The North American

Nathan and his family were now at the racing grounds. After a bit of convincing his dad let them keep Gran Lobo. Nathan was thrilled, but was a bit upset he had to go to this race after just officially getting a new puppy. But he knew his mother would take excellent care of him.

"Now remember," his mother said while fixing his coat collar, "be careful, keep all your dogs close, keep all your winter wear on and put on some extras that are in your bag if needed. And, for goodness sake, come home safely."

Nathan nodded, "I will, Mom."

Geraldine put his scarf on and gave him one more kiss and hug.

"Be my little champ," his father, Andy, said quietly as he gave Nathan a hug.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'll try, Dad."

Nathan slowly walked over to Gran Lobo. "Be good, Gran Lobo. Take care of Mother in these troublesome times for her. And await for my return for I shall."

Gran Lobo licked him. Nathan giggled then went in front of his whole family and gave them one last nod and was off towards his sled. He checked all his supplies that were on the list that the organizers of the whole race gave them. He had everything.

He turned to his family one last time; he saw some tears trickle down his mother's face. That made him sad like she knew something was going to happen to him, but she didn't, it was just a reaction from her.

He breathed in hard then let it one, gave them a little smile then stood by the steering bar of his sled. A man came by and told them all the rules and safety tips that they needed then stood before all of the youths.

"5," he started to count down, "4," Nathan turned to his dog who watched him attentively, "3," then his mother which held Gran Lobo, crying, waving, "2," his father, winking, which was his way of pressuring him to be the winner, "1!"

And Nathan was off like everyone else; all his dogs racing so fast he was out of sight in no time. He looked back to see if he could still see his family, but they were out of sight.

He gave a big sigh then went on, the view was marvelous. He saw everything, all wild life. Everything.

Some competitors raced by him, causing his dog team to slightly go to the right, causing his heart to jump because they moved close to the edge of the cliff. He loved this, but hated it at the same time. He loved his dog team, known as the fastest dogs in all of Phoenix Village. He smiled at the thought of being their owner for the race.

"Girls shouldn't race," said someone beside him.

Nathan swung around to see who said that. Once he saw him he rolled his eyes. It was Brad Pit, not literally, but that was his name, and he was pretty much as good looking. The only difference was his last name was spelled with one "t" and the real Brad Pitt's was spelled with two. He had all the girls around him, just as if he was the real Brad Pitt.

His parents were good friends with Nathan's parents, but Nathan and Brad were nowhere near friendship.

Nathan heard everything his mother Catherine said when she was over; her voice was as loud as a foghorn. "He was just so darn cute and, out last name was Pit, so I thought of Brad, because the real Brad Pitt is so cute himself," his mother would always say when they brought up her son.

"What did you say?" Nathan asked, giving Brad an evil glare.

"I said girls shouldn't race," he repeated himself, throwing that cocky grin over as usual.

"What are you saying?" Nathan asked, clearly knowing what he was saying. He just wanted to sound tough.

"I am saying that you should turn back now, Little Girly!"

"That's it, Brad!" Nathan had enough, so he had to do something now that he was out of sight of the parents. So, Nathan pushed himself up against the bully causing him to smash against the rock wall.

Brad chuckled, "Like I said, girls shouldn't race, nor fight," he added.

Nathan did this again; causing Brad to once again hit the rock wall. This time it hit him in the wrong part of the face and it hurt. So, he did what he always did when people hurt him, he would hurt them twice as hard.

Nathan tried to make his dogs go faster, but they wouldn't. 'Fasted dogs my butt' Nathan thought to himself.

Brad came back and shoved him to the right; his sled hung off the edge of the cliff. Brad chuckled then went on his way, leaving Nathan in this awful state.

Nathan jumped off the sled as quickly as he could. Sending vibration through and losing his gun that he needed just incase of wild animals. He said a little curse then slowly brought his sled up with the help of his dog team. Once they got it up he dusted himself off and stood back on the sled and held onto the bar, tight this time.

"Mush!" he yelled, the dogs went on, as fast as they could.

Gran Lobo started to whine back home. Geraldine noticed he was starting to act strange ever since Nathan left. He would prance around the house all the time and also whine and sometimes even jump on Nathan's bed and howl.

She felt bad, but couldn't fix it. "He's just bored." Andy would say while flipping through his newspaper. He too knew that his was from Nathan's absence, but didn't want to admit it since he kind of pushed Nathan into the race this year.

"No," Geraldine said, fighting back this time, "It's because Nathan is gone. And you made him do it. You pushed him in to it! He could die for all we know and it would be from you! Because you made him, from guilt! Shame on you, Andy!"

Gerladine raced into her room, Grab Lobo following. Andy turned back to him newspaper. Sadness growing in his eyes.