvel to behold in front of our eyes!"
"Not only that I love the Lights and you, but I love how you are sometimes sounding like a poet!" Koyuk teased her for this and she bumped him lightly in the shoulder for that, clearly showing that she meant no hard feelings for what he said. She may or may not be a poet, but she could come up with some unique words in the situations like these.
Returning to Beringo…
Just when he was at the edges of the town, there could he notice one oil lantern hanging on the hook of the last house. It was his luck! Since no human was coming to pick up the lantern any minute soon, then Beringo knew what he had to do. Making sure he didn't burn his lips or tongue, he carefully grabbed the handle of the lantern and put it on the ground.
Then he managed to grab both the lantern and the bag of glass shards, ready to take them to Aniu. No one was in his way and there was no risk of anyone noticing him carrying the lantern. As soon as he reached the boat, he placed the bag and the lantern in the sand. Just then, Aniu showed from behind the boat.
"Hello, Beringo. Looking more handsome than the last time we went outside together?" Aniu liked Beringo's new looks, to which he felt the warm sensation in his body, not quite anticipating this. As for him, he had to comment: "And you're looking even prettier than the last time. Tell me, what is the secret in your beauty?"
"Haven't we talked about it yet?" Aniu smugly looked at him, knowing that he was just messing around. She looked at the lantern and at the bag, to which she asked: "What is with the light and that bag? Is that something edible?" It wasn't, which was saying in Beringo's eyes, but it was indicating: "Trust me, you're going to love it when we go at once!"
"I'm all yours." Aniu accepted his offer, nuzzling him as she was expecting a surprise, whatever it was going to be. They decided to have their date in the forest, the first clearing they'd reach and from where Beringo could safely return to Nome later on should he decide to sleep at home, or just sleep with Aniu in the boat.
"This looks like a pretty place to settle down, what do you think?" Aniu wondered and Beringo honestly couldn't complain about this location, to which he just answered by nodding his head. Placing the items down on the ground, he introduced her with: "Tell me, Aniu… have you ever desired to see the Northern Lights after a long, long while?"
"I did, but I don't think we're going to see any lights until the fall." As much as Aniu wanted to see them, the sole thought that there were like two more months left until fall or at least the first snow, that didn't prevent Beringo from his intentions: "I can bring them down for you and our date."
"Really? How?" Even if Aniu was closely connected to the nature and knew it better than Beringo could, this was something that she could not connect the dots at. Beringo moved with the bag to the northern position of the clearing and spilled the contents of the bag in the grassy ground. All while Aniu looked curiously at those crystals.
"I have never seen the crystals like these, Beringo. What are those?" She asked, wondering where the one like Beringo could obtain them if not from the caves. While heading back to the lantern, he let her know: "That's a glass. It is said that they're made out of sand but I don't know how. What matters right now is that I'll bring the lights for you!"
"How are you…?" Aniu was not really sure about Beringo's idea over here because she didn't know about any ways of bringing down the lights. She moved back to him just as he was looking at where to place the lantern. He found the right place, with the beam of the light precisely going through the shards: "To the north!"
Looking at what he was doing, she was questioning this method, but her gasping upon discovering what Beringo had just created made her speechless. The lantern was in the right position for the light beam of the lantern to be aimed right through the shards and with the light passing through them… a spectacle!
The Northern lights! Dancing in the clearing of the forest, varying from red, cyan, magenta, green, yellow, orange and violet… they felt like the real Northern lights as seen during the winter nights! Aniu could actually feel like as if her coming in contact with them would make her have a contact with the spirits that were in the lights!
"Beringo?! How… how did you do that?!" Aniu asked him in an amazement, being astonished by this trick performed by a canine who was not very much connected to the nature like she was. He knew from whom he'd taken the inspiration and he knew that hiding it from her wasn't going to be noble, thus he answered her: "My friend, Koyuk, showed me this trick. He has planned to do the same thing with his friend Scottia, only in the town!"
"Those two… they were on your side even if the others were afraid of you? May the spirits bless them for being your friends and may the spirits bless Koyuk for telling you how to create something as beautiful as this!" Aniu didn't hide her excitement, thinking that all the blessing Koyuk could get was going to be worth it.
"But not as beautiful as you are, Aniu! When I see those lights dancing, as if they're telling me that you're the true love of my life, Aniu." He had no longer any fear to say it and now that they were touching one another's noses, they let one another enjoy the moments while the lights were "bathing" them, glowing stronger with every moment they had.
So there they were… the wolf and the dog… a canine reliant on hunting in the wild and a canine raised in human settlement. One would think that they were meant to stay away from one another for being dangerous and unsafe. Then again, Aniu was not dangerous and Beringo was not unsafe. They truly loved one another, with Beringo's blue eyes gazing in Aniu's golden black eyes. Nothing could break their seal and Beringo knew that ever since that day he'd almost had his life claimed, he couldn't abandon Aniu for what she'd done for him.