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Colored text is in the files to download,

Art was done by the amazing https://www.furaffinity.net/user/ruusen", "writing": "[center][b]24. The Big Chance[/b][/center]\n[center](written by Nikki)[/center]\n\nHello, my dear friends. A challenging time lies behind us. We are now in the middle of April. Spring Break, to be more exact. Well, an extended Spring Break. Usually, this would be a time for parties and happy gatherings. But not this year. Not for the Howling Musketeers. Over the last few months, our theater group had to go through endless rehearsals and vocal exercises. We read Shakespeare’s works so often, that I dreamed about them almost every night. And if this time was already hard for me and my friends at college, you can perhaps imagine how hard it was for Balto. My brave little wolf. Honestly, I thought more than once, it would be the best for a sensitive boy like him to quit. I don't know where he found the strength to go through all this.\n\nLast week, we were back in New York City. As we have mentioned it in our last entry, our theatrical group got an invitation to a competition of several colleges.\nThis was special insofar that Anthros like us are still not seen often in plays outside the Anthropomorphic Community. Sure, groups from Stark College have been invited to such competitions before. But even though our school enjoys a good reputation and many anthropomorphic actors have graduated from Stark, none of the groups were able to win any of these competitions. I have seen videos and read various articles about these earlier contests. Our groups were always more of a joke for everyone, a break filler. At this point, I doubted that we would have even the slightest chance. I mean, we had to perform in a city of humans. The judges were humans. The ugly face of racism is still there. Balto had to face it twice during our first stay in New York City. Fortunately, he seems to have forgotten about it. Or maybe he just never thought about it as much as his mother and I did.\nCurrently, we are in our little house at the lake. Our parents allowed Balto and me to spend the rest of Spring Break here, to find some rest. It is so quiet out here. During the night, you only hear the wind, the waves, and the sounds of the forest. Balto is sleeping deep. Even an artillery attack wouldn't wake him up. \n\nI wasn't able to close my eyes yet. My thoughts are running wild, my brain just refuses to shut up. My little wolf is mumbling in his sleep. I wonder what he is dreaming about. Perhaps about our future, or about last week's play. Like every night, Little Balto is standing next to the bed, watching over Fluffy like a guardian angel.\nSomehow, it is crazy, that I have known this boy all my life. We grew up together, played together. I watched him taking his first bath, and I also watched him making his first steps, even helped him a bit with them by holding his hands. There are several videos of us from that time, they are so cute to watch. We were both so innocent back then.\n\nWhen I started babysitting him, I honestly never thought that we would ever become a couple. But even back then, I felt something special between us. You know that feeling when you know something is there, but you can't figure out what it is? Hell, I was about twelve or thirteen back then. I admit that I hate myself now for being so stupid at the time. I had boy after boy, and they all just played with me and pretended to like me, just to get into my panties. Then it happened. Dad had just kicked the last of these false friends out of our house, when Christa asked me to come over the next day, since she and mom wanted to go out. I never took money for babysitting Balto. I never wanted anything for it. He was like my little brother, and spending time with him was always a nice thing for me to do. \nWe had a pleasant evening, watched a movie, ate pizza. Around midnight, I put him to bed. As I left the room, I turned around to take another look at Balto, how he snuggled up in his blanket. And there was this feeling I talked about. \nI shook my head and left the room to take a shower. That Balto had secretly watched me shower several times was no secret to me.\nThe other night he had left some, let's call them, evidence on the bathroom floor. I didn’t tell him that I knew of him peeping on me. This time, I wanted to catch him in the act.\n\nSo, as said, I took a shower, enjoyed the warm water in fur. My hands were exploring my body, while I always tried to keep an eye in the direction of the door. Suddenly, the door opened slowly, and I saw the sneaky canine, how he began to jerk off while he watched me.\n\nI decided to give him a little show, before I let my trap snap. Balto was shocked and ran back to his room. I followed him, only wrapped in a towel. And well, the rest is history. I will never forget how scared I was when I had to face his mother the morning after.\n\nWe are celebrating our second anniversary this year, you know? I wonder what I should get for him. Maybe I buy tickets for the big Comic Con in New York City in October. \nI bet he would love that. Well, not only him. I must admit, I love cosplay. Plus, this special kind of roleplaying we can do in these outfits brings some fresh wind into the bedroom, if you know what I mean.\n\nBut let us come back to the reason of this entry, before I drift away with my thoughts even more. Perhaps some music will help me to concentrate. What is this, Bryan Adams? Must be one of Balto's playlists. We have a joint account for this music streaming service. He loves those slow and thoughtful songs. Sporadically, he also listens to some of my favorite singers, like Holly Rhoads-Hunter and the Silver Fangs.\nAh, that is better. “I see the light” from the movie “Tangled”. Balto and I often listen to soundtracks from cartoons and movies. They are also our favorites for karaoke.\n\nNow, where were we? Oh, yes. New York City. As always, let us start at the beginning.\n\n \nPart 1: Preparations\n\n\nThis year’s Spring Break began on the 11th of April and officially ended on the 15th. On Friday, April 8, our theater group was called to the principal's office.\n\nA shiver ran down my spine, as I remembered my first encounter with him. Raphael, who leads our group, entered first. He was followed by Miguel, Joseph, Angelike, Svetlana, Jonathan, Thomas, Gabriel, and me. Principal Schaeffer was sitting on his desk and signed us to sit down on chairs in front of it. \n\nAfter we all took our seats, the rottweiler stood up and turned his back to us. He looked through one of the large windows behind his desk, which made this room so bright. None of us dared to break the silence, and it was the principal himself, who began to talk:\n“I am glad you all could make it.”\n\nHe took a deep breath, before he continued.\n“Your group has made a name for itself this year. Thanks to you, we have gained some new supporters, and your work has favored our national reputation. The College Council and I are truly proud of all of you. But as you can imagine, I didn't ask you here to butter you up. You all know that the Minskoff Theater invited our school to a competition in New York next week. Without any doubt, this happened because your group's performance during the play of “Dance of the Vampires” made an impact on the critics. The fact that Ms. Kofi impressed the director of this tradition-rich theater with her talent last November also played its part. But now, we have to concentrate on next week. You all will travel to New York on Sunday. The college organized a bus and booked rooms for all of you in the Jefferson Washington Hotel. Ms. Kofi already knows that place from her last stay. We booked enough rooms for 21 students, plus one room for me and my wife, as we will watch the competition. If my information is correct, we have ten members in the main group, plus eleven other students filling in for the remaining roles. By the way, where is the tenth member of your main group? I thought I said that I want to see all of you.”\n\nRaphael answered his question:\n“Principal Schaeffer, there's a little detail about our youngest member I haven't mentioned yet. He doesn't attend this school. But he is a very talented actor who has quickly become a popular and important part of our group. We would like to politely ask your permission for him to come to New York with us, even though he is not a student at Stark College.”\n\nMy tail in particular twitched nervously as we waited for the principal's answer. Up to this point, it wasn't one hundred percent certain whether Balto would be allowed to come with us. \n\nOur director, who had now sat back down in his chair, looked at each of us before he finally answered Raphael's question: \n“Well, I have watched some of your rehearsals over the last few weeks. I think I know who you mean, Mr. McAllister. This young wolf, who played the part of Puck. Am I right?”\n\nI took over from Raphael because I thought it was my job to fight for Balto's place on the bus: \n“Yes, principal Schaeffer, you are right. His name is Balto Star. Please allow him to join. None of us can play Puck as he can do it.”\nThe others nodded, while the principal looked at me.\n“Ms. Kofi, please. This isn't as easy as you think it is. This competition is between colleges in the state of New York, which means that all actors have to be students at the participating college.”\nRaphael interfered:\n“Excuse me, but as far as I understand it, this is a competition between the theater groups of the participating colleges. It is not specified that all members of these groups must be students at that college.”\nThe big Rottweiler sighed.\n“I will make some calls. Please wait here.”\n\nHe left his office. It took half an hour, before he came back, with a serious expression on his face.\nThe rottweiler walked slowly behind his desk and sat down, his gaze fixed on us.\n“Ok, I have spoken with my colleagues in the other colleges, and with the director of the Minskoff Theater. They are fine with young Balto Star joining your group. But please ensure that his parents are ok with him joining us.”\nMy heart was jumping in joy while I spontaneously said:\n“His mother will also come to New York, together with my parents. Don't worry, she is fine with it. Thank you so much!”\n\nI couldn't resist, stood up from my chair, walked around the big desk and gave the surprised principal a hug. I was a bit ashamed of me not being able to control myself. While I stood in front of him, with my gaze fixed on the floor, I apologized:\n“I am sorry. I just…”\nThe principal interrupted me.\n“It is ok, Ms. Kofi. Now please, you all have to prepare for the journey. The bus leaves here on Sunday morning at 8. I expect you all to be here 30 minutes earlier. Prepare all the probs you need, so we can load them into the bus quickly. Be sure you all get enough sleep. The eyes of the whole college are on you. Ladies and gentlemen, break a leg.”\n\nWe left the office in silence. Not a single word was said on our way to the event hall, where we store our probs. It is also the place you can find the school's stage. We gathered the needed probs and costumes together, some background decorations and what else we could need in New York. As we were done, we sat down in a circle at the center of the stage. Raphael had a few words for us:\n\n“Musketeers, this is truly a big chance for us. As you know, it isn't so common for an Anthro to play outside our community. Besides Nikki, no one of us ever performed in front of humans. Even Balto has more experience in this field than we do, after what Nikki has told us about the karaoke nights in New York. Regardless of what will happen in New York, I would like to say that I am proud to be part of this group. We have to be realistic, there is no chance for us to win this. Not a single Anthropomorphic group ever reached a place under the best three in one of these competitions so far, no matter how good they were. Humans simply won't let an Anthro win. The most important is, that we all give our best there. Now I want to give everyone their specific role for the play.\n\nThe role of Puck will be played by Balto, that is clear.\nI will play Oberon.\nNikki, you will play Hermia.\nLysander is your role, Thomas.\nGabriel, you will be Demetrius.\nSvetlana, you play Helena.\nJonathan, you asked for Theseus, he is yours.\nMiguel, you perform as Egeus.\nTitania will be portrayed by Angelike.\nAnd Joseph, you will be Nick Bottom.\nThe rest of the roles will be filled by those students who also helped us during the rehearsals. Some of them are keen to join our group, that way it is safe they will do their best, just like we will.”\nHe sighed silently. \n“It is getting late. We should all go home now and pack our stuff. We will see each other again on Sunday. Get some rest, we will need all our strength next week.”\n\nWith a strange feeling in my stomach, I walked to my car. After I opened the door and sat down, I took my phone to call my father.\nI started the conversation with a thoughtful tone in my voice. I felt like we bit off more than we could chew this time.\n\n“Hey dad.”\nHe seemed to be exhausted when he replied:\n“Hello, Nicole. I am currently working on our little vacation home. Balto is here, too. He is helping me to assemble some furniture. We have installed the satellite dish today, so the TV works, and we also have internet here now.”\nI sighed.\n“That is nice, dad. Listen, my theater group just had a talk with the principal about the competition next week. You remember?”\nI could hear the sounds of a hammer in the back, as my father said:\n“Of course, I remember. Will you stay at the Washington Jefferson Hotel again? I will call them and book a room for us…”\nI interrupted my father.\n“Dad, please listen to me. I am afraid we will fail. There is so much pressure this time. The College Council, our principal, everyone expects us to deliver a good show there.”\nI sighed, before I continued.\n“I don't know if we can do that. I also fear that I put too much weight on Balto's shoulders. This is his first time on a stage like that, and then he is supposed to play one of the leading roles in a competition in front of hundreds of people. You know how sensitive he is. Heck, I am nervous like a freshly born kitten myself. I can't even imagine how he must feel.”\nDad's voice was calm, as he answered:\n“Nicole, your boyfriend sang Karaoke with you, and he sang alone in a diner full of humans. I am certain that he can do that. Your mother and I have watched your last rehearsal, and we were surprised how well you all played your roles. Everything will be fine, you will see. Nicole, you wanted to become an actress and a singer because you love to act and sing. You never did it to win anything. Promise me, that you will go on that stage to have fun, to show them what you can do. And not because you want to win anything or to impress anyone.”\n\nHis words gave me something to think about. He was right. To win anything never was the goal. We wanted to have fun. A smile appeared on my face, as I answered my father in a relieved voice:\n“Thanks dad, that really helped. Can you say hi to Balto from me? I miss him. Keep an eye on my wolf, ok?”\nI heard him laughing, then I heard Fluffy's voice over the phone:\n“Nikki! When do we go to New York? Can we do karaoke again?”\nHe sounded so happy. I answered to him:\n“Hey, doggy. Sure, we can. We will travel there on a bus this time, together with all the others. We will stay in the same hotel as last time, so you will get many meatballs again. I will drive home now, and we will talk later, ok? I love you, sweetie.”\n\n\nBalto joyfully replied:\n“Love you too, Nikki! We want to assemble the new bed now. Your dad lets me use his power tools this time!”\nThis made me feel worried.\n“Just be careful, ok? I need you in one piece next week. Give dad a hug from me, ok?”\nBalto yelled into the phone, since dad worked in the background:\n“Ok! See you later, Nikki.”\n\nThen he hung up. For a few minutes, it became quiet in my car. Then I shortly called my mother, who was sitting in our living room with Balto's mom. I informed them of what had happened today, and we also discussed the next week.\nWhile we were talking, I received a message from dad. He wrote that he just booked a room for mom, Christa, and him. Good thing that they all will come with us again. But since there isn’t space for them on the bus, they will take the car. \n\nAfter I finished the call with mom, I drove home. Took me almost an hour, because of a traffic jam on Broad Street. This street is such a mess, the construction sites there exist for years, and nothing happens.\nAs I came home, dad's car still wasn't there. I supposed that he and Balto were still at the lake. I entered our house, hung my jacket on the coat rack and walked to the living room, where I met Christa and my mother. They were sitting there on our couch in bathrobes, watching TV. One of these shopping shows, where a woman was looking for the perfect dress for her wedding. She took, in my eyes, the most awful looking one in this whole store. Mom also wasn't impressed by her choice. And she has to know, since she is designing wedding dresses for a living. Christa seemed to be a bit away with her thoughts at that moment. Maybe she imagined Balto's and my wedding or remembered hers. I sat cross-legged on the couch next to Christa, my gaze fixed on her.\nWhile I looked at the white wolf with a wide smile on my face, I asked her a not so serious meant question:\n“Christa, when do you think Balto will ask me to marry him?”\n\nShe turned her head to me. First, I thought she would be mad because of the expression in her face. But then, she laughed and touched my cheek with her right hand. I purred as I nuzzled my head into her hand. While smiling at me, the wolf said:\n“Nicole, if it would be allowed, he would have asked you long ago. But he knows that he has to wait until he is eighteen. So, I fear you will have to wait a few more years, my dear. But believe me if I say, you don't need a ring for a happy relationship.”\n\nWhat should I say, she had a point. Balto and I are happy together. A ring wouldn't change anything. \nWe three ladies were sitting there on the couch for the next hour watching TV. This wedding dress disaster show was followed by a show about rare finds in people's attics. An hour later, Dad and Balto finally came home. Our men showed us photos of their hard work, we discussed dad's plans for the cabin, and late at night, Christa, Balto and I walked over to their house. I helped Balto to pack some things together, and Christa asked him to dress up in his costume for New York, which my mother and Christa made for him. He looks so adorable in it. I could have eaten him on the spot.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHelping my father all day must have tired him out, which is why we went to bed at about 11 p.m. \nThe next morning began with the infernal noise of my mobile. It was Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, the ringtone I use for Nathalie, my boss from the model agency Humana Bestias. I sometimes work for them as a freelancer. I denied the call, since I wasn’t in the mood to talk to them. \nA text message followed shortly after: \n“Nicole, darling. Here is Nathalie. You sadly didn't take my call, so I am sending you a quick note. I have an offer here from a magazine in Buffalo. They need a model for a local campaign for safe sex. I showed them your portfolio, and they want you. That would mean nude photos with a human male, but they would pay you 2500 Dollars. The shooting would be next week. Call me if you are interested.”\n\nMy answer was pretty short:\n“Sorry, Nathalie. I am not interested in shootings like that, and I am busy next week anyway.”\n\nThis was the first time a company from out of town asked for me. But no. Sure, I do magazine cover shootings, did fashion and underwear commercials, even erotic stuff, but only alone or with other girls. Strictly no males, that even is in my contract.\n\nBalto was still asleep when I got out of bed. A brief look at the clock showed me, that it was almost noon. I left the room and walked into the bathroom. After I was done in there, I took a bathrobe from a hook at the door and walked into the kitchen.\nChrista was sitting on the bench in front of the big window, from where she looked outside into the garden. I walked over the cold tile floor with the black and white checkerboard pattern. As a cub, I always pretended that either the white or the black ones were lava and crossed the kitchen by jumping on only the safe ones. As I came closer to my boyfriend's mother, I noticed her watery eyes. I sat down next to Christa on the bench and looked at her a little worriedly. Only now she noticed me, wiped her eyes dry and greeted me.\n\n“Good morning, Nicole,” she said in a sad voice.\nI answered her silently:\n“Morning, Christa. Did I disturb you?”\nShe continued to look out of the window, while it began to rain.\n“No, don't worry. Is Balto still sleeping?”\nI nodded.\n“Yes, he sleeps like a rock. What are you looking at?”\nThe white she-wolf sighed.\n“The swing that Sebastian built for Balto. It's been there for more than fourteen years now. Unfortunately, Balto has hardly used it during the last couple of years.”\n\nI turned my head and looked into the direction of the swing. The rain became stronger, but I could still see it. I got an idea:\n“Balto is maybe a bit too big for it now. But you know, with some minor changes, we could make something like a Hollywood Swing out of it. It would be great for summer. You know, we could sit in it, lay down, enjoy a cold drink. My friend Trish has one at her pool, they are great.”\nChrista gave me a little smile.\n“That sounds like a lovely idea. This way we could keep the swing and use it further. Sebastian would have liked this. Thanks, Nicole.”\n\nI stood up and walked over to the coffee machine, to make us some coffee. Christa and I talked and laughed together for quite some time, until we heard Balto shuffling out of his room. \nFluffy came into the kitchen and sat down on the table. He was naked, with his beautiful, yellow eyes barely open.\nI had to giggle when Christa brought up her son’s nakedness. \n“Good morning, Balto. Say, did Little Balto hide your clothes? Do you want some breakfast?”\n\nBalto only replied with a nod, and Christa gave him a bowl with cornflakes.\nWhile Balto began to eat, I quickly fetched a brush from the bathroom, so I could turn this cornflakes-slurping ball of fur at the breakfast table back into a little wolf.\n\nOutside, it looked like the sky had opened all the floodgates. We saw lightning and heard the thunder growl. Was that a bad Omen? A warning? My phone buzzed, as I got a message from my mother. She only asked if everything was fine. Christa switched off and plugged out all electronics, just for safety.\nPersonally, I love thunderstorms. At least as long as I am inside a house. Balto flinched with every thunder, which is why Christa tried to calm him down with some music out of a battery-powered radio, after we moved into the living room and sat down on the couch. They played rock and pop music, some country, a good mix. After an hour, the news came on:\n\n“This is Hope City Radio 1, with the freshest news of Darwin's Hope. The storm over our city is finally weakening. Our weather service says that it should be over soon. Reports of heavy damage in the suburbs came in. Fallen trees damaged several power lines and are blocking the roads, countless houses were flooded, and we mourn the death of at least 20 fellow citizens. Most of them died from falling branches or car accidents. City officials are asking everyone to stay inside, until the storm is over. If you have to leave your home, stay away from any cables or trees. If it isn't necessary, don't use your car. Many roads are not passable, and the last open roads are essential for emergency units. We will keep you informed, and now back to the music.”\n\nChrista turned off the radio after this disturbing news. I took out my phone to check the Pawtalk-Channel of our theater group. To my relief, everyone was fine. The areas with the most severe damages were on the east side of the city. I took a deep breath, while Balto cuddled himself close to me. My sweet canine was still shaking.\nAnother hour later, the spook was finally over. The rain stopped, and the wind decreased. The clouds passed, and the sun came out. Christa opened the front door, stepped out and looked around. We were happy to hear her saying, that at least in our street everything seemed to be fine. Only the trees aside the street have lost a few branches, and some trashcans were lying around. \nThe worst was a large branch that hit a car parked on the street. At least we thought so, until we later heard that an old woman down the street had a heart attack during the storm. She lived alone, and didn't have a chance. Poor woman. She was always nice to us, and had a big heart for kids. Especially on Halloween. \n\nThe rest of the day was mostly cleaning up the mess. I can't tell you how glad I was now that my father was always against planting taller trees near our houses. It wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend this day, but it had to be done. We were just glad that we were all safe. And hoped that we would be able to leave the town tomorrow as planned. Luckily, the roads to my college and from there in the direction to New York were passable, and on Sunday morning, we began our journey to the Big Apple. Balto travelled with me and the rest of the group on the bus, while our parents followed us by car. To my surprise, Balto and I got the same room as last time. Our parents had a room on the floor above us. We spent the rest of Sunday talking, doing some training, and in the evening, we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. After dinner, we all went to bed. This was going to be a long week for all of us.\n \nPart 2: The Competition\n\n\nMonday morning was filled with hustle and bustle. Principal Schaeffer knocked on everyone's door, while yelling:\n“Out of the bed, everyone. We have to leave for the theater in an hour. Get up.”\n\nBalto stood up and walked slowly into the bathroom, grumbling about how much he disliked my rector. I giggled and followed him shortly after to help him get ready. Afterward, we got dressed and went to the lobby for breakfast and to meet with the others. To my surprise, we were first, and Balto had not to fight for his beloved meatballs. Raphael came down next, together with the principal and Svetlana, with whom he shared his room. The rest came down about fifteen minutes later. While everyone ate, I could see the principal pacing back and forth in the main hall. It seemed like he was even more nervous than we were. None of us said a single word during breakfast that day. When it was time to go, we stood up, I took Balto's hand, and we left the hotel. Fortunately, we didn't have to take all our stuff to the theater ourselves. The principal had taken care of it, and it was already waiting for us in our dressing room.\n\nAfter a short 15-minute walk, we arrived at Time Square. Another five minutes later, we entered the Minskoff Theater, where we were asked into one of the smaller stage rooms. Inside it, we could take a look at our competition. It surprised me to see only three other groups. So, we were just four groups in total. The chairman of the Minskoff walked on the stage, after we took our seats in front of it.\nHe began a little speech:\n“Ok, I see that the last group finally arrived. I welcome the Howling Musketeers from Stark College in Darwin's Hope. After hearing about the terrible storm that raged there yesterday, I was afraid that you wouldn't make it here. I want to avoid losing any more time, and as I am sure you all would like to prepare for the competition, I will keep this as short as possible. The Minskoff Theater is proud to host its tenth College Theater Competition. As every time, we gathered the most promising theatrical groups from New York City and the surrounding areas in a little competition, to see who has the potential to make it in the world of theater. The winner will take home a price of 10,000 Dollars, sponsored by the Theatre Guild. Before I introduce the participants, I want to explain how this thing here will go on.\nFrom tomorrow on, every group will perform their chosen play in front of a selected audience. The Minskoff will support every group with props and decorations, as far as possible. For the not performing groups, it isn't an obligation to watch the show of the performing group. But I would recommend it. Be assured, in the world of theater, it is always a good thing to know what your competitors are doing. And now, I want to introduce this year’s participants. \n\nFirst, our last years' winner, the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts,\nThen we have the Metropolitan College of New York,\nThe University of Rochester, and finally, \nStark College from Darwin's Hope.\n\nFour outstanding groups, which will present us four wonderful shows. The first group tomorrow will be Metropolitan College with Sense and Sensibility,\nWednesday is for the University of Rochester, who will show us a version of McBeth,\nThursday, we have Stark College with A Midsummer Night's Dream.\nThis leaves Friday for our last year's winner, the NYCDA. They will show us The Women of Lockerbie. Ladies and gentlemen, me and the other judges are eagerly awaiting your performances.\nTo round this up, I want to give you all a warning. Any acts against other groups will end in disqualification. So be nice, be fair. Now you all will have time to make yourself familiar with the stage, speak with each other, or go to your assigned dressing rooms to make yourself at home. The first show will begin tomorrow at point 2 p.m.”\n\nI wanted to take a closer look at the stage, and took Balto with me. Hand in hand, we walked towards the stairs. I could feel how the little wolf was pressing my hand, while I felt the other participants' stares. We walked up the stairs, which were on the side of the stage. Balto missed a step and almost fell, what made some people laugh. They joked about Balto and his young age. Insults like, \n“Hey, I thought this would be a college competition, who invited the Kinder Garden?” and\n“Where is your mommy, dog-boy?” could be heard loud and clear.\n\nThere were other things said as well, but I rather prefer not to write them down here. Balto was clearly intimidated by those insults on him and tried to hide behind me. Raphael noticed that, joined us on stage, and placed his hand on Balto's shoulder before he said:\n“Just ignore them, Balto. Believe me, it is better not to react to things like that. Besides, we could easily get disqualified, if we start to argue about it. So please, just ignore it. We have to concentrate on the reason we are here.”\n\nRaphael was right, and we simply continued to look around. We checked out the dressing room, unpacked our costumes, made a fitting to see if everything was ok. After he was in his costume, Balto had to visit the bathroom. He was in too much of a hurry to undress, so he walked out of the dressing room as he was. A few minutes later he came back, crying desperately. His costume had a big tear on the shoulder. \n\nAngelike was closer to him than I was, took him in her arms and asked him what had happened. He couldn't stop crying, but explained that he met a hooded person outside. And that this person damaged his costume by holding him, as he left the restroom.\n\nI was furious, wanted to seek and confront this idiot. Raphael held me back at the last moment before I left the room. He said, in a calm voice:\n“Nikki, if you go out there now, we can pack our stuff and go home. All our work would have been for nothing.”\nI was so angry, I almost screamed at him:\n“If this isn't counted as an act against us, what is? This person’s group should be disqualified for this! Look at Balto. His and my mom made this costume for him. Do you know how long they have worked on it?”\nRaphael's voice became louder:\n“Nikki, calm down. You are not helping anyone here. I know what this was, but I doubt that it will have any consequences if we say something. Please, Nikki. Calm down.”\nI witnessed how Angelike carefully dried Balto’s tears as we looked at them and moved closer. While inspecting the damage, Raphael said:\n“Now, let us take a look at the costume.”\nHis gaze then went over to Miguel.\n“Hey Miguel, can you repair this?”\n\nMiguel is a genius with needle and yarn. Of course, I could have shown it to my mother, but somehow, I wanted to avoid risking her and Christa seeing that. Miguel took a close look, before he smiled at us.\n“That is not a problem, it is just the seam. Come with me, Balto. This shouldn't take long.” \nMiguel quickly fixed the tear. It looked as good as new after he was done, and Balto smiled again. We then changed back into our normal clothes, Raphael gave the rest of our cast their specific roles, and in the late afternoon, we walked back to the hotel. \n\nBalto was holding my hand during the whole time. This wasn't the best start to the week. The thought that this all might have been a big mistake came back to mind. My gaze went up to the sky, and I prayed that this was the last disaster we had to face during our stay here.\nAs we entered the hotel’s lobby, our mothers were already waiting for us. Christa spoke up first:\n“Why haven't you told us you are leaving?”\nI sighed.\n“I am sorry, Christa. It was all a bit hectic today. What have you done the whole time?”\nMy mother answered me, after she checked her phone for a moment.\n“We went to the Guggenheim Museum and made a walk through Central Park. Say, are you two hungry? I know I am.”\nBalto immediately raised his hand and shouted:\n“I am! I want Pizza!”\n\nMom and Christa laughed out loud, while dad finally joined us. He excused himself for being late and said that he had to make an important call.\nAt a table in the lobby, we discussed the day, the program for the rest of this week, and then we went out for dinner in a nearby pizzeria.\n\nBefore Balto and I went to bed that day, we met once more with our group in Raphael’s room. During the conversation, we agreed to watch all the shows of our competitors, and we also wanted to make little sightseeing tours through the surrounding areas after the shows. Our parents would accompany us to the shows, of course.\nWhen Balto and I were about to leave the room, Svetlana held me by the arm. It surprised me when she asked me to come with us for a moment, saying that she needed my advice.\nBalto was so kind to go upstairs to see his mother, so we girls could have a little talk together. After we sat down on the bed, I recognized for the first time what a cute and sexy Husky Svetlana was.\n\nI started our conversation:\n“Well, Svetlana, what can I do for you?”\nShe seemed a bit shy and looked away, as she answered in her slight Russian accent:\n“Well, Nikki, I wanted to ask you something. As you know, I have been going out with Raphael for a few months now, but he never attempted to, you know, have sex with me.”\nThis caused me to chuckle a bit before I replied:\n“And what is your question here, Svetlana? If he doesn’t want to make the first step in that direction, maybe you should do it. I guess Raphael is just too afraid to do something wrong.”\nThe girl seemed pretty nervous, and rubbed her arms.\n“I can’t simply tell him to fuck me, Nikki. I think I am in love with him.”\nCarefully, I touched her cheek with my right hand. In a calm voice, I gave her some tips:\n“Then show it to him with gestures. You know, bending over in front of him, sleeping naked. You two share a room, Svetlana. It shouldn’t be too complicated to show Raphael, that you are ready and want him to make the next step.”\nMy friend still wasn’t convinced. It was somehow cute how shy she reacted. She really seemed to fear making a mistake.\n“Nikki, I am not sure if I am really Raphael’s taste. I mean, he hasn’t even tried to touch me so far. If you remember, he asked you several times to go out with him. Maybe he simply is more into felines.”\n\nThis made me laugh.\n“Svetlana, the last girlfriend he had was a golden retriever. I met her once, she was clearly not the brightest candle on the cake. Just be honest to him. I guarantee you, that he will not be able to keep his hands off you as soon as he knows he is allowed to make the next step.”\nSvetlana still seemed not to be convinced.\n“Nikki, did you ever have sex with him? I mean, you have known each other for so long.”\nI shook my head.\n“No, we never did more than hold hands. Svetlana, let me give you another tip, if you really want to speed things up. Take a shower, wrap yourself in a towel. Make sure that it only covers your upper body. It should at least wake his interest, if you walk back into the room like that. Then you turn your back on him and ask him to help you dry off. And if Raphael didn’t become gay during the last few months, he will no longer be able to resist you. Say, do you have condoms?”\nShe nervously shook her head, and I took some out of my bag.\n“No problem, I have some here. Balto and I barely need them, as I am on birth control.”\nI gave her the condoms, then the husky gave hugged me.\n“Thank you, Nikki. I will tell you how it went.”\nShe was about to leave when I jumped up from the bed to stop her. While holding Svetlana by her arm, I said:\n“Just one more thing. Wait until Thursday, after our show is over. Both of you will be much more relaxed, and you will enjoy it so much more.”\n\nShe hugged me once more, and as she opened the door, I saw Balto outside. My wolf just wanted to knock at the door, and looked a bit confused, as Svetlana happily left our room.\nHe tilted his head while looking at me.\n“Did you two …?”\nI silenced him with a gentle grip over his muzzle, before I asked him to come in. After I closed the door behind him, I released Fluffy from my grip. While looking a bit mad at him, I answered his question:\n“No, we didn’t have sex. She wants Raphael to mount her and asked me for tips to turn him on. But please, keep your mouth shut about this, ok?”\nDoggy only nodded tiredly. It was time for us to sleep. We had some long days ahead of us.\n\nDon't worry, I won't bother you, with the whole competition or with what we did during the rest of the time. I will only give you a short summary of Tuesday and Wednesday, before I jump forward to Thursday.\n\nOn Tuesday, we watched the Metropolitan College with their version of Sense and Sensibility. We sat down in the stage room we knew from the day before. Not in the first row, we took seats somewhere in the back. I asked Balto how he would summarize the story, and he could resist on making a stupid joke:\n“Well, there are two sisters. One has great sense, and the other one…”\nDad interrupted him.\n“Let me guess, she has great sensibility?”\nBalto giggled.\n“No, she doesn't have any sense at all.”\n\nWe all laughed. Some visitors looked a bit weird at us, but others also had a smile on their faces, as far as I remember that. The Metropolitan presented us a solid performance. Unfortunately, it was a bit too quiet. Even we had problems understanding everything, and we have, as you know, a better hearing than most humans. The play itself is about the difference between two sisters, one guided by sense, the other one by her sensibility. \nOr in other words, one followed her head, the other one her emotions. Honestly, I am not really a fan of stories like that. The fashion style in this play wasn’t mine at all. But ok, fashion was different in 1811. The acting, well, it was good. Maybe a bit stiff sometimes, especially in the kissing scenes. Balto slept through half of the play. Can’t blame him for that. The play took about 3 hours, then we left for dinner. We had to eat quickly since we had some more training to do.\n\nWednesday promised to be more interesting for us. Macbeth is a sad tale about a man, who was told by three witches, that he will become King. Encouraged by his wife, he first kills King Duncan. Out of paranoia, he kills more people. All this ends in a civil war. At the end, Macbeth loses his head in a battle against a man named Macduff. The war ends, and Duncan's son Malcolm becomes King of Scotland.\nA pretty bloody, gory story, which is definitely not suitable for children. Like many of Shakespeare's plays.\n\nThe group from Rochester set the bar pretty high that afternoon. Solid play, cool costumes, great actors. The only thing our principal mentioned after the show was how copied it looked in some parts. No personal note, no feeling. But it still would be difficult to beat this. In the evening, we went to a nice Chinese restaurant for dinner, and we used the time we waited for our food to chat a bit with Hazel and her brother, whose name is Johana. Not many will remember Hazel, we first met her after a concert Balto visited with me all the way back in 2020. She is a cute girl, and pretty naughty, if I might say so.\nBut let us move on to our big day.\n \nPar 3: Thursday\n\n\nThe morning began peaceful. Balto was already out of bed when I opened my eyes. He stretched his body and jumped through the room, somehow how he was supposed to do it on stage later. I chuckled, stood up, brushed my teeth, then we went down for breakfast. Everyone was there, and the hotel's main hall spontaneously turned into a stage for us, as we went through a few scenes again. Everything seemed just perfect, until it became time to go to the theater. We looked outside, and it was raining dogs. I mean, it was a flood. But we had to go, there was no time to wait. Our car sadly was no alternative. If you have ever been to New York City, you know why. The hotel gave us a couple of those cheap, plastic raincoats. Wrapped in them, we walked as fast as we could to Time Square. Our paws were soaking wet when we entered the theater. The sight of us amused the other students, they laughed loudly, and we heard more than one stupid remark regarding our appearance.\nAt the doors leading to the changing rooms, we had to leave our parents behind. For Balto, this was the hardest part. He seemed so calm before, but now I could see how nervous he was. His body shivered. It seemed like he would look for a way to get out. His mother gave him a tight hug, and a few words, while she caressed his head and smiled at him:\n“Balto, I am proud of you. Nothing will ever change that. Don't be afraid, my son. Just remember the times you did karaoke with your girlfriend. Oh, and look here.” \nShe opened her purse and took out Little Balto.\n“I have Little Balto with me. You forgot him at home. I saw him standing on your nightstand, shortly before we left. Do you remember what I told you the day I gave him to you?”\nBalto nodded. In a silent voice, he replied:\n“You said that nothing bad can happen, as long as Little Balto is with me. That he will protect me.”\nChrista gently touched her son’s cheek, before she took him into her arms.\n“Right. I believe in you, and I am certain that your father is also very proud of you right now, Balto.”\nI almost felt bad, as I had to interrupt this heartbreaking scene.\n“Balto, we have to go. We need to get dressed. The show starts soon.”\n\nI took Balto's hand, and we walked to the dressing room. We all put on our costumes, after we dried our paws as good as possible. I helped Balto a bit to get ready, after I was done with my outfit. The wolf was so nervous, he couldn't sit still for a single second. I tried to comfort him, after I noticed how he was still trembling all over. He spoke to me in a quiet tone:\n“Nikki, can I go? I can’t do this. I will ruin everything.”\n\nRaphael heard what he said, and more importantly, he saw Balto trembling with fear.\n“Balto, please relax. Nikki, can't you do anything to calm him down?”\n\nThe only thing I could think of to calm him down was something I hadn't done for a long time. I took a deep breath and began to sing a song I used to sing to Balto when he was sad as a puppy:\n“Hush, my Balto, don't you cry; Nikki's going to sing you a lullaby. \nHush my Balto don't say a word; Nikki's going to buy you a mockingbird. \nIf that mockingbird don’t sing, Nikki's going to buy you a golden ring. \nIf that gold ring turns to brass, Nikki's going to buy you a looking glass. \nIf that glass begins to crack, Nikki's going to buy you a jumping jack. \nIf that jumping jack is broke, Nikki's going to buy you a velvet cloak. \nIf that velvet cloth is coarse, Nikki's going to buy you a rocking horse. \nIf that rocking horse won't rock, Nikki's going to buy you a cuckoo clock. \nIf that cuckoo clock won't tick, Nikki's going to buy you a walking stick. \nIf that walking stick falls down, you'll still be the sweetest little Fluffy in town.”\nAnd yes, he calmed down. In fact, everyone did. As I finished the song, the room was silent until Raphael spoke up:\n“Ok, Musketeers. Two minutes until the curtain lifts. Everyone, form a circle.”\n\nHe reached his right hand into the circle, saying the famous phrase:\n“One for all.”\nEveryone reached for his hand, only Balto held back, until he found the courage to place his hand on top of ours. Now we answered together:\n“And All for One!”\n\nAnd so, it began.\nGabriel as Demetrius, Miguel as Egeus, and Jonathan as Theseus were the first on stage, Thomas as Lysander and me, in my role as Hermia, joined them shortly after. \nSvetlana as Helena was the last of our main cast, who came on stage in those first scenes of the first act. \nThe cute Husky also had one of my favorite lines in this part of the play:\n“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” \n\nEverything went smoothly, we all had a lot of fun. Even Balto cheered up now, and I could see a gleam in his eyes, as I risked a brief look at him. Yes, my little trickster has smelled blood.\n\nNow he wanted to hunt. The stage was prepared for Balto’s biggest victory over himself.\nAnd Balto used his chances to win the hearts of his audiences. Already in one of his first sentences, he showed his talent for emphasizing his words with his gesture:\n“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”\n\nThe way Balto and Raphael acted together was fantastic.\nAnd the scene where he gave Joseph that big donkey head, hilarious. You could see and hear how Balto enjoyed his role, as he ran, sneaked and jumped over the stage, like he never did anything else.\nThe play went on, and after nearly 3 hours, we were finished. The curtain fell, Balto stood in front of it, and our Puck said his famous little poem:\n\nIf we shadows have offended,\nThink but this, and all is mended—\nThat you have but slumbered here\nWhile these visions did appear.\nAnd this weak and idle theme,\nNo more yielding but a dream,\nGentles, do not reprehend.\nIf you pardon, we will mend.\nAnd, as I am an honest Puck,\nIf we have unearned luck\nNow to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,\nWe will make amends ere long.\nElse the Puck a liar call.\nSo good night unto you all.\nGive me your hands if we be friends,\nAnd Robin shall restore amends. \n\nAs soon as Balto was finished, he slipped through the curtain to join us. In his face, he wore a smile from ear to ear. I could hear the people clapping their hands, they whistled, and the theaters' director could be heard:\n“Wow, what a play. This group of talented actors clearly earned your applause. I want to ask every single member to come out on stage once more if you hear your name. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you:\n\nOberon, King of the fairies, played by Raphael McAlister,\nTitania, the Fairy Queen, portrayed by Angelike Peterson\nTheseus, or better known as Jonathan Schmidt,\nthen we have Thomas O'Rielly as Lysander,\nGabriel Smith as Demetrius,\nSvetlana Stoica as Helena,\nJoseph Goldman played a great Nick Bottom,\nNicole Kofi as Hermia, and\nMiguel Rodrigo, he played Egeus.\nThen we have the Stark College Cast, they also did a fantastic job in their specific roles.”\n\nI could see the man looking at his notes for a second.\n“Oh, and before I forget him, and before he makes a donkey out of me, please give an extra round of applause to Balto Star, who managed to enchant us all today in his role as Puck!”\nBalto came out shyly. The applause and that everyone was looking at him, while he only wanted to get some rest, was maybe a bit too much for him. \nThat changed, as he saw his mother, who came to the stage with open arms. He quickly walked towards her, kneeled at the edge of the stage and gave Christa a hug. Their tails wagged fast, which made us all smile. I had to get him back to us, so we could bow down in front of the audience, like it is tradition in the world of theater.\n\nAs we finally walked back to our dressing room, we found a disturbing note pinned to the door.\n“Anthros, go home.”\n\nMiguel took down the note and threw it in the trash, after we entered the room. Humans can be so stupid. Ok, to be fair, there are also enough stupid Anthros, who think they are the better people. Idiots come in all shapes, colors, and species. What I didn't notice was Balto pulling this crap out of the garbage can again. We changed our clothes, and simply wanted to go back to the hotel or grab a bite. Even our principal was glad, that this was over. Miguel, Thomas, Gabriel, Angelike, Jonathan and Joseph wanted to visit a nearby bar, Svetlana and Raphael wanted to go for a walk. I guess they had to discuss a few things. Our principal, together with his wife and the rest of the crew, moved back to the hotel, while Balto, our parents and I went out to have dinner. We decided on the pizzeria we knew from our last stay in this city. We sat down, Christa placed Little Balto on the table, after she gave him a cheering pose, as a hooded man approached us. He nearly immediately began to yell:\n“Filthy creatures, you are no Americans. Laboratory rats, that is what you are! Go home!”\n\nMy father wanted to reason with him at first, but that didn't help much. And after he attempted to grab Little Balto, dad had enough. He took this person by his neck and threw him out on the street. The other guests in the restaurant clapped their hands, which showed me that most humans don't agree with people like this man.\nAs my father came back to the table and sat back down, Balto pulled out this note from his pocked, showing it to the others.\n“After our play, this was pinned to the door of our dressing room.”\nBalto clearly was afraid, and his mom took him into her arms. \n\nThe waiter came, brought us some water and took our orders. While we waited, my father looked at the note.\n“This reminds me about my time in the military. I thought this crap would be finally over. Nicole, Balto, please be careful. Better call your friends and tell them what just happened here.”\n\nI did what dad told me to do, and gladly, nothing bad happened for the rest of the day. After dinner, and after a little walk, we went back to the hotel to finally get some rest. In the lobby, we met a few crew members, and our principal, who seemed to be relieved to see us.\n“Ms. Kofi, Balto. I am so glad to see you back. Mr. Rodrigo here just told me about this note on the dressing room door. I already called the head of the Minskoff Theater, he promised me to investigate in this matter. He told me about security cameras, and he will see if he can find the one who put this on the door. But now, please, get some rest. Tomorrow will be another long day.”\n\nHe was right. Not only that we had to watch the last play, the award ceremony would be right after that. Balto and I went up to our room, and as we passed a few doors, we heard a familiar sound out of one of them. I swear, Balto's ears became bigger than they usually are, as he stepped closer to that door. You guessed it, it was Svetlana's and Raphael's room, and by the sound of it, they just had a lot of fun together. After a few moments, I pulled Balto away from the door.\n“It isn't nice to eavesdrop, Balto. Come, let us take a warm shower together.”\n\nBalto happily followed me. Back in our room, we undressed, and I must say, a shower never felt better.\nI helped Balto to wash his back, and as my hands massaged the shampoo into his fur, I felt every single muscle underneath it. I first washed his back, then kneeled to wash his legs, and his paws. Oh, these pressures paws of him. Yes, I admit it. I am crazy for paws. It is one of my biggest fetishes.\nDoggy clearly enjoyed me taking care of him, what I saw, as he turned around. His member was standing in full-size right in front of my muzzle. I looked up at my wolf, just to see him smiling at me with big eyes.\n\n“Please, Ni…”\nHe didn't need to finish the question. Slowly, I took his whole dick into my mouth. Balto placed his hands on my head, then he began to thrust. Drops of pre-cum dripped into my mouth, as my naughty canine increased his pace. My right hand gently massaged his heavy balls, while I fingered myself with my left. I love if my mate is using my muzzle like that. His speed increased further, while I tightened my mouth around his member. Balto moaned load, his knot grew every time he shoved his penis into me. His body soon began to shiver, his thrusts became shorter and harder, until he pressed himself against me and shot his warm seed deep into my throat. He took a step back, panting and smiling at me with satisfaction.\nI swallowed his seed, stood up and turned around. With my hands on the glass of the shower cabin, I presented him my wet vagina. My tail switched from one side to the other, as he came closer, just to rub his cock against my cock-hungry pussy.\nI whimpered like a bitch in heat, as he finally had mercy and shoved his still hard member into my wet cave. The canine didn't lose time, he held me with both hands by my hips, and began to hump me. Fast and hard, fully driven by his primitive instincts. I couldn't do more than moan and bite my tongue. Otherwise, I would have screamed of lust and horniness, that the whole hotel could have heard me. It took about 10 heavenly minutes, until his knot began to swell. Another minute later, I exploded under his skillful thrusts, and a bit because of my handwork. We were combined by his knot once more, wet to the bones from the still running shower, tired out by the day and this wonderful sexual experience we just shared. I love my naughty little sex fairy. \nNothing else really mattered to me at that moment. I was perfectly happy. It took another 10 minutes, until Balto was able to pull out. Afterward, he helped me with cleaning myself, we dried each other's fur, then we went to bed. Arm in arm, we felt into a deep slumber.\n\nMy alarm clock woke me up at seven in the morning. As I looked down on me, I could see Balto, whose head was laying on my chest. I carefully caressed his head, whispering:\n“Wake up, sweetie. The night is over.”\nBalto slowly woke up. He yawned, before he looked at me tiredly. My wolf sat up, took his mobile from the nightstand, checked the time, and mumbled:\n“Why do we have to stand up so early?”\n\nHe was sitting there, half asleep, and his hair looked like an exploded broom. I also sat up and kissed my sweet prince, what made him smile. We stood up, brushed our teeth, and helped each other groom our fur. Afterward, it was time for breakfast.\n\nThe others were already sitting at the buffet. Well, everyone besides Svetlana and Raphael. To my surprise, Balto didn't eat anything this morning. He just sipped on his tea, since the hotel still wasn't able to offer cocoa suitable for Anthros. As I have mentioned it several times before, I have known Balto all my life. Skipping breakfast is highly unusual for him. That is why I asked my wolf:\n“Is everything ok, Balto? Don't you want to eat something?”\nHe shook his head in response. I put my arm around his shoulders, which made him snuggle close to me. The others giggled and smiled at us, especially Angelike. Then our principal joined us, with a cup of coffee in his big hands. \nHe had something to say, after he cleared his throat:\n“Good morning, everyone. As I see, we are still missing Ms. Stoica and Mr. McAlister. But for the rest, I have an announcement to make. The head of the Minskoff informed me, that he received an anonymous letter. In it, he was warned of consequences, should he continue to support our kind in his house. He called the police, and they granted some extra protection today. To prevent any damage, and to minimize the danger of someone getting hurt, I want to ask every member of our group, if we should just leave, and go back to Darwin’s Hope.”\n\nHe looked at each one of us.\n“The decision is yours.”\n\nNo one dared to speak for more than a minute, until we heard Raphael's voice from behind.\n“The Musketeers will stay! We came here to be part of a competition, and even if the other groups would love to see this, we will not run away with our tails pinched between our legs. Am I right?”\n\nA combined “AI!” was the response coming from our whole group, including the supporting cast.\nTo my surprise, Balto took a knife from the table, stood on his chair, and shouted: \n“One for all!”\nOur response couldn't possibly be overheard. Even our principal joined in, as we all raised a knife, a spoon, or anything else he or she could get his hand on, and chanted:\n“And all for one!”\n\nA shiver ran done my spine, as I heard that. This group really is something special. As Raphael once said: We are a family.\nMy mother and father, as well as Balto's mother, joined us some time later, as it was time to walk to the theater. I kind of felt like a member of a street gang, as we walked down the sideways of New York City. You know, the kind of street gang that plays Shakespeare to defeat their enemies. \nSince there was still one group to watch, we took our seats in the front row, after we were welcomed by the theaters’ director.\n\nToday's play was “The Women of Lockerbie”, performed by the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. A highly professional school for acting.\n\nThe story of this play is loosely based on the happening around Pan Am 103, a plane which crashed in Lockerbie. The play is described as a poetic drama about the triumph of love over hate.\nAnd yes, it was good. The actors, their voices, everything. As it has ended after 90 minutes, I had buried even the slightest hope of winning. The best we could hope for was second place.\n\nThe Minskoff theater’s director walked out on stage, like he did it after every play during this week. He introduced the actors, they got standing ovations by some members of the audience. Then came an hour of waiting. Balto, Christa, my parents and I moved over to a little café nearby, where we ate something and talked a bit. Only Balto remained silent during our stay there. He seemed to be thinking about something and constantly looked at an empty chair by the window. Every attempt to break his silence failed, he only shook his head or nodded when we asked him something. And he always had his right hand inside the pocket of his hoodie.\n\nWe left the Café after about 40 minutes and came back to the theater just in time. Raphael, who was already waiting, asked us to go with him backstage. We excused us from our parents and followed him. All other groups were waiting there. And by their looks, they were even more nervous than we were. Well, besides the NYCDA. They were certain that they had already won this competition. While I looked at those humans, I recognized something. But no. That couldn't be.\n\nWe saw the director passing by, with three envelopes in his hands. This was a bit of a surprise. Three? We were four groups.\nHe let his gaze wander briefly over all groups, then he stepped through the curtain onto the stage. The audience clapped their hands, before the man began to speak.\n\n“Ladies and Gentlemen,\nDuring this week, we have seen four wonderful plays by talented young actors. I want to thank all of them for the good times we had because of their hard work. The theater was always meant as a place of joy, a place of amusement, and a place of entertainment.”\nHe sighed, before he continued.\n“This competition was created to give future actors the opportunity to perform on a professional stage, to show off their talent, and to fairly compete with others in friendship and mutual respect. Unfortunately, we had an unpleasant incident this time. A threatening message was found on the door to the changing room of one of the participating groups. Another threat reached me personally this morning. However, I will not go further into this case here. The reason is simple. I will not give hate a stage in my theater.\n\nBefore I announce the winner of this year's competition, I would like to thank the members of the jury and the audience, who invested their precious time to support these young actors. I want to thank the four schools for their hard work. Without it, these young people perhaps wouldn't be able to follow their dream of becoming actors. And without actors, without theater, the world would become a poorer place.\nLet me now come to the awarding of third place.\nFor their version of a tale full of lies and betrayals, I am happy to give this check worth of 500 Dollar and this trophy to the University of Rochester, for their version of Shakespeare's McBeth. Please, applause!”\n\nThe audience cheered, clapped their hands, as this group walked out to claim their price.\nThey made a little speech, then they left the stage. The director continued:\n“The second place was truly a hard decision to make. It goes to a drama in the face of a tragedy. Please give a big applause to the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Art, who showed us the Women of Lockerbie.”\nAgain, applause, cheering from the audience. But sad, almost angry expressions on the faces of the members of the NYCDA.\nOur hearts were racing, as we waited for the director to start talking again. The members from the Metropolitan College prepared themselves to go on stage. They believed they had won, since they couldn't imagine losing against us.\n\nBalto folded his hands, his ears trembled, as the head of the Minskoff began to speak again:\n“That brings us to the winner of this year's competition. An unexpected one, I can tell you that much. But without any doubt, a worthy winner. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Howling Musketeers from Stark College in Darwin's Hope!”\nNone of us could believe what he just heard, and so none of us moved, until Balto took my hand and pulled me towards the curtain. It was also him, who stepped out first. A loud cheering and clapping welcomed us in the bright light of the spotlights. \n\nThe director continued, trophy and check in hand, after we had lined up next to him.\n“I am proud to declare you as the winners of this competition. Your principal told me about the hard work you all did. Your version of the Midsummer Night's Dream impressed the jury and me. Especially the performance of your youngest member delighted both audience and jury alike. So please, take this trophy, and the check worth of 10,000 dollars. You earned it.”\n\nHe gave the trophy to Balto, who seemed to have problems holding it up. Ok, it is a pretty big one. Raphael, as our leader, took the microphone to say a few words, after he took the check into his hands.\n“We thank you all for this honor. I think I speak for all my friends here, if I say that it was an honor and a pleasure to perform in this house. We would have never thought of going out here with any kind of prize. We also want to thank all members of the other groups for this fair competition. Thank you.”\n\nAgain, cheering, clapping, a few whistles. I wanted to take Balto's hand, so we could leave, but he put down the heavy trophy next to Raphael, and asked for the microphone. Our leader seemed as unsure as I was in this situation, but he gave it to him. \n\nAnd my little wolf, shy, and a little uncertain at first, began to speak to the surprised audience:\n“Hello. My name is, is Balto. I wanted to thank you all for the nice time we had here. But yesterday, my family and I went for dinner in a pizzeria, and a hooded man came in. He yelled at us, that we won't be Americans. That we are only laboratory rats. But we are not. I have never been in a laboratory. I was born in a hospital, like most people here. My mom raised me up in a house in Darwin’s Hope. She is the best mommy I can think of.\nI am proud to be here, and I love my country. Therefore, I thought about something we used to say in school every morning. If I am allowed, I would like to say it here. Can I?”\n\n\n\n\n\nHis look went over to the director, who only nodded at him. \nBalto pulled out a little note from the pocket of his hoodie, and after a short pause, he continued:\n\n“I pledge allegiance”\nI looked at the audience, after Balto spoke these first words. I could see my father standing up and putting his right hand on his heart. Christa and my mother did the same, followed by others, until everyone was standing. Raphael signed us to step forward, and we all spoke the rest together with Balto:\n\n“To the flag of the United States of America, \nand to the republic \nfor which it stands, \none Nation under God,\nindivisible, \nwith liberty and justice for all.”\n\nThe Pledge of Allegiance. A little too patriotic for my taste. But I guess Balto wanted to show his love for his homeland. And I guess this attempt was successful. The audience cheered. Christa was fighting with her tears. Balto saw this, and quickly ran down the steps at the side of the stage and over to his mother. The two gave each other a heartfelt hug, while my mother gently caressed his back. I cannot say how happy I was at this moment. It took a minute, until Balto came back on stage. We shook a few hands, then it was time to go celebrate our success. And what would be a better place for that than the Diner with this nice karaoke bar, where Balto and I had such a great time during our first visit to the Big Apple. As we walked out of the theater and into the direction of the diner, I spotted something in the window of a nearby clothing store. After I excused myself, I took Svetlana and Angelike, and we went inside that store. The others went to the diner without us to look for a table. \nThis was simply the perfect piece for now, and I had to have it. And yeah, I wanted the other girls to wear something to show their beauty as well.\nSvetlana decided for a sexy, short blue dress, fitting to the color of her eyes. Angelike, as the elegant Bengal cat she is, took a sexy red dress with a deep cleavage, and mine was a short black neck holder dress. It’s so sexy! Prepared like that, we girls walked to the diner. Even the human males were looking at us, which felt awesome and made us all giggle. As Balto spotted us, his eyes became so big. In a cartoon, his tongue would have hung out at that moment. Raphael couldn’t get his eyes off Svetlana, as the sexy Husky walked slowly towards him. The only single girl in our group now was Angelike. Well, but maybe not for long. Miguel seemed very interested in her. At least he danced with her all evening. The funny thing is, that he is smaller than her. Miguel, as a Mexican wolf, has about Balto’s size. Maybe a bit bigger. The difference is that Balto is still growing. But that makes Miguel even more loveable. \nDuring the course of the evening, we again had the opportunity to sing and entertain the audience a little. Our first song we sang was “Can't help falling in love” by the great and unforgettable Elvis Presley.\nRaphael and Svetlana also showed their skills with “You are the one that I want” from the movie Grease.\nAnd, since we have some Disney nerds in our group, we all sang “We don’t talk about Bruno” together. We all had a lot of fun this evening. We were so tired afterward, that everyone just fell into their beds, as we came back to the hotel.\n\n\n\nDuring the next two days we made sightseeing, visited the statue of Balto, Liberty Island, and some other famous landmarks. And after our friend Johana recommended it to us several times, we tried out Scarr’s Pizza, after we visited Seward Park. The pizza had a fantastic taste. All in all, it was an unforgettable time for all of us.\n\nOn Monday, at 9 o’clock in the morning, it became time to say goodbye to New York City. During the ride home, principal Schaeffer told us that we all got another week off. For our great commitment to the college, as he called it. Christa excused Balto from school as well, so he and I could have some time together.\n\nWe decided to spend this week here, in our little cabin at Spaulding Lake. Dad did a wonderful job with renovating it, and we were really lucky that the storm didn’t damage this little house. Outside is a little fireplace, where me took a photo earlier, which I show you together with this entry. We are also planning to create a small beach. Currently, there are mostly stones there, which are not very comfortable to lie on. \nI can hear the wind and the waves outside. Here and there an owl calls into the night. It is so peaceful here.\nThe clock now shows Wednesday, 4 am. Balto has been sleeping for hours, and I should finally join him in Morpheus’ realm.\n\nThank you all for your time.\n\nAnd please, \nstay safe.\n\nNikki and Balto\n\nP.S.:\n\nBalto read the journal on my laptop, while we were sitting in a little diner nearby for breakfast. In his words: \n“There is a hole in the plot you can drive a truck through.”\n\nWhat he meant was that I missed telling you about how the story around this note on our door ended.\nThe Head of the Minskoff didn’t want to give hate a stage, what is a good thing. But of course, he investigated, and the man who put this piece of paper on our door was found. It was a member of the Metropolitan College of New York. And as I heard, it was the same man who yelled at us at the restaurant. They identified him, and his group was disqualified before the award ceremony. The jury just didn’t want to say that out loud, instead they told that to them in private after the ceremony. At least our principal explained it to us this way. He also said that this had nothing to do with the decision that we won the competition. This group had the weakest performance but would have got at least a check to cover their expenses. Because of their disqualification, they got nothing. As bad as this whole matter is, I am glad that it was only one man, and not a whole Anti-Anthro group, like some of us had feared. Our principal now wants to organize a friendly competition at Stark College in a few months. A wonderful idea. And the musketeers will be ready for it.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
24. The Big Chance

(written by Nikki)


Hello, my dear friends. A challenging time lies behind us. We are now in the middle of April. Spring Break, to be more exact. Well, an extended Spring Break. Usually, this would be a time for parties and happy gatherings. But not this year. Not for the Howling Musketeers. Over the last few months, our theater group had to go through endless rehearsals and vocal exercises. We read Shakespeare’s works so often, that I dreamed about them almost every night. And if this time was already hard for me and my friends at college, you can perhaps imagine how hard it was for Balto. My brave little wolf. Honestly, I thought more than once, it would be the best for a sensitive boy like him to quit. I don't know where he found the strength to go through all this.

Last week, we were back in New York City. As we have mentioned it in our last entry, our theatrical group got an invitation to a competition of several colleges.
This was special insofar that Anthros like us are still not seen often in plays outside the Anthropomorphic Community. Sure, groups from Stark College have been invited to such competitions before. But even though our school enjoys a good reputation and many anthropomorphic actors have graduated from Stark, none of the groups were able to win any of these competitions. I have seen videos and read various articles about these earlier contests. Our groups were always more of a joke for everyone, a break filler. At this point, I doubted that we would have even the slightest chance. I mean, we had to perform in a city of humans. The judges were humans. The ugly face of racism is still there. Balto had to face it twice during our first stay in New York City. Fortunately, he seems to have forgotten about it. Or maybe he just never thought about it as much as his mother and I did.
Currently, we are in our little house at the lake. Our parents allowed Balto and me to spend the rest of Spring Break here, to find some rest. It is so quiet out here. During the night, you only hear the wind, the waves, and the sounds of the forest. Balto is sleeping deep. Even an artillery attack wouldn't wake him up.

I wasn't able to close my eyes yet. My thoughts are running wild, my brain just refuses to shut up. My little wolf is mumbling in his sleep. I wonder what he is dreaming about. Perhaps about our future, or about last week's play. Like every night, Little Balto is standing next to the bed, watching over Fluffy like a guardian angel.
Somehow, it is crazy, that I have known this boy all my life. We grew up together, played together. I watched him taking his first bath, and I also watched him making his first steps, even helped him a bit with them by holding his hands. There are several videos of us from that time, they are so cute to watch. We were both so innocent back then.

When I started babysitting him, I honestly never thought that we would ever become a couple. But even back then, I felt something special between us. You know that feeling when you know something is there, but you can't figure out what it is? Hell, I was about twelve or thirteen back then. I admit that I hate myself now for being so stupid at the time. I had boy after boy, and they all just played with me and pretended to like me, just to get into my panties. Then it happened. Dad had just kicked the last of these false friends out of our house, when Christa asked me to come over the next day, since she and mom wanted to go out. I never took money for babysitting Balto. I never wanted anything for it. He was like my little brother, and spending time with him was always a nice thing for me to do.
We had a pleasant evening, watched a movie, ate pizza. Around midnight, I put him to bed. As I left the room, I turned around to take another look at Balto, how he snuggled up in his blanket. And there was this feeling I talked about.
I shook my head and left the room to take a shower. That Balto had secretly watched me shower several times was no secret to me.
The other night he had left some, let's call them, evidence on the bathroom floor. I didn’t tell him that I knew of him peeping on me. This time, I wanted to catch him in the act.

So, as said, I took a shower, enjoyed the warm water in fur. My hands were exploring my body, while I always tried to keep an eye in the direction of the door. Suddenly, the door opened slowly, and I saw the sneaky canine, how he began to jerk off while he watched me.

I decided to give him a little show, before I let my trap snap. Balto was shocked and ran back to his room. I followed him, only wrapped in a towel. And well, the rest is history. I will never forget how scared I was when I had to face his mother the morning after.

We are celebrating our second anniversary this year, you know? I wonder what I should get for him. Maybe I buy tickets for the big Comic Con in New York City in October.
I bet he would love that. Well, not only him. I must admit, I love cosplay. Plus, this special kind of roleplaying we can do in these outfits brings some fresh wind into the bedroom, if you know what I mean.

But let us come back to the reason of this entry, before I drift away with my thoughts even more. Perhaps some music will help me to concentrate. What is this, Bryan Adams? Must be one of Balto's playlists. We have a joint account for this music streaming service. He loves those slow and thoughtful songs. Sporadically, he also listens to some of my favorite singers, like Holly Rhoads-Hunter and the Silver Fangs.
Ah, that is better. “I see the light” from the movie “Tangled”. Balto and I often listen to soundtracks from cartoons and movies. They are also our favorites for karaoke.

Now, where were we? Oh, yes. New York City. As always, let us start at the beginning.

 
Part 1: Preparations


This year’s Spring Break began on the 11th of April and officially ended on the 15th. On Friday, April 8, our theater group was called to the principal's office.

A shiver ran down my spine, as I remembered my first encounter with him. Raphael, who leads our group, entered first. He was followed by Miguel, Joseph, Angelike, Svetlana, Jonathan, Thomas, Gabriel, and me. Principal Schaeffer was sitting on his desk and signed us to sit down on chairs in front of it.

After we all took our seats, the rottweiler stood up and turned his back to us. He looked through one of the large windows behind his desk, which made this room so bright. None of us dared to break the silence, and it was the principal himself, who began to talk:
“I am glad you all could make it.”

He took a deep breath, before he continued.
“Your group has made a name for itself this year. Thanks to you, we have gained some new supporters, and your work has favored our national reputation. The College Council and I are truly proud of all of you. But as you can imagine, I didn't ask you here to butter you up. You all know that the Minskoff Theater invited our school to a competition in New York next week. Without any doubt, this happened because your group's performance during the play of “Dance of the Vampires” made an impact on the critics. The fact that Ms. Kofi impressed the director of this tradition-rich theater with her talent last November also played its part. But now, we have to concentrate on next week. You all will travel to New York on Sunday. The college organized a bus and booked rooms for all of you in the Jefferson Washington Hotel. Ms. Kofi already knows that place from her last stay. We booked enough rooms for 21 students, plus one room for me and my wife, as we will watch the competition. If my information is correct, we have ten members in the main group, plus eleven other students filling in for the remaining roles. By the way, where is the tenth member of your main group? I thought I said that I want to see all of you.”

Raphael answered his question:
“Principal Schaeffer, there's a little detail about our youngest member I haven't mentioned yet. He doesn't attend this school. But he is a very talented actor who has quickly become a popular and important part of our group. We would like to politely ask your permission for him to come to New York with us, even though he is not a student at Stark College.”

My tail in particular twitched nervously as we waited for the principal's answer. Up to this point, it wasn't one hundred percent certain whether Balto would be allowed to come with us.

Our director, who had now sat back down in his chair, looked at each of us before he finally answered Raphael's question:
“Well, I have watched some of your rehearsals over the last few weeks. I think I know who you mean, Mr. McAllister. This young wolf, who played the part of Puck. Am I right?”

I took over from Raphael because I thought it was my job to fight for Balto's place on the bus:
“Yes, principal Schaeffer, you are right. His name is Balto Star. Please allow him to join. None of us can play Puck as he can do it.”
The others nodded, while the principal looked at me.
“Ms. Kofi, please. This isn't as easy as you think it is. This competition is between colleges in the state of New York, which means that all actors have to be students at the participating college.”
Raphael interfered:
“Excuse me, but as far as I understand it, this is a competition between the theater groups of the participating colleges. It is not specified that all members of these groups must be students at that college.”
The big Rottweiler sighed.
“I will make some calls. Please wait here.”

He left his office. It took half an hour, before he came back, with a serious expression on his face.
The rottweiler walked slowly behind his desk and sat down, his gaze fixed on us.
“Ok, I have spoken with my colleagues in the other colleges, and with the director of the Minskoff Theater. They are fine with young Balto Star joining your group. But please ensure that his parents are ok with him joining us.”
My heart was jumping in joy while I spontaneously said:
“His mother will also come to New York, together with my parents. Don't worry, she is fine with it. Thank you so much!”

I couldn't resist, stood up from my chair, walked around the big desk and gave the surprised principal a hug. I was a bit ashamed of me not being able to control myself. While I stood in front of him, with my gaze fixed on the floor, I apologized:
“I am sorry. I just…”
The principal interrupted me.
“It is ok, Ms. Kofi. Now please, you all have to prepare for the journey. The bus leaves here on Sunday morning at 8. I expect you all to be here 30 minutes earlier. Prepare all the probs you need, so we can load them into the bus quickly. Be sure you all get enough sleep. The eyes of the whole college are on you. Ladies and gentlemen, break a leg.”

We left the office in silence. Not a single word was said on our way to the event hall, where we store our probs. It is also the place you can find the school's stage. We gathered the needed probs and costumes together, some background decorations and what else we could need in New York. As we were done, we sat down in a circle at the center of the stage. Raphael had a few words for us:

“Musketeers, this is truly a big chance for us. As you know, it isn't so common for an Anthro to play outside our community. Besides Nikki, no one of us ever performed in front of humans. Even Balto has more experience in this field than we do, after what Nikki has told us about the karaoke nights in New York. Regardless of what will happen in New York, I would like to say that I am proud to be part of this group. We have to be realistic, there is no chance for us to win this. Not a single Anthropomorphic group ever reached a place under the best three in one of these competitions so far, no matter how good they were. Humans simply won't let an Anthro win. The most important is, that we all give our best there. Now I want to give everyone their specific role for the play.

The role of Puck will be played by Balto, that is clear.
I will play Oberon.
Nikki, you will play Hermia.
Lysander is your role, Thomas.
Gabriel, you will be Demetrius.
Svetlana, you play Helena.
Jonathan, you asked for Theseus, he is yours.
Miguel, you perform as Egeus.
Titania will be portrayed by Angelike.
And Joseph, you will be Nick Bottom.
The rest of the roles will be filled by those students who also helped us during the rehearsals. Some of them are keen to join our group, that way it is safe they will do their best, just like we will.”
He sighed silently.
“It is getting late. We should all go home now and pack our stuff. We will see each other again on Sunday. Get some rest, we will need all our strength next week.”

With a strange feeling in my stomach, I walked to my car. After I opened the door and sat down, I took my phone to call my father.
I started the conversation with a thoughtful tone in my voice. I felt like we bit off more than we could chew this time.

“Hey dad.”
He seemed to be exhausted when he replied:
“Hello, Nicole. I am currently working on our little vacation home. Balto is here, too. He is helping me to assemble some furniture. We have installed the satellite dish today, so the TV works, and we also have internet here now.”
I sighed.
“That is nice, dad. Listen, my theater group just had a talk with the principal about the competition next week. You remember?”
I could hear the sounds of a hammer in the back, as my father said:
“Of course, I remember. Will you stay at the Washington Jefferson Hotel again? I will call them and book a room for us…”
I interrupted my father.
“Dad, please listen to me. I am afraid we will fail. There is so much pressure this time. The College Council, our principal, everyone expects us to deliver a good show there.”
I sighed, before I continued.
“I don't know if we can do that. I also fear that I put too much weight on Balto's shoulders. This is his first time on a stage like that, and then he is supposed to play one of the leading roles in a competition in front of hundreds of people. You know how sensitive he is. Heck, I am nervous like a freshly born kitten myself. I can't even imagine how he must feel.”
Dad's voice was calm, as he answered:
“Nicole, your boyfriend sang Karaoke with you, and he sang alone in a diner full of humans. I am certain that he can do that. Your mother and I have watched your last rehearsal, and we were surprised how well you all played your roles. Everything will be fine, you will see. Nicole, you wanted to become an actress and a singer because you love to act and sing. You never did it to win anything. Promise me, that you will go on that stage to have fun, to show them what you can do. And not because you want to win anything or to impress anyone.”

His words gave me something to think about. He was right. To win anything never was the goal. We wanted to have fun. A smile appeared on my face, as I answered my father in a relieved voice:
“Thanks dad, that really helped. Can you say hi to Balto from me? I miss him. Keep an eye on my wolf, ok?”
I heard him laughing, then I heard Fluffy's voice over the phone:
“Nikki! When do we go to New York? Can we do karaoke again?”
He sounded so happy. I answered to him:
“Hey, doggy. Sure, we can. We will travel there on a bus this time, together with all the others. We will stay in the same hotel as last time, so you will get many meatballs again. I will drive home now, and we will talk later, ok? I love you, sweetie.”


Balto joyfully replied:
“Love you too, Nikki! We want to assemble the new bed now. Your dad lets me use his power tools this time!”
This made me feel worried.
“Just be careful, ok? I need you in one piece next week. Give dad a hug from me, ok?”
Balto yelled into the phone, since dad worked in the background:
“Ok! See you later, Nikki.”

Then he hung up. For a few minutes, it became quiet in my car. Then I shortly called my mother, who was sitting in our living room with Balto's mom. I informed them of what had happened today, and we also discussed the next week.
While we were talking, I received a message from dad. He wrote that he just booked a room for mom, Christa, and him. Good thing that they all will come with us again. But since there isn’t space for them on the bus, they will take the car.  

After I finished the call with mom, I drove home. Took me almost an hour, because of a traffic jam on Broad Street. This street is such a mess, the construction sites there exist for years, and nothing happens.
As I came home, dad's car still wasn't there. I supposed that he and Balto were still at the lake. I entered our house, hung my jacket on the coat rack and walked to the living room, where I met Christa and my mother. They were sitting there on our couch in bathrobes, watching TV. One of these shopping shows, where a woman was looking for the perfect dress for her wedding. She took, in my eyes, the most awful looking one in this whole store. Mom also wasn't impressed by her choice. And she has to know, since she is designing wedding dresses for a living. Christa seemed to be a bit away with her thoughts at that moment. Maybe she imagined Balto's and my wedding or remembered hers. I sat cross-legged on the couch next to Christa, my gaze fixed on her.
While I looked at the white wolf with a wide smile on my face, I asked her a not so serious meant question:
“Christa, when do you think Balto will ask me to marry him?”

She turned her head to me. First, I thought she would be mad because of the expression in her face. But then, she laughed and touched my cheek with her right hand. I purred as I nuzzled my head into her hand. While smiling at me, the wolf said:
“Nicole, if it would be allowed, he would have asked you long ago. But he knows that he has to wait until he is eighteen. So, I fear you will have to wait a few more years, my dear. But believe me if I say, you don't need a ring for a happy relationship.”

What should I say, she had a point. Balto and I are happy together. A ring wouldn't change anything.
We three ladies were sitting there on the couch for the next hour watching TV. This wedding dress disaster show was followed by a show about rare finds in people's attics. An hour later, Dad and Balto finally came home. Our men showed us photos of their hard work, we discussed dad's plans for the cabin, and late at night, Christa, Balto and I walked over to their house. I helped Balto to pack some things together, and Christa asked him to dress up in his costume for New York, which my mother and Christa made for him. He looks so adorable in it. I could have eaten him on the spot.







Helping my father all day must have tired him out, which is why we went to bed at about 11 p.m.
The next morning began with the infernal noise of my mobile. It was Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, the ringtone I use for Nathalie, my boss from the model agency Humana Bestias. I sometimes work for them as a freelancer. I denied the call, since I wasn’t in the mood to talk to them.
A text message followed shortly after:
“Nicole, darling. Here is Nathalie. You sadly didn't take my call, so I am sending you a quick note. I have an offer here from a magazine in Buffalo. They need a model for a local campaign for safe sex. I showed them your portfolio, and they want you. That would mean nude photos with a human male, but they would pay you 2500 Dollars. The shooting would be next week. Call me if you are interested.”

My answer was pretty short:
“Sorry, Nathalie. I am not interested in shootings like that, and I am busy next week anyway.”

This was the first time a company from out of town asked for me. But no. Sure, I do magazine cover shootings, did fashion and underwear commercials, even erotic stuff, but only alone or with other girls. Strictly no males, that even is in my contract.

Balto was still asleep when I got out of bed. A brief look at the clock showed me, that it was almost noon. I left the room and walked into the bathroom. After I was done in there, I took a bathrobe from a hook at the door and walked into the kitchen.
Christa was sitting on the bench in front of the big window, from where she looked outside into the garden. I walked over the cold tile floor with the black and white checkerboard pattern. As a cub, I always pretended that either the white or the black ones were lava and crossed the kitchen by jumping on only the safe ones. As I came closer to my boyfriend's mother, I noticed her watery eyes. I sat down next to Christa on the bench and looked at her a little worriedly. Only now she noticed me, wiped her eyes dry and greeted me.

“Good morning, Nicole,” she said in a sad voice.
I answered her silently:
“Morning, Christa. Did I disturb you?”
She continued to look out of the window, while it began to rain.
“No, don't worry. Is Balto still sleeping?”
I nodded.
“Yes, he sleeps like a rock. What are you looking at?”
The white she-wolf sighed.
“The swing that Sebastian built for Balto. It's been there for more than fourteen years now. Unfortunately, Balto has hardly used it during the last couple of years.”

I turned my head and looked into the direction of the swing. The rain became stronger, but I could still see it. I got an idea:
“Balto is maybe a bit too big for it now. But you know, with some minor changes, we could make something like a Hollywood Swing out of it. It would be great for summer. You know, we could sit in it, lay down, enjoy a cold drink. My friend Trish has one at her pool, they are great.”
Christa gave me a little smile.
“That sounds like a lovely idea. This way we could keep the swing and use it further. Sebastian would have liked this. Thanks, Nicole.”

I stood up and walked over to the coffee machine, to make us some coffee. Christa and I talked and laughed together for quite some time, until we heard Balto shuffling out of his room.
Fluffy came into the kitchen and sat down on the table. He was naked, with his beautiful, yellow eyes barely open.
I had to giggle when Christa brought up her son’s nakedness.
“Good morning, Balto. Say, did Little Balto hide your clothes? Do you want some breakfast?”

Balto only replied with a nod, and Christa gave him a bowl with cornflakes.
While Balto began to eat, I quickly fetched a brush from the bathroom, so I could turn this cornflakes-slurping ball of fur at the breakfast table back into a little wolf.

Outside, it looked like the sky had opened all the floodgates. We saw lightning and heard the thunder growl. Was that a bad Omen? A warning? My phone buzzed, as I got a message from my mother. She only asked if everything was fine. Christa switched off and plugged out all electronics, just for safety.
Personally, I love thunderstorms. At least as long as I am inside a house. Balto flinched with every thunder, which is why Christa tried to calm him down with some music out of a battery-powered radio, after we moved into the living room and sat down on the couch. They played rock and pop music, some country, a good mix. After an hour, the news came on:

“This is Hope City Radio 1, with the freshest news of Darwin's Hope. The storm over our city is finally weakening. Our weather service says that it should be over soon. Reports of heavy damage in the suburbs came in. Fallen trees damaged several power lines and are blocking the roads, countless houses were flooded, and we mourn the death of at least 20 fellow citizens. Most of them died from falling branches or car accidents. City officials are asking everyone to stay inside, until the storm is over. If you have to leave your home, stay away from any cables or trees. If it isn't necessary, don't use your car. Many roads are not passable, and the last open roads are essential for emergency units. We will keep you informed, and now back to the music.”

Christa turned off the radio after this disturbing news. I took out my phone to check the Pawtalk-Channel of our theater group. To my relief, everyone was fine. The areas with the most severe damages were on the east side of the city. I took a deep breath, while Balto cuddled himself close to me. My sweet canine was still shaking.
Another hour later, the spook was finally over. The rain stopped, and the wind decreased. The clouds passed, and the sun came out. Christa opened the front door, stepped out and looked around. We were happy to hear her saying, that at least in our street everything seemed to be fine. Only the trees aside the street have lost a few branches, and some trashcans were lying around.
The worst was a large branch that hit a car parked on the street. At least we thought so, until we later heard that an old woman down the street had a heart attack during the storm. She lived alone, and didn't have a chance. Poor woman. She was always nice to us, and had a big heart for kids. Especially on Halloween.

The rest of the day was mostly cleaning up the mess. I can't tell you how glad I was now that my father was always against planting taller trees near our houses. It wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend this day, but it had to be done. We were just glad that we were all safe. And hoped that we would be able to leave the town tomorrow as planned. Luckily, the roads to my college and from there in the direction to New York were passable, and on Sunday morning, we began our journey to the Big Apple. Balto travelled with me and the rest of the group on the bus, while our parents followed us by car. To my surprise, Balto and I got the same room as last time. Our parents had a room on the floor above us. We spent the rest of Sunday talking, doing some training, and in the evening, we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. After dinner, we all went to bed. This was going to be a long week for all of us.
 
Part 2: The Competition


Monday morning was filled with hustle and bustle. Principal Schaeffer knocked on everyone's door, while yelling:
“Out of the bed, everyone. We have to leave for the theater in an hour. Get up.”

Balto stood up and walked slowly into the bathroom, grumbling about how much he disliked my rector. I giggled and followed him shortly after to help him get ready. Afterward, we got dressed and went to the lobby for breakfast and to meet with the others. To my surprise, we were first, and Balto had not to fight for his beloved meatballs. Raphael came down next, together with the principal and Svetlana, with whom he shared his room. The rest came down about fifteen minutes later. While everyone ate, I could see the principal pacing back and forth in the main hall. It seemed like he was even more nervous than we were. None of us said a single word during breakfast that day. When it was time to go, we stood up, I took Balto's hand, and we left the hotel. Fortunately, we didn't have to take all our stuff to the theater ourselves. The principal had taken care of it, and it was already waiting for us in our dressing room.

After a short 15-minute walk, we arrived at Time Square. Another five minutes later, we entered the Minskoff Theater, where we were asked into one of the smaller stage rooms. Inside it, we could take a look at our competition. It surprised me to see only three other groups. So, we were just four groups in total. The chairman of the Minskoff walked on the stage, after we took our seats in front of it.
He began a little speech:
“Ok, I see that the last group finally arrived. I welcome the Howling Musketeers from Stark College in Darwin's Hope. After hearing about the terrible storm that raged there yesterday, I was afraid that you wouldn't make it here. I want to avoid losing any more time, and as I am sure you all would like to prepare for the competition, I will keep this as short as possible. The Minskoff Theater is proud to host its tenth College Theater Competition. As every time, we gathered the most promising theatrical groups from New York City and the surrounding areas in a little competition, to see who has the potential to make it in the world of theater. The winner will take home a price of 10,000 Dollars, sponsored by the Theatre Guild. Before I introduce the participants, I want to explain how this thing here will go on.
From tomorrow on, every group will perform their chosen play in front of a selected audience. The Minskoff will support every group with props and decorations, as far as possible. For the not performing groups, it isn't an obligation to watch the show of the performing group. But I would recommend it. Be assured, in the world of theater, it is always a good thing to know what your competitors are doing. And now, I want to introduce this year’s participants.

First, our last years' winner, the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts,
Then we have the Metropolitan College of New York,
The University of Rochester, and finally,
Stark College from Darwin's Hope.

Four outstanding groups, which will present us four wonderful shows. The first group tomorrow will be Metropolitan College with Sense and Sensibility,
Wednesday is for the University of Rochester, who will show us a version of McBeth,
Thursday, we have Stark College with A Midsummer Night's Dream.
This leaves Friday for our last year's winner, the NYCDA. They will show us The Women of Lockerbie. Ladies and gentlemen, me and the other judges are eagerly awaiting your performances.
To round this up, I want to give you all a warning. Any acts against other groups will end in disqualification. So be nice, be fair. Now you all will have time to make yourself familiar with the stage, speak with each other, or go to your assigned dressing rooms to make yourself at home. The first show will begin tomorrow at point 2 p.m.”

I wanted to take a closer look at the stage, and took Balto with me. Hand in hand, we walked towards the stairs. I could feel how the little wolf was pressing my hand, while I felt the other participants' stares. We walked up the stairs, which were on the side of the stage. Balto missed a step and almost fell, what made some people laugh. They joked about Balto and his young age. Insults like,
“Hey, I thought this would be a college competition, who invited the Kinder Garden?” and
“Where is your mommy, dog-boy?” could be heard loud and clear.

There were other things said as well, but I rather prefer not to write them down here. Balto was clearly intimidated by those insults on him and tried to hide behind me. Raphael noticed that, joined us on stage, and placed his hand on Balto's shoulder before he said:
“Just ignore them, Balto. Believe me, it is better not to react to things like that. Besides, we could easily get disqualified, if we start to argue about it. So please, just ignore it. We have to concentrate on the reason we are here.”

Raphael was right, and we simply continued to look around. We checked out the dressing room, unpacked our costumes, made a fitting to see if everything was ok. After he was in his costume, Balto had to visit the bathroom. He was in too much of a hurry to undress, so he walked out of the dressing room as he was. A few minutes later he came back, crying desperately. His costume had a big tear on the shoulder.

Angelike was closer to him than I was, took him in her arms and asked him what had happened. He couldn't stop crying, but explained that he met a hooded person outside. And that this person damaged his costume by holding him, as he left the restroom.

I was furious, wanted to seek and confront this idiot. Raphael held me back at the last moment before I left the room. He said, in a calm voice:
“Nikki, if you go out there now, we can pack our stuff and go home. All our work would have been for nothing.”
I was so angry, I almost screamed at him:
“If this isn't counted as an act against us, what is? This person’s group should be disqualified for this! Look at Balto. His and my mom made this costume for him. Do you know how long they have worked on it?”
Raphael's voice became louder:
“Nikki, calm down. You are not helping anyone here. I know what this was, but I doubt that it will have any consequences if we say something. Please, Nikki. Calm down.”
I witnessed how Angelike carefully dried Balto’s tears as we looked at them and moved closer. While inspecting the damage, Raphael said:
“Now, let us take a look at the costume.”
His gaze then went over to Miguel.
“Hey Miguel, can you repair this?”

Miguel is a genius with needle and yarn. Of course, I could have shown it to my mother, but somehow, I wanted to avoid risking her and Christa seeing that. Miguel took a close look, before he smiled at us.
“That is not a problem, it is just the seam. Come with me, Balto. This shouldn't take long.” 
Miguel quickly fixed the tear. It looked as good as new after he was done, and Balto smiled again. We then changed back into our normal clothes, Raphael gave the rest of our cast their specific roles, and in the late afternoon, we walked back to the hotel.

Balto was holding my hand during the whole time. This wasn't the best start to the week. The thought that this all might have been a big mistake came back to mind. My gaze went up to the sky, and I prayed that this was the last disaster we had to face during our stay here.
As we entered the hotel’s lobby, our mothers were already waiting for us. Christa spoke up first:
“Why haven't you told us you are leaving?”
I sighed.
“I am sorry, Christa. It was all a bit hectic today. What have you done the whole time?”
My mother answered me, after she checked her phone for a moment.
“We went to the Guggenheim Museum and made a walk through Central Park. Say, are you two hungry? I know I am.”
Balto immediately raised his hand and shouted:
“I am! I want Pizza!”

Mom and Christa laughed out loud, while dad finally joined us. He excused himself for being late and said that he had to make an important call.
At a table in the lobby, we discussed the day, the program for the rest of this week, and then we went out for dinner in a nearby pizzeria.

Before Balto and I went to bed that day, we met once more with our group in Raphael’s room. During the conversation, we agreed to watch all the shows of our competitors, and we also wanted to make little sightseeing tours through the surrounding areas after the shows. Our parents would accompany us to the shows, of course.
When Balto and I were about to leave the room, Svetlana held me by the arm. It surprised me when she asked me to come with us for a moment, saying that she needed my advice.
Balto was so kind to go upstairs to see his mother, so we girls could have a little talk together. After we sat down on the bed, I recognized for the first time what a cute and sexy Husky Svetlana was.

I started our conversation:
“Well, Svetlana, what can I do for you?”
She seemed a bit shy and looked away, as she answered in her slight Russian accent:
“Well, Nikki, I wanted to ask you something. As you know, I have been going out with Raphael for a few months now, but he never attempted to, you know, have sex with me.”
This caused me to chuckle a bit before I replied:
“And what is your question here, Svetlana? If he doesn’t want to make the first step in that direction, maybe you should do it. I guess Raphael is just too afraid to do something wrong.”
The girl seemed pretty nervous, and rubbed her arms.
“I can’t simply tell him to fuck me, Nikki. I think I am in love with him.”
Carefully, I touched her cheek with my right hand. In a calm voice, I gave her some tips:
“Then show it to him with gestures. You know, bending over in front of him, sleeping naked. You two share a room, Svetlana. It shouldn’t be too complicated to show Raphael, that you are ready and want him to make the next step.”
My friend still wasn’t convinced. It was somehow cute how shy she reacted. She really seemed to fear making a mistake.
“Nikki, I am not sure if I am really Raphael’s taste. I mean, he hasn’t even tried to touch me so far. If you remember, he asked you several times to go out with him. Maybe he simply is more into felines.”

This made me laugh.
“Svetlana, the last girlfriend he had was a golden retriever. I met her once, she was clearly not the brightest candle on the cake. Just be honest to him. I guarantee you, that he will not be able to keep his hands off you as soon as he knows he is allowed to make the next step.”
Svetlana still seemed not to be convinced.
“Nikki, did you ever have sex with him? I mean, you have known each other for so long.”
I shook my head.
“No, we never did more than hold hands. Svetlana, let me give you another tip, if you really want to speed things up. Take a shower, wrap yourself in a towel. Make sure that it only covers your upper body. It should at least wake his interest, if you walk back into the room like that. Then you turn your back on him and ask him to help you dry off. And if Raphael didn’t become gay during the last few months, he will no longer be able to resist you. Say, do you have condoms?”
She nervously shook her head, and I took some out of my bag.
“No problem, I have some here. Balto and I barely need them, as I am on birth control.”
I gave her the condoms, then the husky gave hugged me.
“Thank you, Nikki. I will tell you how it went.”
She was about to leave when I jumped up from the bed to stop her. While holding Svetlana by her arm, I said:
“Just one more thing. Wait until Thursday, after our show is over. Both of you will be much more relaxed, and you will enjoy it so much more.”

She hugged me once more, and as she opened the door, I saw Balto outside. My wolf just wanted to knock at the door, and looked a bit confused, as Svetlana happily left our room.
He tilted his head while looking at me.
“Did you two …?”
I silenced him with a gentle grip over his muzzle, before I asked him to come in. After I closed the door behind him, I released Fluffy from my grip. While looking a bit mad at him, I answered his question:
“No, we didn’t have sex. She wants Raphael to mount her and asked me for tips to turn him on. But please, keep your mouth shut about this, ok?”
Doggy only nodded tiredly. It was time for us to sleep. We had some long days ahead of us.

Don't worry, I won't bother you, with the whole competition or with what we did during the rest of the time. I will only give you a short summary of Tuesday and Wednesday, before I jump forward to Thursday.

On Tuesday, we watched the Metropolitan College with their version of Sense and Sensibility. We sat down in the stage room we knew from the day before. Not in the first row, we took seats somewhere in the back. I asked Balto how he would summarize the story, and he could resist on making a stupid joke:
“Well, there are two sisters. One has great sense, and the other one…”
Dad interrupted him.
“Let me guess, she has great sensibility?”
Balto giggled.
“No, she doesn't have any sense at all.”

We all laughed. Some visitors looked a bit weird at us, but others also had a smile on their faces, as far as I remember that. The Metropolitan presented us a solid performance. Unfortunately, it was a bit too quiet. Even we had problems understanding everything, and we have, as you know, a better hearing than most humans. The play itself is about the difference between two sisters, one guided by sense, the other one by her sensibility.
Or in other words, one followed her head, the other one her emotions. Honestly, I am not really a fan of stories like that. The fashion style in this play wasn’t mine at all. But ok, fashion was different in 1811. The acting, well, it was good. Maybe a bit stiff sometimes, especially in the kissing scenes. Balto slept through half of the play. Can’t blame him for that. The play took about 3 hours, then we left for dinner. We had to eat quickly since we had some more training to do.

Wednesday promised to be more interesting for us. Macbeth is a sad tale about a man, who was told by three witches, that he will become King. Encouraged by his wife, he first kills King Duncan. Out of paranoia, he kills more people. All this ends in a civil war. At the end, Macbeth loses his head in a battle against a man named Macduff. The war ends, and Duncan's son Malcolm becomes King of Scotland.
A pretty bloody, gory story, which is definitely not suitable for children. Like many of Shakespeare's plays.

The group from Rochester set the bar pretty high that afternoon. Solid play, cool costumes, great actors. The only thing our principal mentioned after the show was how copied it looked in some parts. No personal note, no feeling. But it still would be difficult to beat this. In the evening, we went to a nice Chinese restaurant for dinner, and we used the time we waited for our food to chat a bit with Hazel and her brother, whose name is Johana. Not many will remember Hazel, we first met her after a concert Balto visited with me all the way back in 2020. She is a cute girl, and pretty naughty, if I might say so.
But let us move on to our big day.
 
Par 3: Thursday


The morning began peaceful. Balto was already out of bed when I opened my eyes. He stretched his body and jumped through the room, somehow how he was supposed to do it on stage later. I chuckled, stood up, brushed my teeth, then we went down for breakfast. Everyone was there, and the hotel's main hall spontaneously turned into a stage for us, as we went through a few scenes again. Everything seemed just perfect, until it became time to go to the theater. We looked outside, and it was raining dogs. I mean, it was a flood. But we had to go, there was no time to wait. Our car sadly was no alternative. If you have ever been to New York City, you know why. The hotel gave us a couple of those cheap, plastic raincoats. Wrapped in them, we walked as fast as we could to Time Square. Our paws were soaking wet when we entered the theater. The sight of us amused the other students, they laughed loudly, and we heard more than one stupid remark regarding our appearance.
At the doors leading to the changing rooms, we had to leave our parents behind. For Balto, this was the hardest part. He seemed so calm before, but now I could see how nervous he was. His body shivered. It seemed like he would look for a way to get out. His mother gave him a tight hug, and a few words, while she caressed his head and smiled at him:
“Balto, I am proud of you. Nothing will ever change that. Don't be afraid, my son. Just remember the times you did karaoke with your girlfriend. Oh, and look here.”
She opened her purse and took out Little Balto.
“I have Little Balto with me. You forgot him at home. I saw him standing on your nightstand, shortly before we left. Do you remember what I told you the day I gave him to you?”
Balto nodded. In a silent voice, he replied:
“You said that nothing bad can happen, as long as Little Balto is with me. That he will protect me.”
Christa gently touched her son’s cheek, before she took him into her arms.
“Right. I believe in you, and I am certain that your father is also very proud of you right now, Balto.”
I almost felt bad, as I had to interrupt this heartbreaking scene.
“Balto, we have to go. We need to get dressed. The show starts soon.”

I took Balto's hand, and we walked to the dressing room. We all put on our costumes, after we dried our paws as good as possible. I helped Balto a bit to get ready, after I was done with my outfit. The wolf was so nervous, he couldn't sit still for a single second. I tried to comfort him, after I noticed how he was still trembling all over. He spoke to me in a quiet tone:
“Nikki, can I go? I can’t do this. I will ruin everything.”

Raphael heard what he said, and more importantly, he saw Balto trembling with fear.
“Balto, please relax. Nikki, can't you do anything to calm him down?”

The only thing I could think of to calm him down was something I hadn't done for a long time. I took a deep breath and began to sing a song I used to sing to Balto when he was sad as a puppy:
“Hush, my Balto, don't you cry; Nikki's going to sing you a lullaby.  
Hush my Balto don't say a word; Nikki's going to buy you a mockingbird.  
If that mockingbird don’t sing, Nikki's going to buy you a golden ring.  
If that gold ring turns to brass, Nikki's going to buy you a looking glass.  
If that glass begins to crack, Nikki's going to buy you a jumping jack.
If that jumping jack is broke, Nikki's going to buy you a velvet cloak.  
If that velvet cloth is coarse, Nikki's going to buy you a rocking horse.  
If that rocking horse won't rock, Nikki's going to buy you a cuckoo clock.  
If that cuckoo clock won't tick, Nikki's going to buy you a walking stick.  
If that walking stick falls down, you'll still be the sweetest little Fluffy in town.”
And yes, he calmed down. In fact, everyone did. As I finished the song, the room was silent until Raphael spoke up:
“Ok, Musketeers. Two minutes until the curtain lifts. Everyone, form a circle.”

He reached his right hand into the circle, saying the famous phrase:
“One for all.”
Everyone reached for his hand, only Balto held back, until he found the courage to place his hand on top of ours. Now we answered together:
“And All for One!”

And so, it began.
Gabriel as Demetrius, Miguel as Egeus, and Jonathan as Theseus were the first on stage, Thomas as Lysander and me, in my role as Hermia, joined them shortly after.
Svetlana as Helena was the last of our main cast, who came on stage in those first scenes of the first act.
The cute Husky also had one of my favorite lines in this part of the play:
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

Everything went smoothly, we all had a lot of fun. Even Balto cheered up now, and I could see a gleam in his eyes, as I risked a brief look at him. Yes, my little trickster has smelled blood.

Now he wanted to hunt. The stage was prepared for Balto’s biggest victory over himself.
And Balto used his chances to win the hearts of his audiences. Already in one of his first sentences, he showed his talent for emphasizing his words with his gesture:
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

The way Balto and Raphael acted together was fantastic.
And the scene where he gave Joseph that big donkey head, hilarious. You could see and hear how Balto enjoyed his role, as he ran, sneaked and jumped over the stage, like he never did anything else.
The play went on, and after nearly 3 hours, we were finished. The curtain fell, Balto stood in front of it, and our Puck said his famous little poem:

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended—
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long.
Else the Puck a liar call.
So good night unto you all.
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

As soon as Balto was finished, he slipped through the curtain to join us. In his face, he wore a smile from ear to ear. I could hear the people clapping their hands, they whistled, and the theaters' director could be heard:
“Wow, what a play. This group of talented actors clearly earned your applause. I want to ask every single member to come out on stage once more if you hear your name. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you:

Oberon, King of the fairies, played by Raphael McAlister,
Titania, the Fairy Queen, portrayed by Angelike Peterson
Theseus, or better known as Jonathan Schmidt,
then we have Thomas O'Rielly as Lysander,
Gabriel Smith as Demetrius,
Svetlana Stoica as Helena,
Joseph Goldman played a great Nick Bottom,
Nicole Kofi as Hermia, and
Miguel Rodrigo, he played Egeus.
Then we have the Stark College Cast, they also did a fantastic job in their specific roles.”

I could see the man looking at his notes for a second.
“Oh, and before I forget him, and before he makes a donkey out of me, please give an extra round of applause to Balto Star, who managed to enchant us all today in his role as Puck!”
Balto came out shyly. The applause and that everyone was looking at him, while he only wanted to get some rest, was maybe a bit too much for him.
That changed, as he saw his mother, who came to the stage with open arms. He quickly walked towards her, kneeled at the edge of the stage and gave Christa a hug. Their tails wagged fast, which made us all smile. I had to get him back to us, so we could bow down in front of the audience, like it is tradition in the world of theater.

As we finally walked back to our dressing room, we found a disturbing note pinned to the door.
“Anthros, go home.”

Miguel took down the note and threw it in the trash, after we entered the room. Humans can be so stupid. Ok, to be fair, there are also enough stupid Anthros, who think they are the better people. Idiots come in all shapes, colors, and species. What I didn't notice was Balto pulling this crap out of the garbage can again. We changed our clothes, and simply wanted to go back to the hotel or grab a bite. Even our principal was glad, that this was over. Miguel, Thomas, Gabriel, Angelike, Jonathan and Joseph wanted to visit a nearby bar, Svetlana and Raphael wanted to go for a walk. I guess they had to discuss a few things. Our principal, together with his wife and the rest of the crew, moved back to the hotel, while Balto, our parents and I went out to have dinner. We decided on the pizzeria we knew from our last stay in this city. We sat down, Christa placed Little Balto on the table, after she gave him a cheering pose, as a hooded man approached us. He nearly immediately began to yell:
“Filthy creatures, you are no Americans. Laboratory rats, that is what you are! Go home!”

My father wanted to reason with him at first, but that didn't help much. And after he attempted to grab Little Balto, dad had enough. He took this person by his neck and threw him out on the street. The other guests in the restaurant clapped their hands, which showed me that most humans don't agree with people like this man.
As my father came back to the table and sat back down, Balto pulled out this note from his pocked, showing it to the others.
“After our play, this was pinned to the door of our dressing room.”
Balto clearly was afraid, and his mom took him into her arms.

The waiter came, brought us some water and took our orders. While we waited, my father looked at the note.
“This reminds me about my time in the military. I thought this crap would be finally over. Nicole, Balto, please be careful. Better call your friends and tell them what just happened here.”

I did what dad told me to do, and gladly, nothing bad happened for the rest of the day. After dinner, and after a little walk, we went back to the hotel to finally get some rest. In the lobby, we met a few crew members, and our principal, who seemed to be relieved to see us.
“Ms. Kofi, Balto. I am so glad to see you back. Mr. Rodrigo here just told me about this note on the dressing room door. I already called the head of the Minskoff Theater, he promised me to investigate in this matter. He told me about security cameras, and he will see if he can find the one who put this on the door. But now, please, get some rest. Tomorrow will be another long day.”

He was right. Not only that we had to watch the last play, the award ceremony would be right after that. Balto and I went up to our room, and as we passed a few doors, we heard a familiar sound out of one of them. I swear, Balto's ears became bigger than they usually are, as he stepped closer to that door. You guessed it, it was Svetlana's and Raphael's room, and by the sound of it, they just had a lot of fun together. After a few moments, I pulled Balto away from the door.
“It isn't nice to eavesdrop, Balto. Come, let us take a warm shower together.”

Balto happily followed me. Back in our room, we undressed, and I must say, a shower never felt better.
I helped Balto to wash his back, and as my hands massaged the shampoo into his fur, I felt every single muscle underneath it. I first washed his back, then kneeled to wash his legs, and his paws. Oh, these pressures paws of him. Yes, I admit it. I am crazy for paws. It is one of my biggest fetishes.
Doggy clearly enjoyed me taking care of him, what I saw, as he turned around. His member was standing in full-size right in front of my muzzle. I looked up at my wolf, just to see him smiling at me with big eyes.

“Please, Ni…”
He didn't need to finish the question. Slowly, I took his whole dick into my mouth. Balto placed his hands on my head, then he began to thrust. Drops of pre-cum dripped into my mouth, as my naughty canine increased his pace. My right hand gently massaged his heavy balls, while I fingered myself with my left. I love if my mate is using my muzzle like that. His speed increased further, while I tightened my mouth around his member. Balto moaned load, his knot grew every time he shoved his penis into me. His body soon began to shiver, his thrusts became shorter and harder, until he pressed himself against me and shot his warm seed deep into my throat. He took a step back, panting and smiling at me with satisfaction.
I swallowed his seed, stood up and turned around. With my hands on the glass of the shower cabin, I presented him my wet vagina. My tail switched from one side to the other, as he came closer, just to rub his cock against my cock-hungry pussy.
I whimpered like a bitch in heat, as he finally had mercy and shoved his still hard member into my wet cave. The canine didn't lose time, he held me with both hands by my hips, and began to hump me. Fast and hard, fully driven by his primitive instincts. I couldn't do more than moan and bite my tongue. Otherwise, I would have screamed of lust and horniness, that the whole hotel could have heard me. It took about 10 heavenly minutes, until his knot began to swell. Another minute later, I exploded under his skillful thrusts, and a bit because of my handwork. We were combined by his knot once more, wet to the bones from the still running shower, tired out by the day and this wonderful sexual experience we just shared. I love my naughty little sex fairy.
Nothing else really mattered to me at that moment. I was perfectly happy. It took another 10 minutes, until Balto was able to pull out. Afterward, he helped me with cleaning myself, we dried each other's fur, then we went to bed. Arm in arm, we felt into a deep slumber.

My alarm clock woke me up at seven in the morning. As I looked down on me, I could see Balto, whose head was laying on my chest. I carefully caressed his head, whispering:
“Wake up, sweetie. The night is over.”
Balto slowly woke up. He yawned, before he looked at me tiredly. My wolf sat up, took his mobile from the nightstand, checked the time, and mumbled:
“Why do we have to stand up so early?”

He was sitting there, half asleep, and his hair looked like an exploded broom. I also sat up and kissed my sweet prince, what made him smile. We stood up, brushed our teeth, and helped each other groom our fur. Afterward, it was time for breakfast.

The others were already sitting at the buffet. Well, everyone besides Svetlana and Raphael. To my surprise, Balto didn't eat anything this morning. He just sipped on his tea, since the hotel still wasn't able to offer cocoa suitable for Anthros. As I have mentioned it several times before, I have known Balto all my life. Skipping breakfast is highly unusual for him. That is why I asked my wolf:
“Is everything ok, Balto? Don't you want to eat something?”
He shook his head in response. I put my arm around his shoulders, which made him snuggle close to me. The others giggled and smiled at us, especially Angelike. Then our principal joined us, with a cup of coffee in his big hands.
He had something to say, after he cleared his throat:
“Good morning, everyone. As I see, we are still missing Ms. Stoica and Mr. McAlister. But for the rest, I have an announcement to make. The head of the Minskoff informed me, that he received an anonymous letter. In it, he was warned of consequences, should he continue to support our kind in his house. He called the police, and they granted some extra protection today. To prevent any damage, and to minimize the danger of someone getting hurt, I want to ask every member of our group, if we should just leave, and go back to Darwin’s Hope.”

He looked at each one of us.
“The decision is yours.”

No one dared to speak for more than a minute, until we heard Raphael's voice from behind.
“The Musketeers will stay! We came here to be part of a competition, and even if the other groups would love to see this, we will not run away with our tails pinched between our legs. Am I right?”

A combined “AI!” was the response coming from our whole group, including the supporting cast.
To my surprise, Balto took a knife from the table, stood on his chair, and shouted:
“One for all!”
Our response couldn't possibly be overheard. Even our principal joined in, as we all raised a knife, a spoon, or anything else he or she could get his hand on, and chanted:
“And all for one!”

A shiver ran done my spine, as I heard that. This group really is something special. As Raphael once said: We are a family.
My mother and father, as well as Balto's mother, joined us some time later, as it was time to walk to the theater. I kind of felt like a member of a street gang, as we walked down the sideways of New York City. You know, the kind of street gang that plays Shakespeare to defeat their enemies.
Since there was still one group to watch, we took our seats in the front row, after we were welcomed by the theaters’ director.

Today's play was “The Women of Lockerbie”, performed by the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. A highly professional school for acting.

The story of this play is loosely based on the happening around Pan Am 103, a plane which crashed in Lockerbie. The play is described as a poetic drama about the triumph of love over hate.
And yes, it was good. The actors, their voices, everything. As it has ended after 90 minutes, I had buried even the slightest hope of winning. The best we could hope for was second place.

The Minskoff theater’s director walked out on stage, like he did it after every play during this week. He introduced the actors, they got standing ovations by some members of the audience. Then came an hour of waiting. Balto, Christa, my parents and I moved over to a little café nearby, where we ate something and talked a bit. Only Balto remained silent during our stay there. He seemed to be thinking about something and constantly looked at an empty chair by the window. Every attempt to break his silence failed, he only shook his head or nodded when we asked him something. And he always had his right hand inside the pocket of his hoodie.

We left the Café after about 40 minutes and came back to the theater just in time. Raphael, who was already waiting, asked us to go with him backstage. We excused us from our parents and followed him. All other groups were waiting there. And by their looks, they were even more nervous than we were. Well, besides the NYCDA. They were certain that they had already won this competition. While I looked at those humans, I recognized something. But no. That couldn't be.

We saw the director passing by, with three envelopes in his hands. This was a bit of a surprise. Three? We were four groups.
He let his gaze wander briefly over all groups, then he stepped through the curtain onto the stage. The audience clapped their hands, before the man began to speak.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,
During this week, we have seen four wonderful plays by talented young actors. I want to thank all of them for the good times we had because of their hard work. The theater was always meant as a place of joy, a place of amusement, and a place of entertainment.”
He sighed, before he continued.
“This competition was created to give future actors the opportunity to perform on a professional stage, to show off their talent, and to fairly compete with others in friendship and mutual respect. Unfortunately, we had an unpleasant incident this time. A threatening message was found on the door to the changing room of one of the participating groups. Another threat reached me personally this morning. However, I will not go further into this case here. The reason is simple. I will not give hate a stage in my theater.

Before I announce the winner of this year's competition, I would like to thank the members of the jury and the audience, who invested their precious time to support these young actors. I want to thank the four schools for their hard work. Without it, these young people perhaps wouldn't be able to follow their dream of becoming actors. And without actors, without theater, the world would become a poorer place.
Let me now come to the awarding of third place.
For their version of a tale full of lies and betrayals, I am happy to give this check worth of 500 Dollar and this trophy to the University of Rochester, for their version of Shakespeare's McBeth. Please, applause!”

The audience cheered, clapped their hands, as this group walked out to claim their price.
They made a little speech, then they left the stage. The director continued:
“The second place was truly a hard decision to make. It goes to a drama in the face of a tragedy. Please give a big applause to the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Art, who showed us the Women of Lockerbie.”
Again, applause, cheering from the audience. But sad, almost angry expressions on the faces of the members of the NYCDA.
Our hearts were racing, as we waited for the director to start talking again. The members from the Metropolitan College prepared themselves to go on stage. They believed they had won, since they couldn't imagine losing against us.

Balto folded his hands, his ears trembled, as the head of the Minskoff began to speak again:
“That brings us to the winner of this year's competition. An unexpected one, I can tell you that much. But without any doubt, a worthy winner. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Howling Musketeers from Stark College in Darwin's Hope!”
None of us could believe what he just heard, and so none of us moved, until Balto took my hand and pulled me towards the curtain. It was also him, who stepped out first. A loud cheering and clapping welcomed us in the bright light of the spotlights.

The director continued, trophy and check in hand, after we had lined up next to him.
“I am proud to declare you as the winners of this competition. Your principal told me about the hard work you all did. Your version of the Midsummer Night's Dream impressed the jury and me. Especially the performance of your youngest member delighted both audience and jury alike. So please, take this trophy, and the check worth of 10,000 dollars. You earned it.”

He gave the trophy to Balto, who seemed to have problems holding it up. Ok, it is a pretty big one. Raphael, as our leader, took the microphone to say a few words, after he took the check into his hands.
“We thank you all for this honor. I think I speak for all my friends here, if I say that it was an honor and a pleasure to perform in this house. We would have never thought of going out here with any kind of prize. We also want to thank all members of the other groups for this fair competition. Thank you.”

Again, cheering, clapping, a few whistles. I wanted to take Balto's hand, so we could leave, but he put down the heavy trophy next to Raphael, and asked for the microphone. Our leader seemed as unsure as I was in this situation, but he gave it to him.

And my little wolf, shy, and a little uncertain at first, began to speak to the surprised audience:
“Hello. My name is, is Balto. I wanted to thank you all for the nice time we had here. But yesterday, my family and I went for dinner in a pizzeria, and a hooded man came in. He yelled at us, that we won't be Americans. That we are only laboratory rats. But we are not. I have never been in a laboratory. I was born in a hospital, like most people here. My mom raised me up in a house in Darwin’s Hope. She is the best mommy I can think of.
I am proud to be here, and I love my country. Therefore, I thought about something we used to say in school every morning. If I am allowed, I would like to say it here. Can I?”





His look went over to the director, who only nodded at him.
Balto pulled out a little note from the pocket of his hoodie, and after a short pause, he continued:

“I pledge allegiance”
I looked at the audience, after Balto spoke these first words. I could see my father standing up and putting his right hand on his heart. Christa and my mother did the same, followed by others, until everyone was standing. Raphael signed us to step forward, and we all spoke the rest together with Balto:

“To the flag of the United States of America,
and to the republic
for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.”

The Pledge of Allegiance. A little too patriotic for my taste. But I guess Balto wanted to show his love for his homeland. And I guess this attempt was successful. The audience cheered. Christa was fighting with her tears. Balto saw this, and quickly ran down the steps at the side of the stage and over to his mother. The two gave each other a heartfelt hug, while my mother gently caressed his back. I cannot say how happy I was at this moment. It took a minute, until Balto came back on stage. We shook a few hands, then it was time to go celebrate our success. And what would be a better place for that than the Diner with this nice karaoke bar, where Balto and I had such a great time during our first visit to the Big Apple. As we walked out of the theater and into the direction of the diner, I spotted something in the window of a nearby clothing store. After I excused myself, I took Svetlana and Angelike, and we went inside that store. The others went to the diner without us to look for a table.
This was simply the perfect piece for now, and I had to have it. And yeah, I wanted the other girls to wear something to show their beauty as well.
Svetlana decided for a sexy, short blue dress, fitting to the color of her eyes. Angelike, as the elegant Bengal cat she is, took a sexy red dress with a deep cleavage, and mine was a short black neck holder dress. It’s so sexy! Prepared like that, we girls walked to the diner. Even the human males were looking at us, which felt awesome and made us all giggle. As Balto spotted us, his eyes became so big. In a cartoon, his tongue would have hung out at that moment. Raphael couldn’t get his eyes off Svetlana, as the sexy Husky walked slowly towards him. The only single girl in our group now was Angelike. Well, but maybe not for long. Miguel seemed very interested in her. At least he danced with her all evening. The funny thing is, that he is smaller than her. Miguel, as a Mexican wolf, has about Balto’s size. Maybe a bit bigger. The difference is that Balto is still growing. But that makes Miguel even more loveable.
During the course of the evening, we again had the opportunity to sing and entertain the audience a little. Our first song we sang was “Can't help falling in love” by the great and unforgettable Elvis Presley.
Raphael and Svetlana also showed their skills with “You are the one that I want” from the movie Grease.
And, since we have some Disney nerds in our group, we all sang “We don’t talk about Bruno” together. We all had a lot of fun this evening. We were so tired afterward, that everyone just fell into their beds, as we came back to the hotel.



During the next two days we made sightseeing, visited the statue of Balto, Liberty Island, and some other famous landmarks. And after our friend Johana recommended it to us several times, we tried out Scarr’s Pizza, after we visited Seward Park. The pizza had a fantastic taste. All in all, it was an unforgettable time for all of us.

On Monday, at 9 o’clock in the morning, it became time to say goodbye to New York City. During the ride home, principal Schaeffer told us that we all got another week off. For our great commitment to the college, as he called it. Christa excused Balto from school as well, so he and I could have some time together.

We decided to spend this week here, in our little cabin at Spaulding Lake. Dad did a wonderful job with renovating it, and we were really lucky that the storm didn’t damage this little house. Outside is a little fireplace, where me took a photo earlier, which I show you together with this entry. We are also planning to create a small beach. Currently, there are mostly stones there, which are not very comfortable to lie on.
I can hear the wind and the waves outside. Here and there an owl calls into the night. It is so peaceful here.
The clock now shows Wednesday, 4 am. Balto has been sleeping for hours, and I should finally join him in Morpheus’ realm.

Thank you all for your time.

And please,
stay safe.

Nikki and Balto

P.S.:

Balto read the journal on my laptop, while we were sitting in a little diner nearby for breakfast. In his words:
“There is a hole in the plot you can drive a truck through.”

What he meant was that I missed telling you about how the story around this note on our door ended.
The Head of the Minskoff didn’t want to give hate a stage, what is a good thing. But of course, he investigated, and the man who put this piece of paper on our door was found. It was a member of the Metropolitan College of New York. And as I heard, it was the same man who yelled at us at the restaurant. They identified him, and his group was disqualified before the award ceremony. The jury just didn’t want to say that out loud, instead they told that to them in private after the ceremony. At least our principal explained it to us this way. He also said that this had nothing to do with the decision that we won the competition. This group had the weakest performance but would have got at least a check to cover their expenses. Because of their disqualification, they got nothing. As bad as this whole matter is, I am glad that it was only one man, and not a whole Anti-Anthro group, like some of us had feared. Our principal now wants to organize a friendly competition at Stark College in a few months. A wonderful idea. And the musketeers will be ready for it.

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