dreaming of snow... {Issalyn}

[kevin]

The four Husky or Husky mixes surged ahead of the man, pulling him at a tremendous speed. His blue eyes twinkled merrily, and the pearly white smile showed he was perfectly in control, despite the seeming lack of it. He was on his roller blades and giving his sled dogs as close of a sledding exercise as he could. Without snow, it was a little hard. But they liked running like this almost as much as pulling a load. Khaki cargo shorts and a stretch, sky blue t-shirt that matched a couple of the dog's eyes adorned his muscular body, barely hiding the fact he was something to look at. The heat wasn't conducive to anything that covered more skin, either. Their tongues were hanging out, and their long fur probably made them hotter than they normally would. He finally took pity on their poor, overheated bodies and mentality that they couldn't stop and ordered them to. He skated forward, and they trotted obediently behind him. he found a bench with plenty of shade for the multi-colored Huskies. They all plopped down in the shade, panting heavily. He smiled. Snowball and Max lay the closest to him, and May and Wolf were a bit farther from him, flanking the sides of the bench. Despite the way they all spread out, they weren't really out of their endurance. It would take a couple of hours on the treadmills he had at home to really wear them out. They were just hot now. Each had a different colored harness, and he held the four leashes attached to each one. He put his hands behind his head, smiling contentedly at the calm dogs. They'd be bouncing off the walls as soon as they cooled off.

[emiliawhelan]

EMILIA whelan
^{“The poetry
of the earth
is never dead.”}

---->
The young lady's idea of a casual walk through the park always turned into a race to see who could get there first. Neither of the dogs was really sure where “there” was, but they were naturally competitive enough that neither ever wanted to fall behind the other, which always meant that they ended up dragging their poor owner along behind them. Individually, they could walk like perfect angels, for the most part, but they were never quite as content with a leisurely pace when they were out together.

For that reason, Emilia rarely took both dogs for a walk together, but once in awhile she did. It just happened to be one of those days when she'd gone off on a whim and leashed up both dogs at the same time. First she slipped a purple harness over Penny's body. The female was a husky-mix, with rusty and white coloration and fairly short fur. She had one blue eye and one amber, and one ear that was always flopped while the other was erect. In short, she was kind of a silly looking dog, but cute in a loveable kind of way. She, quite the five year old lady, sat still while Emilia put the harness and leash on.

Then it was time to harness up Parker. He, on the other hand, was a bouncy, excitable Border Collie and English Springer Spaniel cross. He was a typical black and white color with tan points, in a traditional Border Collie pattern. He had two brown eyes, and a long fluffy coat, complete with masses of curly feathering. At two years old, he was rather broad and filled out, but still managed to be spunky and playful whenever he knew he was going somewhere fun. Because he was completely adorable, and very social, he was always the one people instantly fell in love with. His biggest problem was that when he got excited, he couldn’t hold still, which caused problems whenever it came time to get ready to walk him. He jumped around and Emilia had to practically tackle him to restrain him enough to get the harness and leash on. After exhausting effort, it had been done.

So she walked out the back door of her apartment and down the stairs to the ground floor. She lived in a small apartment built over the bookstore that she owned. It was nestled in the older part of the town, where it used to be customary for shop owners to live over their small stores. She found it rather quaint and cozy, and was even lucky enough to have a small fenced in yard behind the shop for the dogs to play in. Even though they got their exercise in the yard, she still enjoyed going for walks and getting a bit of fresh air. She always found something peaceful in the sounds of nature.

It wasn't long before she reached the park, and by then both dogs were pulling as hard as they could. Their harnesses helped some of the pulling issues, but the dogs were naturally curious and half the time would each try to head off in different directions to smell one thing or another. Due to the constant strain of keeping both dogs in line, she was feeling a bit frazzled and definitely didn't look her best. She had on legging-like running capris, tennis shoes, and a bright blue tank top. Her hair, pulled back into a ponytail, was beginning to frizz a little, thanks to sweat, and wasn't as shiny and contained as usual. She had finally relented and picked up a jogging pace, letting the dogs lope out ahead of her. After a few minutes of this she knew the dogs must be exhausted, so she stopped by the water fountain, pulled a small collapsible doggy bowl from her tiny backpack, and filled it up for them to drink.

She then looked around for an open bench or table in the shade, and saw one near a man with four large dogs, probably Huskies. It was the only bench that wasn't in the sun, or already taken, so she headed over there with her posse of two. She smiled at him as she walked past, her blue eyes meeting his. She didn't really like meeting new people, but she was still kindhearted and wouldn't act like a snob by ignoring him.

She made her way past and sat down on open bench a few yards away, pulling a water bottle from her backpack while sitting the dog's water on the ground for them to drink from. They both had their fill and then Penny laid down at her feet while Parker hopped up onto the bench and sat down beside her, taking in all the scenery. Parker loved watching the birds fly around, while Penny was more content to lay down watching the children playing. If Emilia let them off their leashes, they'd both run off excitedly to play, but she wasn't in a section of the park that allowed dogs off leash, so they both knew they were better off to sit down and relax for the time being.

[/quote]

[kevin]

A young woman caught his eye as she walked her dogs, and he didn't spend nearly as much time looking her over as her dogs. A rusty red dog was built mostly like a husky, although she wasn't as streamlined as the huskies that he had. Not exactly built for racing. But she was definitely cute, with one ear that flopped and one that stood erect. She was happily pulling her owner around, with the second dog romping alongside her. He was a smaller dog, a mix of.. possibly spaniel? He wasn't well versed in dog breeds that didn't pertain to sled dog racing. But he was a cute black and white thing, and seemed happy and energetic. Both looked pretty much like mixes, and the girl looked kinda like the type to take in poor strays. If he ever found a stray worthy of pulling a thread, by all means he would pick them up. While both of her dogs were completely adorable, she herself was stunning. Brown locks were tied in a ponytail, some escaping as her dogs dragged her around. She was slender, and her jog pace made him think it was because she was fit, not necessarily one of those girls that was just naturally skinny. Then her blue eyes met his own, and she gave a friendly, somewhat reserved, smile. But as soon as she sat down near him and his dogs, disaster struck. Snowball, being the friendly butt she was, got up to make her way over. It wasn't too far from her master, so she thought it was okay. Wolf, her faithful companion, followed her, also curious about the dogs. May and Max, the followers they were, decided since their other two friends were doing it, so would they. Snowball wanted to be first, and thus broke into a jog when she saw her friends following her. Kevin, seeing their intentions, called them and jerked on the harnesses. But they were too far gone. They were in thick competition to get to the girl first, and they pulled their helpless owner (he was wearing roller blades, remember) over to the girl with her two dogs. It was a short sprint, and Kevin had a hard time not landing in the girl's lap. He caught himself on the edge of the bench, giving a helpless smile to the girl, who was now surrounded by four friendly Sibe faces. May, the pixie-like purebred, stole the show. Despite her delicate looks, she shoved the others away for the prim spot, laying her head delicately on the girls knees. She was gray and white, a shade lighter than Max, the one people got her mixed up with. Snowball, the rather wolf-like one, panted happily right beside her, her white fur shining in contrast with her friends. Wolf stood stoically next to her, willing to let the hand come to him than force her to give him attention. He was the wolf-gray and white one. Max shoved his broad head close to May's seeking attention just as much as she. Um, hi. Kevin spoke. Sorry to intrude, but apparently my dogs want to say hi, and I'm a little helpless to tell sled dogs they can't pull me around. He flashed her a smile that told her he really was sorry. But seeing as the dogs were just being stubborn mules today, he plopped down on the bench right beside her dog. He was a friendly little thing, so Kevin felt okay taking his free hand and rubbing his soft head.