The Threatening Winter
by Kira
It was a very harsh
and cruel winter in the year 1991. My whole family was cold, deprived of food, and bored
of snow. It snowed almost every day, leaving us with more and more snow each day. All we
could see for miles and miles was a white, wavy, blanket. There were a few trees sticking
up here and there. The only food we could find was the livestock raiser's sheep. The
problem was every time we went to get food the raiser shot at us. You may consider my
family lucky, since there aren’t many livestock raisers in the northeastern Canadian
Shield in Canada where we live.
My name is Fuzzy, and I am a baby cougar. I have a mom and a dad, but no brothers or sisters since the food the spring before wasn't plentiful. One day my dad went out to try and get us a sheep from the raiser. He tried to explain to the raiser that one of the main reasons we were endangered was because people like him shot and killed us, when all we wanted was a little food to survive. The man whose name was Joe didn't listen, and shot my dad in the back! When my dad got home the white fur on his chest and stomach was red, and the gray fur on his back was reddish. My mom had to care, and help him get back to health. My dad didn't get better for weeks!
When we started to get really hungry, and my dad could care for me my mom decided to try her luck getting us a sheep. "Be a good girl Fuzzy while I'm gone," she said to me, "Don’t annoy daddy, he still needs his rest." It would take all day for her to go and come back, since the place where the sheep were grazing was on the edge of our 21-mile territory.
When mom returned she said she almost got one but Joe shot at her. She said he just nicked her ear, but she was really tired. She also said she saw a grouse and that the other animals would be returning soon! Mom and dad went to bed early that night in our cave in the rocks.
As soon as mom and dad went to bed I snuck out and started out to go find the raiser's sheep. It was dark outside with a little light from the moon. The shadows looked like ghosts and monsters! The trees looked as if they were alive, they were waving, and swaying, and rustling their leaves. Despite how scared I was I went on.
When I got to the sheep farm, I crouched down low, as I had often seen mom and dad do, and I slowly walked forward. It was still very dark out but I didn’t notice it because all I was thinking about was how excellent a juicy, meaty sheep would taste right now. Then he saw me. He jumped up out of his seat and ran towards me! He didn’t shoot he just yelled, "GET OUT!" over and over again!
When I got home mom and dad were really scared. They didn't know where I had been. I told them the story of what I did and they told me what I was doing wrong, by trying to get a sheep. They said I wasn't old enough to hunt yet. They thanked me for trying to help.
The snow started to melt and the weather was getting warmer. The lemmings, birds and caribou would be returning soon. Then we could have our normal diet again.
Its here, the day is here! This is the day the caribou returned. Mom and dad caught one right away. We are eating it right now. Finally they are back. We are no longer in danger of the raiser killing us!