When Maggie moves into a new house with her son, Ethan, and husband, Kyle, she is more than ready for a new start. Her son needed fresh scenery and a new school, and Maggie just wanted him to be happy. But one day, a husky wanders into their yard, eating their food and growing close to Ethan. Soon after, the husky leads Maggie and Ethan into the woods, ready to show them something devastating…
When we moved into our new house, I had a good feeling. It was a new chapter in our lives, and I was more than ready for it. Kyle, my husband, and I were excited to give our son, Ethan, a fresh start. He had recently gone through a bullying experience at school, and we all wanted to put it behind us.
The house had belonged to an older man named Christopher, who’d passed away recently. His daughter, in her forties, sold it to us, saying it was too painful to keep and that she hadn’t lived in it since her father’s death.
“There’s too many memories,” she told me. “I want it to be a home for a family who will love it as much as we did.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” I told her. “We’ll make it our forever home.”
From the first day, something strange happened. Every morning, a husky showed up at our front door. An old dog with graying fur and piercing blue eyes. He never barked — just sat waiting. We fed him, assuming he belonged to a neighbor. He always wandered off afterward, routine-like.
Ethan quickly fell in love with him. He played with the dog constantly, tossing sticks, sitting beside him on the porch — like they were old friends. After what he’d been through, this connection felt like a blessing.
One day, while petting him, Ethan found a name on the dog’s worn leather collar:
Christopher Jr.
My heart skipped a beat.
The same name as the former owner of our home?
Tracy hadn’t mentioned a dog. Could this husky have belonged to her father? Was he coming because this had been his home?
We weren’t sure. But the dog acted like he belonged there more than we did.
One afternoon, after eating, the husky began pacing at the edge of the yard, whining and staring toward the woods. He had never done this before. It felt like he wanted us to follow.
“Mom, I think he wants us to go with him!” Ethan said, already pulling on his jacket.
I hesitated, but something about the dog’s urgency pushed me forward.
So we followed.
The husky led us deeper into the woods, stopping occasionally to look back and check that we were still with him. The air was crisp, the forest quiet.
After about twenty minutes, he stopped abruptly in a small clearing.
That’s when I saw it.
A pregnant fox, trapped in a hunter’s snare, barely moving.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, running toward her.
She was weak, trembling, her leg cut into by the trap.
“Mom, we have to help her!” Ethan cried.
I freed her from the trap with shaking hands while the husky stood beside her, whining as if he understood.
We called Kyle, wrapped the fox in a blanket, and rushed her to the vet — the husky refusing to leave her side.
The vet said she needed surgery. We waited anxiously. Ethan sat with his hand resting on the husky’s fur.
“Do you think she’ll make it?” he asked.
“I hope so.”
The surgery was successful, but when the fox woke up, she howled uncontrollably — until I walked in. Then she quieted, staring at me.
“It’s like she knows you saved her,” the vet said.
Two days later, we brought her home. We made a small den for her in the garage. The husky — now called CJ — lay beside her constantly.
A few days later, the fox gave birth to four tiny kits. She let me near them — trusted me.
“And the dog too,” Ethan said. “CJ seems right at home.”
When the kits were old enough, we built a proper den for them in the forest and watched Vixen disappear inside with her babies.
Now, every weekend, Ethan, CJ, and I walk to the forest to visit them. Vixen always comes out to greet us, her kits trailing behind her.
What would you have done?
