She was running in front of a sled, dragging along the cruel man with his heavy equipment. The small wolf was very skinny, her bones were almost sticking out and her fur was covered in dirt and dried up blood. The blood came from the wounds on her back, caused by too many lashes that were inflicted by this cruel man. Every breath she took, every heartbeat caused an unspeakable pain that almost made her fall on the ground. And still the man wouldn’t stop, he kept driving the wolf forward. He was mumbling about a town nearby which wasn’t to his liking for some reason. After a few more minutes of horrible pain, she smelled something that made her want to jump in the sky out of joy. She smelled people, sled dogs, meat and fire! She gave a muffled bark out of joy and picked up speed although the effort made her shiver with pain. Her tongue was hanging out of her mouth, completely dry and blood painted the sides of her mouth. Almost there, she thought to herself when she saw the town in the distance, just a little longer. I can’t give up now, not when I’m this close to rest. I can’t die here, she thought to herself.

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When she came to the edge of the town she slowed down, but that only got her a few lashes in return. As a result she ran with full speed in the town where people jumped away to avoid the high speed sled and the whip which he harshly swung around, sometimes hitting her too. They stopped in the middle of the town, at the rest place for travelers and their dogs. They stopped in the middle of the clearing before he stepped off the sled and started to talk to some men. In the meantime, her knees finally gave way and she collapsed on the ground.

The men’s gestures were not very friendly and when she listened to the conversation for a brief moment, she realized they were talking about her. The locals were apparently furious about how the man had treated the poor dog and how he had entered the town. They were probably wondering if he had completely lost his mind. She stopped listening, she couldn’t muster the energy to do so. She focused on breathing, trying to ignore the pain that made her body shiver. She closed her eyes, avoiding the pain and in her exhaustion not caring overly much if she would wake up or not.