麻豆社

by Natalie, aged 9

Somewhere deep in the Arctic Circle a night storm swept in, shattering leaves and shaking trees. Yet somewhere amongst the chaos was life. Struggling to keep his paws on the ground was an arctic fox. A new gust of wind came. Look out! Too late, he was swept off his feet and flung into the wind.

Dawn broke. On the ground some freshly fallen snow shook and trembled as a black nose poked through. The black nose led to a white face. The white face led to amber eyes. The amber eyes led to pointy ears. The pointy ears led to a shaggy neck and body. The arctic fox shook himself as layers of snow tumbled off.

He is looking for his family of foxes. He is desperate because it has been a whole day since he lost his family in the storm.

He searched until he reached the lake. The lake had frozen over and had a new layer of gleaming frost on it. He began to scrape the frost off with his paws. He looked closer. Were his amber eyes playing tricks on him? He blinked. His eyes were not deceiving him. There in the frozen ice were five foxes. He recognized them straight away. They were the family he knew and loved.

The fox was overcome with grief. There seemed to be no chance his family could have survived for so long under the ice. But then, just when he had given up hope, he saw there was an air pocket under the ice. His family could still be alive!

The fox sat there desperately trying to think of a way to break the ice. Then an idea occurred to him. He could ask his good friend the polar bear to smash the ice.

The fox set off at once. It was bitterly cold, but he struggled through the snow until he came to a wide river. The water was flowing very fast, but he dived in and began to swim. The current was very strong and it swept him away. He could feel himself being pulled under. Water filled his lungs. Then, just as his strength was failing, something grabbed his leg and pulled him to the bank.

When the fox came round he saw the eyes of his polar bear friend, full of concern. The fox was overjoyed. He explained what had happened and the polar bear came at once to the frozen lake.

But when they reached the lake the fox noticed the ice had grown even thicker. The polar bear began to beat on the ice with all his might. At first nothing happened. The polar bear beat harder. The fox began to weep.

Then the ice split with a loud crack. The fox cried with joy as his friend pulled his family to safety. Amber eyes met amber. The fox nosed all his children and gave his wife a loving lick. Everyone thanked the polar bear.