L2-2-3

the man looked up. The dog was still watching him. The man got an idea. He would kill the

dog and bury his hands inside its warm body. When the feeling came back to his fingers,

he could build another fire. He called to the dog. The dog heard danger in the man's voice.

It backed away. The man called again. This time the dog came closer. The man reached for his knife,

but he had forgotten that he could not bend his fingers. He could not kill the dog because he

could not hold his knife. The fear of death came over the man. He jumped up and began to run.

The running began to make him feel better. Maybe running would make his feet warm. If he ran

far enough, he would reach his friends at Henderson Creek. They would take care of him. It felt

strange to run and not feel his feet when they hit the ground. He fell several times. He decided

to rest a while. As he lay in the snow, he noticed that he was not shaking. He could not feel his

nose or fingers or feet. Yet he was feeling quite warm and comfortable. He realized he was going

to die. Well, he decided he might as well take it like a man. There were worse ways to die. The man

closed his eyes and floated into the most comfortable sleep he had ever known. The dog sat facing him,

waiting. Finally, the dog moved closer to the man and caught the smell of death. The animal threw

back its head. It let out a long, soft cry to the cold stars in the black sky. And then it turned

and ran toward Henderson Creek, where it knew there was food and a fire.