Alive and Alone by W. R. Benton Page B

packed the meat in the remains of three slightly burned sweaters from his shelter fire, to protect it from the wet snow.  This night he was actually using the meat as a rough pillow as he slept.  The young boy awoke as his head hit the snow and it took him a few seconds to clear the grogginess of deep sleep from his mind.  Seeing movement near the entrance of his shelter, he glanced at a motion and instantly recognized the form of a wolf.
    David saw one of his sweaters of dried of meat in the wolf’s teeth, so the young man reached out with both hands and grasped the garment.  Instantly there came a low growl from the hungry wolf and the animal began to rock its head from side to side in an attempt to pull the meat from the young man.  Dave pulled with all of his might and the sweater suddenly pulled free, but he fell on his back and lost his grip on the meat.
    Remembering his rifle, David reached for the gun just as the big wolf bared his teeth, gave another low growl, and quickly snatched the sweater full of meat.  As the animal turned to run away, Dave brought his rifle up, but due to the darkness, he was unable to see his sights.  “Give me back my meat!”  The boy screamed as he pulled the trigger on the rifle and exited his shelter.
    David saw a few pieces of dried moose meat laying in the snow, so he quickly picked them up and put them in his butt-pack.  He had never considered an animal would be out in the snow like this, mainly because when he had gone to sleep the snow was falling hard and fast.  The wolves, along with his sweaters of meat, were now long gone, into the countryside.  Glancing around, he saw no blood on the snow, so he knew he’d missed the hungry animal when he’d shot.
    Now, what do I do?  He thought, as he kneeled by his dead fire and quickly started making a new one, I have no more meat.  I should have thought of wolves, but I didn’t and the mistake cost me dearly.  All that work just to let a pack of wolves have it!
    As he built his fire, he remembered what one elderly hunting guide had said to him one night when they were up north looking for caribou.  One evening during the trip, David had heard the long drawn out howl of a wolf and he had asked the man if wolves ever attacked people.  The old guide had grinned and said, “Well, now, son, not that I’ve ever heard tell of, but I’ve only lived in Alaska for nearly fifty years.  I do know though, a wolf will steal you blind of any meat you leave laying around or other foods not in a sealed container.  And, a pack of wolves is a fearsome sight to see and I’ve seen lots of ‘em, but I’ve never heard of a wolf pack ever attacking a healthy man.  I suspect if that man was almost dead they might attack ‘em, only I ain’t real sure.  All that stuff you see in the movies ‘bout fellers out campin’ and the wolves attacking is pure nonsense, boy.”
    David added a larger piece of wood to his fire and thought, No, they didn’t attack me or even try to hurt me.  The wolves only wanted my meat.  From now on, if I get any more meat, I’ll have to hang it up high in a tree or guard it all night.  And, I need to keep my rifle where I always know where it is.  If that had been a grizzly bear instead of wolves, I might be dead right now.
    It was close to an hour later before the young man grew sleepy once more and made his way back inside his shelter.  He placed his rifle at his right side, wrapped up in his blanket, and promptly fell asleep.  No sooner had David closed his tired eyes than the snow started to fall once again and the fire snapped and crackled as the wet snowflakes struck.
    Morning dawned extremely cold with snow still falling.  The flakes were falling slowly and the wind had all but died completely.  David stood, stretched, and made his way to his snow covered and dead fire.  Within a few minutes his fire was burning well, a canteen cup of pine needle tea was boiling, and the young man nibbled on