Post by fm on Nov 12, 2006 18:15:59 GMT -5
All Of This
One day in the last few days of school, I got home to find a great surprise on the kitchen table.
Two tickets to an Arctic cruise. How great would that be? Polar bears, penguins, seals, and ice! Lots of
ice and snow! It would be in a week, after school ends, and summer begins. I couldn’t wait! I thanked
my mom, and silently willed this week to pass as quickly as possible.
After a long 7 days, it was time to leave. We had packed, and we were in the car driving to the
boat. Once we arrived at the huge cruise ship, we got inside, and unpacked in our room. It was
amazing. It was just like those cruise ships in the tropics, but everything was indoors and heated. The
pools, especially. Oh wow, how great. It took about 3 days to arrive in the arctic. Once we did, the fun
really started.
We plowed through thins ice, and watched as the seals swam around with the penguins. So far, we
hadn’t seen any polar bears, but the cruise promised we would, so I kept hoping. Once day, early in the
morning before anyone had woken up; I crept out to watch the sunrise. As I reached the rails, I heard a
loud growl. I turned to the ice, and saw a full grown polar bear fighting a leopard seal. I had heard
about leopard seals, but I had no idea they were so big and ugly. As I watched the battle, my eyes
strayed over a bit, and I then noticed the little bear cub sitting in the snow about 5 yards away from the
fight. It was mewling shrilly, like a little kitten. But my attention turned to the loud shrieking noise I
heard from below. I looked down. The ship wasn’t able to break through this ice! We were stuck! I
turned to run inside and get my mom, but I slipped on some water that had splashed aboard. I fell, and
started to slide to the edge of the boat. In my panic, I couldn’t even try to stand up, and I slipped out
from under the guard rails. I was falling from 50 feet onto freezing cold solid ice! This couldn’t be
1
happening. All I remembered after that was coldness of the ice, and the warm and fuzziness of
something’s fur.
I awoke in a warm, dark, fishy smelling cave. I didn’t dare move. I could tell the polar bears
were there. The mother and the cub. Was it the mother? It seemed unlikely to be male, as they rarely
stay with the mother and cubs. But its build was one of a male. It seemed to be able to tell I was awake.
It walked over with a slightly lopsided gait, and I noticed its right foreleg seemed to have been injured
in the fight with the seal. How could it have caught me, escaped the fight, grabbed the cub, and
brought me here? It was amazing! But I was grateful to have survived the fall. The bear came up to me,
and growled. My breath caught when I saw the size of the teeth. “In, Ingavaar,” I said. That seemed to
not only surprise me, but him also. But when I heard the odd word that I assumed was his name, he
bowed his head, accepting that I could understand him. He stalked away, and pushed forward a fowl
smelling fish. I shook my head. I’d need to go find something to eat, or else, make a fire…
That’s it! I’ll make a fire, and have cooked, umm, lets just say its salmon. I rubbed my hands
together and shivered to show Ingavaar that I was going to go out to find sticks for fire. He nodded his
head to show yes, and I slowly got up and walked towards the entrance of the cave. This was probably
going to be hard, finding a lot of dried wood in the arctic. But as I stepped outside, I noticed a few thin,
dead trees standing around. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. I ran over to on, and easily pulled off most
of the branches. I guessed being up in the arctic could dry up old wood like that. When I got back to
the den, I noticed I could see the area more clearly. There was a lot of bones around.
One day in the last few days of school, I got home to find a great surprise on the kitchen table.
Two tickets to an Arctic cruise. How great would that be? Polar bears, penguins, seals, and ice! Lots of
ice and snow! It would be in a week, after school ends, and summer begins. I couldn’t wait! I thanked
my mom, and silently willed this week to pass as quickly as possible.
After a long 7 days, it was time to leave. We had packed, and we were in the car driving to the
boat. Once we arrived at the huge cruise ship, we got inside, and unpacked in our room. It was
amazing. It was just like those cruise ships in the tropics, but everything was indoors and heated. The
pools, especially. Oh wow, how great. It took about 3 days to arrive in the arctic. Once we did, the fun
really started.
We plowed through thins ice, and watched as the seals swam around with the penguins. So far, we
hadn’t seen any polar bears, but the cruise promised we would, so I kept hoping. Once day, early in the
morning before anyone had woken up; I crept out to watch the sunrise. As I reached the rails, I heard a
loud growl. I turned to the ice, and saw a full grown polar bear fighting a leopard seal. I had heard
about leopard seals, but I had no idea they were so big and ugly. As I watched the battle, my eyes
strayed over a bit, and I then noticed the little bear cub sitting in the snow about 5 yards away from the
fight. It was mewling shrilly, like a little kitten. But my attention turned to the loud shrieking noise I
heard from below. I looked down. The ship wasn’t able to break through this ice! We were stuck! I
turned to run inside and get my mom, but I slipped on some water that had splashed aboard. I fell, and
started to slide to the edge of the boat. In my panic, I couldn’t even try to stand up, and I slipped out
from under the guard rails. I was falling from 50 feet onto freezing cold solid ice! This couldn’t be
1
happening. All I remembered after that was coldness of the ice, and the warm and fuzziness of
something’s fur.
I awoke in a warm, dark, fishy smelling cave. I didn’t dare move. I could tell the polar bears
were there. The mother and the cub. Was it the mother? It seemed unlikely to be male, as they rarely
stay with the mother and cubs. But its build was one of a male. It seemed to be able to tell I was awake.
It walked over with a slightly lopsided gait, and I noticed its right foreleg seemed to have been injured
in the fight with the seal. How could it have caught me, escaped the fight, grabbed the cub, and
brought me here? It was amazing! But I was grateful to have survived the fall. The bear came up to me,
and growled. My breath caught when I saw the size of the teeth. “In, Ingavaar,” I said. That seemed to
not only surprise me, but him also. But when I heard the odd word that I assumed was his name, he
bowed his head, accepting that I could understand him. He stalked away, and pushed forward a fowl
smelling fish. I shook my head. I’d need to go find something to eat, or else, make a fire…
That’s it! I’ll make a fire, and have cooked, umm, lets just say its salmon. I rubbed my hands
together and shivered to show Ingavaar that I was going to go out to find sticks for fire. He nodded his
head to show yes, and I slowly got up and walked towards the entrance of the cave. This was probably
going to be hard, finding a lot of dried wood in the arctic. But as I stepped outside, I noticed a few thin,
dead trees standing around. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. I ran over to on, and easily pulled off most
of the branches. I guessed being up in the arctic could dry up old wood like that. When I got back to
the den, I noticed I could see the area more clearly. There was a lot of bones around.