The Line

The great huntsman in the stars throws his line across the sky.

He reels in his catch, a giant bear but it snaps.

The huntsman swears.

He reels again he caught a crab, with a snip, he lost his garb.

Again a goat, again a horse, again a fish, he lost them all.

The huntsman understood and changed his line to one as strong as driftwood bind.

Out he threw and caught each one.

And hung them on his belt Orion.

Inyuaka Kuak listened closely to every word spewed out in chilly white huffs of the aged Inuit woman. She bundled closer in her fur coat in wonder about the age old song.

A tale spun in the stars. All the welps in Nome village knew the tale, old and young. Always have a strong line. Theirs was a fishing village deep in the arctic. Food was scarce so no one could afford to lose a good catch. But it was worse if you lost your line. It was basically abandonment. Shunned for the rest of your life. You were segregated from the whole village. The stars wouldn't dare to shine on you, whispers mutter. You'd only be given enough to just survive.

A fishing line was so sacred they were passed down through generations. Kept as best as possible, mended, and woven over and over. Prayers for the Great Huntsman to watch over their catch. Inyuak couldn't help but excitedly remember her family's line. It was beautiful, black and strong like the night.

"Did he really catch a bear Ahnah?" She asked in awe.

Ahnah turned to fondly look at the little girl, she was small, so small and wrapped up tightly, her face red from the cold and excitement. "Yes he did arnaq." She said softly.

"I could catch a bear!" Silla called out. Now all the children in the tent started arguing who could catch a bear.

"You couldn't catch a frozen wind," Inyuaka scoffed in annoyance. She pouted as everyone started shouting.

"Can too whelp." He taunted back.

Now Inyuak was a hotblooded girl with the blood of great fishermen running through her veins. She wouldn't stand down from a fight.

Next thing she knew, Silla and her were rolling around the tent, fur everywhere. Ahnah uttered an exasperated sigh, "Stars above help me!" Why is it always have to be these two.

Slowly getting up, she parted the fight. Both the round faces of the children were red and scratched. "It will soon be time for your first hunt," she said gravely.

The children stilled. Inyuak and Silla hung their heads in shame.

"Do not be foolish."

'Yes Ahnah' scattered around and the children uttered a short prayer before leaving the tent. The drama with Silla was already far at the back of her head, now all she could think of was the hunt.

~|~

Today was the day! Inyuak was giddy. 'I'm finally going to hunt!' she shouted in her mind.

"Remember to listen to the men folk." Her mother instructed.

She nodded her head fast like a flopping fish. "Don't go to the edge of the ice," her mother continued, "and---"

"Never let go of your line!" She shouted cutting her mother off.

"Unless you absolutely need to." Her mother sighed softly.

Inyuak ran out the door, her fishing line wrapped around her stubby arms.

"Oh huntsman, protect my child."

~|~

They were out on the ice near fishing holes cut out with an ice saw. Around each hole were two men and 4 children. The holes weren't huge, only about two feet across but it could still be dangerous.

"Never stare directly into the hole, your shadow can frighten the catch." The lead fisherman Aluhyk sternly instructed, pulling an overly curious boy from ducking his head into the hole.

Silla, she figured.

"Don't turn your back. Don't shove the person next to you---"

Inyuak drifted off as he droned off.

"And remember, anything can come up on the ice." He ended coldly.

Inyuak shuddered.

And so they began, and it wasn't long till someone caught something. Inyuak scowled, "I'll be the next!" But soon more and more were caught, even Silla! But her line remained empty.

"It's okay," the kind fisherwoman instructed her, "most don't catch anything the first time."

"Did you catch something?" Inyuak asked.

"Aye I did, a pike. 14 inches I think it was."

Inyuak soured again. "I'll catch something for sure!"

Soon it was lunch time but nothing was on her hook. She could hear the other children laughing and proudly showing off their catch. It was now just her alone, and a few adults.

Defiantly, she decided to change to a bigger hole. "I'll get the biggest fish ever!"

When the adults turned their backs, she scampered off and hurriedly threw her line in the hole. This one was at least 3 feet across, surely some good catch was there. Minutes ticked by and she grew more and more anxious when TUG! She pulled and pulled and a little white furry head popped out of the water. She gaped at the sight as bright black eyes stared right at her.

"A BEAR!!!!!" Her scream rang out in the snowy tundra, and swiftly the adults started running towards her in alarm, but it was too late. Her scream startled the bear cub and she was dragged under the ice.

~|~

Cold water sliced her face as the scared bear swam, tangled up in her line. Her lungs were bursting from lack of air. Her fingers turned blue, then her face, then her body, but she wouldn't let go of her line. If she did....she might be lost in the currents forever. Her body froze and soon the very last thought in her head was, "Hope my line does not get lost."

~|~

The search parties went out. It had now been 3 hours since Inyuak Kuak went missing, dragged under the ice. Men and boys of all ages gathered together, searching the coastlines, checking the waters, with no success.

"She couldn't possibly survive underwater for more than 5 minutes," Alhyk grimly stated. "Not even adult men can survive much less a welp."

Inyuak's mother mourned, crying and pleading for someone to find her daughter.

"Poor woman..." an older woman sadly spoke. "Lost her husband...and now her only living child. Gone."

"May the Huntsman take her in peace."

After looking for 4 hours, the search party came back, defeated.

Inyuak was lost.

~|~

Cold Hot Cold Hot Hot HOT

That's how Inyuak felt. Her body was stiff and her eyes were frozen. Her nose managed to be a little open and she eventually breathed weakly through her mouth. She did not know how long she was in this state, blind, deaf, mute, and frozen.

Time flew by and she got hotter and hotter so hot she was suffocating. She fought to move, she pushed and pushed till whatever was on her came off. She lay panting, eyes shut, and something wet swiped her face. She pushed it off. Again, she pushed it off. Again.

"Will you stop it!" She shouted in anger, her eyes flashing in annoyance. But then she swallowed her words in fright. Looking at her was a polar bear. Larger than the cub from before, looking right at her. Then behind the large bear, two smaller bears sniffed her curiously. Culprits of the licking.

The cub had brought her right to its den. Inyuak thought anxiously in her mind. "Am I going to die? Are they going to eat me?"

But the large bear just sniffed her then turned around and walked away. Soon the two cubs sniffed her closer now. Then she saw that one of the paws was wrapped in her line. Following it she reached her hand, still tightly gripping it.

"You saved me?" She muttered in shock. The bear snorted.

It was two months before she was discovered by men of another tribe, roaming with a mother bear and her cubs. Soon news spread of a human bear cub. A child that lived with the bears as one of their own.

A month after that, she was rescued and went home to her mother's arms.

There was a newfound respect in the eyes of all who saw her, and fear, and years later she'd tell the tale of the huntsman, who wouldn't let go of his line.

~|~

“Did that really happen?” A boy curiously asked. “Did you really live with bears?”

Inyuak, now in her 40’s, still looked as young and mischievous as ever.

“She did,” Silla, her husband replied before she could. “Cause she wanted to catch a big fish to show off.”

Time was good to him too.

Inyuak scoffed in mock anger, “ At least I caught a bear,” she teased.

Silla clicked his tongue, “So you did.”

Their son whined again. “So did you really live with bears?”

“Yes, I did.” There was a faraway look in her eyes. “I did.”

“How!”

She smiled, “My line was strong.”

The End