Samantha Kish-Levine

Gaudi/Originality                                              

 

Chap.1

 

 “On your mark, get set, GO!’

Gabriel’s loud scream pierced the cold night air.

“Mush!” screamed Rebecca. “MUSH!” the team leaped forward. Thump. Thump Thump. The sound of paws padding along on top of the hard-packed Arctic snow. Swoosh! The sound of the sled gliding, along, hurtling forward at a break-neck speed. “Faster!” she shouted. “FASTER!” Rebecca’s team pulled ahead. Behind her she could hear Gabriel’s frustrated cries. Then, there it was. The finish line loomed ahead of her. “Halt!” she commanded. The sled pulled smoothly to a stop behind the line. A minute later, Gabriel pulled up beside her.

“No fair!” he complained. “You got the better team!”

“In case you didn’t remember, you chose your team!” she retorted. “Anyway, don’t be a sore loser.”

“Fine”, muttered Gabriel sullenly. “Let’s have a rematch.”

“No way!” cried Rebecca. “I won, fair and square. Anyway, it’s dark out. We could get lost.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Scaredy cat!” he crowed. Then he took off, racing across the snow before she could protest. Rebecca sighed. “Mush”, she commanded the dogs. As they raced across the snow to join Gabriel at the start, Rebecca leaned back in the sled. She could hardly believe they were here, in the Arctic, with their mother and father. Rebecca’s father was a glacierologist, meaning he studied glaciers. He was writing a book about them, and had come to the arctic to study them better. Her mom was helping him. They often went on such trips- but they never took their kids’. However, due to a month of careful begging and pleading on behalf of Rebecca and Gabe, they had convinced their parents to bring them along. Rebecca and Gabriela were having a great time- and their favorite occupation was racing each other using the two dog teams their parents used for means of transportation.

 Rebecca’s lead dog, J.D., whined, breaking into her train of thought. She looked up, startled to see that they were almost at their destination. “Halt”, she commanded, pulling up next to Gabriel.

  “Gabe, I really don’t think this is a good idea”, she urged. “It’s getting dark out, and mom and dad will start to worry.”

 Gabriel shrugged. “You can go inside if you want to. I don’t care. I’m going to go for another run, whether or not you come.”

  Rebecca sighed. She knew she couldn’t leave her younger brother out here alone.

  “Fine, I’ll race you, but you owe me big time.”

  “Whatever.” He grinned. “On your mark, get set, GO!”

Rebecca leapt forward, but slower this time. She would let Gabe win. She shivered-the temperature was starting to drop. It was starting to get darker. With a start, she realized she could hardly see.

  “Gabe?”

  “Over here, Becky.”

She guided her sled toward the reassuring sound of his voice. Finally, she found him. “Cummon, Gabe, it’s time to go home.”

  “S-s-s-sure”, he replied, teeth chattering. “Let’s go.”

They started to head back the way they came. But after 20 minutes, they still weren’t home. She told Gabriel.

  “Let’s see where we are”, he said. “I have a flashlight in my pocket.”

  “Why didn’t you say so before?” demanded Rebecca.

   “I forget! Do you want to see where we are or not?”

   “Rebecca glared at him. “Turn. On. The light.”

Gabriel flicked the switch and shone the light around them. The bright swath of light cut through the darkness, illuminating their surroundings. Rebecca looked around, and her fears were confirmed. The house was no-where in sight. They were in a totally unfamiliar area. She groaned.

 They were officially lost.

Chap.2

   “I’m really, really sorry, Becky. I should have listened to you.”

 “It’s okay, Gabe. The important thing now is to stay warm. We should try and make and igloo.”

 “How?” demanded Gabriel. How are we going to make an igloo? How are we going to stay warm? How are we going to get home? We could be here for days!”

 His voice broke and he began to sob.

 “Shhhh, Gabe, shhhhhhhhh.” Comforted Rebecca. “We know how to make an igloo, remember? Dad showed us that video. You cut out big chunks of snow and stack them. How hard can it be? Go get your safety kit. It’s in the back of the sled-there might be something in there we can use.”

Gabe nodded and went to retrieve the kit.  

    “Wow”, said Gabe. “I never thought I would actually use this. I’m glad dad made us carry this around.”

  He opened the kit (which was hard since he was wearing mittens) and pulled out a small pocketknife.

 “Here!” he exclaimed. “Go get yours and we can start building.”

Rebecca got herself a knife and together they started cutting large, rectangular pieces of icy snow and stacking them on top of each other to form a dome.

 “In the front we have to form a little wind tunnel”, commanded Rebecca. “It helps keep the cold air out”

 Soon the igloo was done. It was a little lopsided, but at least it was shelter.

“Cummon”, she called. “Let’s get inside.”

“What about the dogs?” asked Gabriel. “We can’t just leave them outside!”

Rebecca thought for a moment, and then grinned.

 “I know!” she cried. “Let’s take them inside the igloo with us! They’ll keep us warm.”

She unhitched the dogs, pushed the sled inside, and coaxed the dogs in after her. Gabe brought up the rear. The dogs curled up together, and Rebecca and Gabe joined them. She snuggled closer to Sasha, a husky with light gray fur. She felt comforted by the warmth of the dog’s fur and the steady, rhythmic beating of her heart.

 We’ll make this through, she promised herself. We’ll survive this. Soon mom and dad will find us. Comforted by this thought, she closed her eyes and let oblivion take over.

 

Chap. 3

   In her dream, she was all alone. It was dark, and she was cold. Someone was calling her name. Her father? No, Gabriel.

 “Wake up, Becky, wake up.”

Rebecca sat up, blinking sleep from her eyes.  Where was she? At least she had been right about the cold part.

“Becky? Are you okay?”

Oh. Right. They were in the arctic, and they were lost. “I’m okay, Gabe”, she replied, Shaking herself awake.

“Good, because I’m starving.”

“Bring me the safety kit!” demanded Rebecca. Gabe opened up one of the kits, and she opened it up. Inside was some energy bars, a few small boxes of raisins, a box of matches, some dog kibble, and a mini first-aid kit. Rebecca’s stomach growled, reminding her that she had missed dinner that night.

“Here”, she said, handing Gabe an energy bar and taking one for herself. “Breakfast.”

“That’s all?”

“We have to make it last.”

They chewed their energy bars in silence, savoring every bite.

“We have to make ourselves a better igloo, build a fire, get some water, and feed the dogs”, said Rebecca once she was done.

“Right”, agreed Gabe. Let’s feed the dogs first.

And so they did. When that was done, they got to work building a better igloo. They cut out the chunks of snow using the pocket knifes. First they built the snug little wind tunnel, then the dome. Finally, they were done. They stood back, admiring their handiwork.

“Not bad”, remarked Gabe.

“Not bad”, agreed Rebecca. “Now for the fire.”

“How?” questioned Gabriel. “We have no wood!”

“The sled. We’ll burn down the dog sled. It’s wood, and besides, we won’t be needing it. Now help me dig a pit.”

Gabe got out his knife and started softening the snow. Rebecca scooped it up and away with her mittened hand. After a while, they had a hole about a foot wide and a few inches deep. They put one of the sleds runners in the hole and lighted it with one of the matches. Then Rebecca dumped out all the band-aids from a band-aid box she had found in the first-aid kit and filled it with snow. She set it near the fire to melt. When it had melted, she drank about half the water, and then gave the rest to Gabe. They spent the rest of the day playing with the dogs and sitting around the fire.

*****

That night, sitting around the fire and eating raisins, they had a talk.

“I’m worried”, began Gabriel. “How are we going to get home?”

“Mom and dad will find us”, said Rebecca firmly.

“But how will they find us?” demanded Gabe. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of the Arctic.”

“They’ll send out search parties. They won’t stop until they find us.”

In her mind she was thinking it happens all the time in movies. Why shouldn’t it happen to us?

Gabe sighed. Rebecca melted some more snow and gave it to Gabe. Then they called in the dogs and went to sleep.

 

Chap. 4

 

 

The next day, the dogs woke them both up early. They were all standing outside the igloo, growling and yapping at something. You didn’t need to speak dog to know something was wrong.

“Come on”, Gabe muttered groggily. “Let’s go see what’s bothering them and then let’s get them back in. It’s cold without them.”

The dogs were all barking at a blurry white shape in the distance, hard to see because it blended in with the snow. As it moved closer, Rebecca grabbed her brother’s arm.

”Gabe”, she whispered. ”Gabe, it’s a polar bear! And it has cubs!”

“Oh no”, moaned Gabriel. “That’s bad. Normally she wouldn’t hurt us, but she might if she thinks we’re a danger to her cubs. And with all the dogs barking…” his voice trailed off.

“We have to stop them!” said Rebecca grimly. Then she smiled.

“I have and idea!”

She ran inside the igloo and stood back a little ways from the entrance, shaking the dogs’ feed bag. Distracted by the sound of the food, the dogs trotted inside for breakfast, the bear forgotten. As the dogs ate, Rebecca and Gabriel watched, breathless, as the bear and her cubs passed by.

*****

   The next few days passed in a daze, one after another, each one so alike that when Rebecca looked back on it, she could hardly distinguish one from the other.

 The two siblings sat side by side next to the fire, dozing on and off, eating little. Rebecca knew that they would run out of supplies soon.

  She was right. By the end of the fifth day they were all out of food, dog food included. By the end of the sixth day, the only had one march left.

 Rebecca sat in front of the fire pit, staring at the match in her hand.

“Go on, Becky.” Said Gabriel. “Use it. We won’t last much longer without food. If the search parties don’t find us soon, we’re goners.”

Rebecca nodded. She didn’t trust herself not to cry.

 She lit the match and set the wood on fire. The flames shot up into the air, bright orange and red. It seemed to laugh with joy as it spiraled up and up, illuminating the night sky. How can it be so happy, Rebecca wondered, when it knows soon its bright flame will be extinguished?

  That night she curled up with Sasha, her favorite dog. Her stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged. It growled for food. shut up, she told it. I’m trying to get to sleep. I don’t have food.

She fell asleep.

That night she had a weird dream. There was a bright light shining in her face. All around her the dogs were barking. She caught snatches of conversation spoken in unfamiliar voices. Things like “half frozen, needs food, parents.”

Rebecca opened her eyes. Two men were standing over her, shining a flashlight on her face.

“What?”, she managed to croak. “Where…”

“shhhh, honey.” Said one of the voices. “It’ll be okay.”

Rebecca closed her eyes and let blackness creep in.

 

Chap. 5

 Five hours and a good meal later, Rebecca and Gabriel were back in the hands of their parents. At first it was all “ Oh-my-gosh-my-poor-little baby-I’m-so glad-to-see-you”, but then the “Oh-my-gosh-don’t-you-ever-do-that-again-you’re-in-huge-trouble” took over.

“Mom”, interrupted Gabriel. “Dad, I want you to know that this was all my fault. I wanted to stay out late, and Rebecca couldn’t leave me. It was my fault. Really.”

 Rebecca’s mom looked at Gabriel’s face, then pulled them both into a hug. “I’m just so happy you’re home!” she exclaimed. Rebecca buried her face in her mom’s shoulder.

“Trust me, mom” she whispered. “Trust me. The feeling’s mutual.”