The white pup froze as another voice rose above the first. Her little ears swiveled to focus on the sound as every fur on her nearly vibrated with a mixture of excitement and confusion. The latter quickly vanished as she gave into the former emotion. Another! Another to talk to! Maybe even to play with!

Signe gave another howl; this time, she poured so much of her happiness into it, she thought she would run out of howls. She spun in place, wobbled, then sat hard, tail scything the ground. Red eyes squinted into the space outside of the den's mouth. Who would appear? The last howl hadn't sounded like the big one. As far as Signe knew, she and her siblings were the only pups in her small world. Were there more. . .out there?

The big howl was forgotten now--the white pup wanted to see the smaller howl's owner! In her little mind, she already designated them as a new playmate.