What was all that white stuff on the ground?
That was the first thought that went through Balto's mind as he peered out the window of what had once been known as the Green Cleaner laundromat. The temperature had been going lower and lower lately, something that the dog-like shadow didn't particularly enjoy. That morning, it had been especially chilly, much to the pup's disdain. Reluctantly, he'd climbed from the dryer which served as his bed, deciding to go out in search of food – perhaps if he found something to eat, he'd be able to warm himself up.
Needless to say, he'd been more than a little surprised when he'd gone to step outside, only to have his foot touch something cold and wet rather than the hard gravel that he was used to. Balto had been so startled at first that he'd hurried back into the makeshift doorway that Dimitri had made for him, where he'd then proceeded to growl at the strange substance from the doorway. When nothing happened, Balto began to inch towards the entrance again to eventually stick his paw out into the strange substance.
It was very cold, and left the bottoms of his feet feeling quite chilled. The dog-like shadow could feel it melting beneath his feet as well, which confused him. Was it turning into water? How? How was it doing that? And why? “Rrrrr....” Questions upon questions were building in the pup's mind, and he had no answers for any of them. If only Dimitri were here – perhaps he would know what was going on.
Finally, Balto built up the courage to fully venture out into the now white world outside the laundromat, though he was still wary of danger. If the white stuff WAS a threat, then he didn't want it to catch him off-guard.
And yet it still managed to. The pup went to take his mere fifth step in this strange, warped world and found that his foot met with something slippery. He let out a sharp yelp as he slipped along the strange surface, and found himself colliding with one of the large piles of white stuff – luckily, it was soft enough to cushion his impact. Still, that was enough for the shadow to decide that he wanted nothing more to do with this strange substance that had taken over his area of town. Seconds later, he'd bolted back into the laundromat, and had curled back up inside of his dryer-bed, a soft whine emphasizing just how much he'd disliked his little experience.
He hoped that Dimitri would come to visit him soon.
