Alaskan Fate

            by Sappho Su

 

Nanook snuggles between the polar bear carpet and buffalo hides in the family size igloo. He clenches his eyes shut, hoping the throbbing pain will slowly diminish. Tossing around on the icy floor, the pearls of sweat trail down the side of his head as he dreams of the catastrophe. Lub-dup-lub-dup-lub-dup; his heart beats as he inhales a familiar aroma lingering in his right nostril, awakening the right side of his brain.

All of a sudden, his dream blurs, as if someone has pushed the fast forward button on a VCR, and Nanook explodes from fear, awakes, and screams, “…HEEEELP!” Gasping for breath and panting profusely to the rhythms of his internal beat, he tilts upward like a resurrected zombie with glistening decorations of sweat across his broad, tan, Alaskan forehead. The woman realizes the stranger has awoken from his ten day coma.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe…you’re safe now,” the woman stutters, not knowing how to take care of the stranger. She wraps her arms around Nanook from behind him with a blanket to protect him from the cold, and hopes that it is the right thing to do. At first the woman feels uncomfortable with his heartbeat racing against her bosom, but sees a sign of approval when Nanook rests the back of his head on her shoulder. The woman is past middle-age, with gray hairs poking out of her messy bun. She was once a mother and a housewife, but is now nothing but a widow after a tragedy that killed her family. It has been a long time since she has come into contact with another human, and she feels uncomfortable tending to Nanook’s needs. Practicing her social skills on the recuperating Nanook, the woman becomes more comfortable with his presence.

Nanook gasps for air as his mind plays back the scene of the incident in fragments, heart beating faster after every slide. He is speechless, a plethora of questions swimming through his aching head. He cannot bring his questions to his mouth, and loses control of his body, dropping off all his weight into the woman’s arms where he lays comfortably against her warm, pounding chest. Staring at one corner for a moment and then dashing his head up and down from ceiling to floor, Nanook realizes he is not at home. He gathers his mind…

 Where am I? Who is this woman? Have I been kidnapped? Where’s Miki… I went into the forest to gather firewood. Wait…no, no, Miki and I went by the river…talked. What happened after? Did we go home? I know we didn’t end up gathering firewood. It was cold…really cold that day. The snow was probably melting.

Nanook drifts in and out of deep thought. The woman begins rubbing her hands up and down his shoulders to keep his upper body warm, and the jingle of her bracelet reminds him of the night of the event.

Miki was warming herself and accidentally rubbed off the bracelet she was wearing on her left wrist, which broke off and slid to the center of the river. When I rushed across the thin, melting ice, boasting about one of my hunting stories, the ice cracked, and… did I fall in?...I must have. How stupid could I be…I knew it was the melting season, the sun was out. Should I ask the lady what happened?

No, no…I should figure it out myself first. I think I fell into the river. How else would I have passed out and turned up in a strange woman’s igloo? …or maybe she kidnapped me…

On and on, Nanook’s memories skim away with wild imagination, but he never comes to a good conclusion of the actual events that night after retrieving Miki’s bracelet. Nanook decides to ask the woman, who still has her bulky arms wrapped around him in a motherly fashion, about the accident. His right hand brushes against his left pocket as he turns clockwise to witness the women’s face for the first time. He reaches into his deerskin jacket to find Miki’s bracelet, as beautiful as she is, and unharmed. Quickly stashing the bracelet back inside the niche, this time the right pocket, he turns completely around to find himself face to face with a beautiful middle-aged, dark skinned woman with graying hair. Witnessing such beauty in an old lady shocks him. To a sixteen year old, people past the age of thirty are considered ancient.

Nanook looks into her friendly brown eyes, gathers his thoughts, clears his throat, and asks, “What happened?”

“I found you drifting head-first down the stream when I was doing my laundry,” replies the woman in a warm, soothing voice.

 “That sounds right,” mutters Nanook under his breath as he eyeballs the melting cracks in the igloo’s floors. There is a moment of dull, lifeless silence, broken only by the gusting wind and howling wolves in the background. The woman decides to tell Nanook more about the day she found him so that he will not feel too out of place.

 “I usually sing to the currents of the river while I beat the clothes against the

rocks on the river banks. It helps me to focus, and to kill time,” whispers the woman with sadness as Nanook gives her his full attention.

He realizes a glistening tear drop forming at the corner of the woman’s eye and says, “What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking of my little girl. She would have been about your age by now,” the woman says with difficulty. “She and her father disappeared eight years ago after going on a three day hunting trip.” Empty silence fills the air, and the woman immediately says with a stoic expression, “They never returned.”

“I’m sorry,” Nanook says, considerately. “What’s your name?” He reaches out his hand and changes the subject at the same time, hoping that the woman will forget about her family.

“Mika,” replies the woman.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Nanook says with a bright smile. At the age of sixteen, Nanook is beginning to learn how to please women with his sweet comments. He blurts out “My buddy’s name is Miki.” Mika darts her eyes towards Nanook as he says her daughter’s name, but thinks it is probably just a coincidence.

She would have come home if it is the same Miki; it’s been too long, just forget about it.

 “Would you like something to drink…um? How could I forget to ask your name?” Mika says in embarrassment.

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it. Nanook is the name. The whole conversation happened so fast, I don’t blame you,” he says.

“Would you like something to eat…or drink....?” offers Mika. 

“Sure…anything would be great,” exclaims Nanook. Mika rushes through the curved tunnel that led outdoors and brings back a fully-cooked authentic Alaskan meal. Nanook chows down all that is in sight within five minutes, and drinks a whole bucket of hot tea, too.  Witnessing Nanook’s barbaric actions at the dinner table, Mika smiles as she reminisces how inhumanely her husband and daughter would eat after long days during the hunting season. These thoughts and Nanook’s presence bring tears to her eyes as she tries to swallow them down.

 

~

 

“Mom! I’m going into the woods for the day, I’ll be back by twilight!” shouts Nanook from the front of the igloo to Mika, who is resting in the back of the igloo. He is twenty-six this year, with a nice square jaw, broad forehead, and big muscular limbs from hunting. They’ve lived together for a decade already, and his adoptive mother, Mika, is beginning to worry about Nanook’s future. They live in isolation, in a twelve mile radius from each forest, and a few hundred miles from the closest human being. Mika wants Nanook to find a wife soon. Since there is no trace of living beings, except for the wandering huskies that live three trees down. Mika tries to send Nanook on week-long adventures so that he might encounter a tribe with a girl around his age.

He leaves the igloo after packing all the essentials, and grins in excitement as he witnesses another cold morning. The piercing wind slices through his face as the wolves howl and bark, but it must be Nanook’s lucky day because he can’t feel a bit of discontent. The trip to the woods shouldn’t take too long because he is planning to go back to the igloo and surprise his mother with a cooked meal for her birthday. He’s been thinking about this day for weeks now, and it has finally arrived. He gathers the firewood as fast as he can without looking around or being cautious of his surroundings. Suddenly, he lifts up his head after a few hours of back breaking work to find civilization before his eyes.

 “Wow, what is this?” he says to himself as if he has struck gold. There is about a dozen tents arranged in a circle. At the center is some sort of gathering, and he sees people of all age, height, and gender. The scene reminds him of his old tribe before he was found drifting head-first down the river.

They must be migrating at this time of the year.

He turns around and gives a quick scream, finding an attractive brunette girl right before his face, only inches away, looking stoically into his eyes.

 “What are you doing?” says the brunette.

 “Oh…” Nanook fidgets and scratches his head as he searches for the right words. As he is scratching, his wolf skin poncho drifts off his wrist, revealing Miki’s bracelet.

“Where did you get this?” the brunette stammers as she gives him an accusing glare.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nanook replies.

“Where did you get the bracelet!” she shouts behind him as Nanook begins to make his route away from the scary brunette woman who stands about 5’7, only to his nose.

What was that all about? I don’t remember seeing the tents there the last time I was here. I’ll look more into it tomorrow.   

 Nanook quickly sprints back to the igloo with the stack of firewood on his back and prepares the fire for the delicious meal. He is watching the individual air bubbles

rise to the surface as the water begins to boil; he hears rustling in the woods. He doesn’t glance in the direction, knowing that it must be the neighbor three trees down.

Nanook lifts his head when he sees a silhouette out the corner of his eyes.

What does this girl want again?

 The rude brunette woman strolls across the icy terrain towards Nanook, where he sits on his stool watching the air bubbles. “What do you want?” Nanook casually greets.

 “Oh, nothing really, just to apologize for being rude this afternoon,” the brunette

replies.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says while thinking of ways to get rid of her presence, “how are you going to get through the forest in the pitch dark?” asks Nanook. “You can turn around right now and run through the woods with your eyes closed so that you’ll make it back to the village less afraid, but I wont guarantee you’ll be alive and in one piece,” he jokes.

“Thanks,” the brunette laughs.

 “But really…what brings you here?” questions Nanook.

“Remember I asked where you got the bracelet on your left arm this afternoon?” the brunette says.

 “Yeeeeeees,” Nanook answers suspiciously.

 “So where did you get it?” blurts the brunette.

 “It belonged to this girl I really liked as a kid. Her name was Miki…” begins Nanook as the brunette widens her eyes and bites her tongue in excitement. “I was a part of a tribe when I was young because my parents were a part of it too, but they never made it out of the woods one night when the adults went hunting, so I became the tribe property after that day.” Nanook laughs jokingly to cover-up his emotions, but the brunette clings onto every single word. “I became really close with Miki because we were both the same age, and orphans.” He looks around his motley of pots and pans to search for questions to ask. “Something happened to me one day and the bracelet is all I have left of her.”

 Knowing exactly what that something is, the brunette asks, “So...what was that something?”

“I shattered the ice when I ran onto it during melting season, fell into the river, and was washed into the hands of my adoptive mother,” Nanook paraphrases. The brunette grins in excitement like a little girl with a crush. The two talk about each other’s lifestyles until the water erupts, this time with large, moving bubbles. The water is boiling, and so is their relationship. Nanook invites the brunette, also named Miki, for dinner and to stay in the igloo for the night before she takes off for home. Miki accepts the offer, and helps Nanook prepare for Mika’s birthday dinner.

 

~

 

“Dinner is ready!” Nanook announces to Mika as he and Miki enter the igloo. Mika is in awe to see a guest in the house, and apologizes for the mess around the igloo.

 “We don’t have guests around here often,” admits Mika. “It’s no problem at all. My tribe is migrating right now, and everyone’s tent is a mess,” Miki says with a cute smile that immediately triggers Mika’s memory.

This girl looks so much like me when I was young. The hair, the eyes, but her chin is different. I had long hair like that too. It would never stay in one place without poofing, so I would tie it in a bun.

“Miki, this is my mom Mika, mom this is my friend Miki, she will be staying in the igloo for the night,” says Nanook.

“Who named you?” asks Mika as calmly and casually as possible, even though her heart and head are pounding with excitement.

“Mom, what kind of a question is that?” covers Nanook. Miki reveals that she is an orphan that was adopted by a tribe, but she did not know much about her past. Surprisingly, Mika did.

The party of three feasts on shells and fish all night. Nanook has a good time with the food he cooked, but the two women in the igloo are waiting for the perfect moment to break the ice between their past. Right when Miki wants to ask Nanook about his childhood, he changes the subject by saying, “You want more fish...or shells?” Miki can not stand it any longer and finally reveals her identity to Nanook, who is still eating his catch of the day. “What did you say?” he mumbles as he drops the fishtail onto the icy igloo floor, where it slid about three feet away from the dining area.

 “It’s me Nanook…Miki. Your friend,” she says again. Nanook turns around to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks as he thinks to himself.

 I knew it was her. I knew it. I knew it.

 He quickly wipes off his tears with the back of his thumb, and embraces Miki as she sobs in her arms. Mika watches in stupor, but could not hold back her question and blurts...

“Miki, I named my daughter Miki as well. She never returned after the day her father took her out. You don’t have to respond to anything right now, just listen. I know I’m getting old, and mistakes happen all the time, but you look exactly like me when I was young…” says Mika.

“I….I…..” Miki stutters.

“Just listen child,” says Mika, “My daughter Miki has a birthmark on her left shoulder in the shape of a star.” Miki’s eyes fill with tears once again as Mika speaks of her birthmark, and walks into the arms of Miki. She whispers, “I’ve missed you mom.” Mika embraces Miki the same way she embraced the little sixteen year old the day he awoke from the coma.