Star’s Tale

Star the Troublemaker

It was a sweltering day in August; Star, in her playful frenzy, exuberantly splashed water from the bowl with her paws, soaking everything around her. She was having the time of her life. Having left behind her siblings and the cramped apartment, she’d valiantly ventured south with her rattling bunny toy, claiming a humble bungalow as her new home. 

The bungalow boasted an expansive garden, a haven just for her to play in, a nemesis for her legs in the form of deceitfully slippery hardwood and tiled floors, and a couple of new companions. Kitty, a reserved black and white cat no bigger than Star, primarily kept to herself. In contrast, Charlie was an endlessly energised long-haired Jack Russell Terrier whose ginger and white tail never stopped waggling. Though Charlie dwarfed Star for now, that was not to last. 

The transition from the confines of her apartment to the more spacious bungalow marked a new beginning in Star’s life. For such a small Husky with such a big personality, this change was both thrilling and daunting. It was a new frontier to conquer with a new set of rules to learn—rules she was more than determined to test. And test them she did, for the bowl of water she was sloshing in wasn’t hers—it was Charlie’s. By the time Star had finished having her fun, little remained to drink. From the moment Star set paw in the bungalow, it was clear she was trouble. She was exceptionally perceptive and sharp-witted, quick to learn how much she could push her rules and get away with it.

Star eagerly probed every nook and cranny of her bungalow but found her efforts foiled by walls and magical swinging barriers dubbed doors. Through her phenomenal powers of observation, she discovered how to thwart the doors, but she was simply too small to defeat them. Instead, she resorted to howling at the closed ones whenever she desired to be on the other side of them. 

Once upon her howl, as if by magic, the door to the outside swung open. Star burst through the opening, unveiling the expanse of her garden. It was an invitation to play and run free. And run free she did, her paws scarcely skimming the ground as she soared as swiftly as her legs could carry her. But, the most wondrous facet of her outdoor sanctuary was simply the fact that it was outdoors.

Star treasured the freedom of being outdoors, where she could welcome the wind and experience its invigorating sensation on her face. To her, that was pure euphoria. The garden was not entirely to her liking, however. She was astounded to discover it was already resident to numerous imprisoned plants, all ensnared within dirty pots. She was too small to help them for now, so she vowed to return and free them as soon as she grew big enough.  

Soon, Star would be old enough to venture beyond the borders of her bungalow and out into the open world. Toby, a new friend she had just encountered, guided her first-ever open-world excursion. He was a gentle giant compared to Star, virtually entirely black and resembling a Border Collie. He had zero tolerance for Star’s rambunctious demeanour. Each time she infringed his boundaries, he scolded her with a fierce bark that contrasted his forgiving eyes.

Star’s nose, a beacon of curiosity, often eclipsed Toby’s wisdom and leadership. With starry-eyed inquisitiveness, she followed her nose wherever it took her, finding tremendous joy in every new discovery. This trait would forever shape the rest of her life. She placed unfaltering belief in her nose, which never led her astray.

Not satisfied with simply smelling nature’s fragrances, she also had to taste and try to eat them. Every object she found was a potential treasure, but this precept had its challenges. Litter became an insurmountable problem; it was suddenly everywhere. Furtive and ever-vigilant, Star attempted to snag it off the ground at every opportunity, transforming each jaunt into a constant game of cautiousness.

Exploring the ever-expansive open world became Star’s favourite thing to do. When she was about to embark on a new outdoor adventure, she would perform an admirably energetic and amusing song and dance to communicate her excitement. And the best place in the world to visit was undoubtedly the beach. It was a long journey for a puppy like Star, though her enthusiasm to reach her destination never wavered, and her legs never wearied. As the dunes of sand came into view on her horizon, her eyes widened with wonder, and with each step she took, her resolve to reach them only strengthened.

Still brimming with zeal, Star reached the beach at long last. The vast, ever-changing topography of the beach, with its shifting sands and dynamic dunes, provided the perfect canvas for her boundless energy. She commandeered one of its many dunes and began digging with relentless fervour, scattering sand like a tiny Godzilla, leaving craters in her wake. Revelling in the texture of the sand beneath her paws and the cold ocean breeze teasing her fur, she was a force of nature, and she loved every second.

As Star’s renown for mischievousness disseminated far and wide, Oakley, a small black and white Shih Tzu and friend to Toby, couldn’t resist the allure of the whispers about Star’s shenanigans. With an eagerness to experience her for himself, Oakley extended an invitation to visit his domain. He would later rue his judgment, for Star was to accept it and upend his tranquillity.

When the day finally arrived for Star to visit Oakley, she was a whirlwind of vitality, more so than usual. Oakley had yet to know what he was about to get himself into. Upon her arrival, Star boldly staked her claim to Oakley’s territory as if it were her own. Her gaze quickly shifted from Oakley to his grandiose, luscious garden, igniting a burning envy within her. She coveted it simply because it was not hers. Alas, it was shielded by a nearly imperceptible glass barrier, unlike any door she’d previously encountered. Frustrated, Star turned her attention back to Oakley and quickly exhausted his patience, so he attempted to hide from her. Star only saw it as a game of hide and seek, however. Evidently, the only way Oakley would regain his peace and quiet was to grant her access to his cherished garden. And so, the glass barrier slid open.

Star blasted off into the garden and began to race between the glass barrier and the garden’s end. Oakley watched in disbelief, unable to fathom how a dog as small as himself could defy exhaustion. A deafening bang abruptly shattered the silence, startling Oakley and concluding Star’s race as she collided with the invisible glass barrier. Remarkably, to Oakley’s relief, she was unscathed. Shaking her head as if amused by her own mishap, Star let out a fleeting, melodramatic howl. After quenching her thirst with a few sips of water, she joyfully resumed her high-spirited antics in Oakley’s garden.

As the months passed, Star evolved into a majestic young Husky. She retained her wolf-grey and white colouring, including her distinctive black-tipped tail, but her mask began to fade. While her wolf-grey fur extended to the tip of her nose, dividing her eyes, it no longer completely encircled them like spectacles. Instead, the fur below her eyes had started to whiten, and a pink stripe emerged down the middle of her nose between her nostrils. These subtle changes added to her allure, drawing admiration from all who met her.

Star not only grew in majesty but also in cunning. With her newfound size came a newfound mastery: thievery. Star had always wanted anything that wasn’t hers, and although she had the wit, she was too small to do anything about it until now. The tastiest things in the world to Star were not the foods she was allowed but those she wasn’t. The most irresistible of these were Domino’s chicken strippers—her favourite treat. Realising her size now gave her an advantage, she seized every opportunity to stealthily snatch them whenever they were within reach.

Now twice the size of Charlie, Star would often sit on top of her, seemingly oblivious to how much she had grown. As Charlie struggled to wriggle free from beneath her, Star appeared puzzled by the ruckus. She was just keeping her warm, of course. Star was also forever perching herself on Charlie’s back with her two front paws, desiring a more elevated vantage point to survey her surroundings. Charlie didn’t seem to mind, finding the ordeal bemusing rather than bothersome; her tail still never ceased to waggle. 

Finally mastering the bungalow’s tricky doors without relying on her howl, Star sparked a playful rivalry with the garden door—her ultimate nemesis. She would charge at it, pouncing and frantically assailing its handle with her paws. Despite the challenge, her relentless perseverance paid off, and the door would eventually yield to her resolve, triumphantly swinging open.

Rejoiced by her victory, she heroically galloped into her garden, determined to fulfil a vow she had made long ago. Equipped with the skills she acquired from her visits to the beach, she was now big enough to reach into the pots of the ensnared plants to free them. Dirt flew in every direction as she buried her nose deep into the soil and furiously excavated it with her paws. By the time she was finished, her once beautiful garden resembled a battlefield as the plants lay uprooted from their pots. “Be free, plants”, Star must have thought to herself as she pranced back inside with pride, her paws and snoot caked in soil. She howled delightfully, feeling a profound sense of satisfaction at her accomplishment.

Due to her mischievous behaviour, Star would become known by another name, her official Kennel Club name: Mystic Astra Phoenix. Mystic was inherited from her mother. Astra represents Star’s name in Latin. And Phoenix symbolises Star’s fiery temperament and enduring youthfulness. It was the name she often heard when she found herself on the wrong side of the rules. A name she would proudly come to embrace. To Mystic Astra Phoenix, life was one giant game to be played as she pleased, where making trouble was definitely the most fun way to play.