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We decided to make a fire, since it was pretty dark. What really creeped us out was hearing all the wolves howling, and all we had for protection was the fire. We were just sitting there, eating Cup 0' Noodles, when we started telling scary stories, like when there was a small village back in Tuckchak. A lot of people were known to have scary experiences there. We got scared though, and as I tried to change the subject, Norma took out a small knife and said," For our protection, I have this little token that could save our lives." Then I said, "Norma, thank goodness, but do you really think our lives are going to end because we went on a fishing trip?"
She replied. "No, but just in case."
As we were talking, we heard sticks breaking in the trees. I jumped as close as I could get to Norma. And she moved closer to the fire. But we still felt insecure. All of a sudden a small rabbit came hopping out. We got mad and chased the poor thing out of our sight. Then we turned around, and there stood a four foot tall wolf. I cried, but Norma was in shock. We walked very slowly closer to the fire, and we both grabbed a burning stick When the wolf charged us, Norma and I both jumped across the small fire and swung the torch in the wolf's face. After a minute of fighting it, the wolf finally gave up. When I looked over at Norma I'd never seen her so shocked. Her eyes were the size of walnuts, and she got so pale she didn't look Native anymore. I guess she saw the exact same thing in me, because I was trying to count the breaths I took after the wolf left, and my eyes felt so big, I thought they were going to roll out. We sat down and prayed for five minutes. Then we looked at each other and I said," Maybe fishing on a Monday evening is bad luck for women!"
We slept on some grass we picked. The next morning was bright and warm,and I heard a snow machine coming. We got up faster than a rabbit running from a dog, and asked each other, "Do I look sleepy? Is my hair messy? Do I look like yesterday?" We thought it was so embarrassing, and hoped that the person wasn't one of our boyfriends.
When it got closer, we saw that it was Fran and my mom. They were worried about us, so they both came out to check on us. We left the area with joy. When we told them about the wolf we fought, they were amazed at what we went through that night. They said they'd never let us go fishing together again!
Marshall
Cultural Atlas
