The Flood
July 8th, 1927
It was a mildly warm summer’s day. The sun was high in the sky, but was hidden by dark, gray, clouds. A single raindrop fell from the sky. Surely a storm would follow. The raindrop landed on the nose of a small puppy.
The puppy felt this and shivered. He went over to his father and told him about the raindrop.
“Looks like a storm is blowing in.” said Balto as he looked at the darkening sky, “We better get to the boat before it starts to really rain.”
The group ran to Balto’s ship. By the time they got there it had started to pour. The pups jumped when they heard thunder. Their father did the best he could to comfort them.
“Dad I’m scared.” shivered Alue.
“Me too.” said Kodi.
“Don’t worry.” soothed Balto, “The storm will pass.”
But he was wrong. It didn’t stop raining. It rained for a full week without stopping. The water around Balto’s boat started to rise. What was worse was that one of the inlet lakes, not to far away from Nome, was in danger of overflowing. The townsfolk were trying to stop it from flooding. They took sandbags, wood, scrap metal, and anything that would that could hold back the water. Even some of the dogs of the town tried to help.
This lake was not a small lake. It was almost twice the size of Nome. What made it easier to dam up was that it was surrounded by two mountain ranges. It had a river that emptied out through the south end. Unfortunately that lake was north of Nome, which meant that if it flooded it would go through the town.
They had finished building the dam to the best of their ability and went home. They stationed some of the people to make sure that the dam held up.
Jenna had invited Balto to stay with her until the rain had ended. After half a week there was trouble. During the dead of night a person came running into town screaming his heart out.
“The dam’s about to blow! The dam’s about to blow!”
Windows were thrown open. All the towns’ lights were flipped on. People stuck their heads out the window. Everyone in town heard the message and gathered their things.
“I can’t leave my house! I won’t!” screamed one lady.
“But, miss, if you stay you will surely not make it.” argued a man.
It took them a while to convince her to go, but, she left willingly. Jenna’s house was in an uproar. The family was scrambling around to get there things.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” yelled Jenna.
The dogs and the family ran out of the house in a flash. Rosy was crying and so was her mother. The whole town ran to higher grounds. Jenna did a head count and was horrified. She was missing one pup.
She counted again, “One, two, three, four, five…Oh no! We’re missing one! Balto, we’re missing a pup!”
“What!?” he said in shock. “I’ll just go into town and get him.”
The pup they were missing just happened to be the youngest, his name was Rudy. When Balto started to head back he saw it. A huge wave of water barreling towards town. Back in town, Rudy was just waking up. He saw the empty house and went onto the porch. He walked onto the lane and then he heard a moaning and than a large crash. He turned around to see the wave coming straight for him. He didn’t have time to yell before he was caught in the water full of broken wood and shattered glass. The water surged toward the ocean and died down. The residents of the town looked upon a crushed town. The only things that survived were the steel mill and Balto's boat.
“Well, we’re not going to get this town built again if we keep gawking at it.” stated one man.
“It’ll take us forever to rebuild.” whined a ten-year old.
While the arguing persisted the dogs went into town to inspect the damage. Jenna went to where her house once stood and wept. Not only had she lost her house, she had lost her son.
‘I have got to do something.’ she thought to herself.
She planned that when everyone was asleep, she would set out to find Rudy. That night she put her plan into action. She could tell when everyone fell asleep because everybody was staying in the steel mill. She had to collect food for her journey so she gathered what she could find and then arranged some pieces of wood in the form of a short note. After that she left.
In the Ocean:
Little Rudy had been lucky. He had managed to climb onto some driftwood before he had gotten too far out. It had nearly been a full day since the flood. He was only five weeks old and he was on course to an area where he had never been to. The sky was still as dark as ever.
“I want my mommy.” he cried.
The trip wasn’t going to be smooth sailing. The waves weren’t very big, but big enough that he could get knocked of his ‘ship’.
Three miles southeast from the remains of Nome:
“Oh why did I come alone?” complained Jenna.
She was going over a snow-capped mountain. It may have been summer but the altitude kept it frigid. She came to a narrow edge which had a steep drop to her right and a wall to her left.
“Just take it easy.” she said to herself while she stared to cross the ledge, “Just don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look d-.”
The rock she had stepped on had broken loose and fell down into the abyss. She screamed as she was forced to look down. She quickly closed her mouth as to not cause an avalanche. She made it to the other side and laid down.
“I do not want to do that again.”
In what was left of Nome:
Balto had woken up to find that Jenna was gone. He stepped out side and saw pieces of wood that almost looked like letters. It read “DEAr bALTo, I HAvE GoNE ouT To FIND our SoN. Do NoT coME For ME.” Balto sniffed around the area to prove that his hunch was right.
“Well it can’t be a trick…although I wish it was.” said Balto with a worried look.
“What’s wrong Balto?” asked Nikki.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with you?” chimed in Star.
“Jenna has gone off, she went to find our son.” sighed Balto, “And I need to find her.”
He decided to head out that evening. He would need some help so asked if his best friends, Muk, Luk, and Boris would come along. They happily agreed. Balto asked Nikki, Kaltag, and Star to watch over the pups until they got back. That night they set off to find Jenna and Rudy.
With Jenna:
“At least it’s a change of scenery” said Jenna.
She was heading through a dense forest. The sun was low in the sky but not a cloud in sight.
“I better make camp before it gets to late.” she said to herself.
In about fifteen minutes she had everything set up. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard a twig snap in some bushes.
“Who’s there?” she growled.
With Rudy:
The hours had dragged on so slowly for Rudy. He had been bobbing in the ocean like a cork.
“I want to go home.” he cried.
Then on the horizon he saw it. It had never looked so beautiful to him. It was land! He was so happy he started paddling towards the shore. It took him a great while to do so. When he made it kissed the ground.
“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.” he said to no one in particular.
He looked up and jumped in shock. It was a wolf pack.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” asked one wolf that Rudy suspected to be in charge.
“I-I-I…uhh.” he stammered.
“I ask again.” stated the wolf, “Who are you and why are you here?”
Rudy gulped and then started shivering. He was too terrified to answer. What would they do to him?
To Be Continued.
By: Walto Disney
Subject: The Flood 
Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:26 pm
