Great Escape Story - Kristen K. - 08/08/17

Contest: Winners

Great Escape Story

Submitted by: Kristen K., age 13, Plainsboro, NJ

Escape to the Wild
    
“Tessitura!” The husky heard the Man call her name, followed by his whip. She scrabbled through deep snow, her harness torn and barely suspending her over the Arctic River’s black waters as she pulled herself up. She didn’t have time to collect herself before she was swept up in the sea of dogs. Though darkness had descended already, the sled dogs were forced to continue until Height-of-Moon.    
    
The sled dogs curled up on the frozen earth, whimpering in the their sleep, weary and skeletal from insufficient food. Tessitura crawled toward her mother, Argent, whining like a pup, begging for comfort. Argent looked up, barking excitedly. Tessitura looked down and saw her harness in a disheveled heap beneath her.
    
Argent’s barking roused the other dogs. Without the band over Tessitura’s muzzle, she bit through the harnesses, liberating the other dogs. With renewed energy, the dogs bayed joyfully.
    
“Hey!” Human heads popped up around the fire. Argent turned, barking harshly, and sprang into the darkness, the pack bounding after her. They were pelted with ice shards. “Get them!” A shot rang out. It hit the ground, followed by an ominous cracking.
    
Claws smacked against ice, yelps pierced the night air, shouts thundered over the gunshots. The ice over the River shattered. Argent and another, Pluto, reached the other bank first. The others leapt onto the floes, dodging gunshots. Pluto turned back courageously to rescue a malamute, and gradually the others followed his lead, helping stragglers. Tessitura reached the bank, then turned to help Moondust. Finally across, the dogs continued their perilous flight into the harsh tundra.
    
The pack steadily lost heart, howling piteously into the storm. Tessitura was asleep on her paws before she suddenly started as the ground disappeared from underneath her. Tessitura whimpered as she slid down the steep edge toward a rolling white smog below. She braced herself. . . .
    
She opened her eyes. Argent had her teeth in Tessitura’s shoulder. The dogs formed a line, grasping each one’s tail, and hauled Tessitura up. As they stood, panting, they realized the Men were gone. They looked to the moon and howled blissfully in freedom.


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