EVER SINCE THE DAY that Magic the arctic fox became friends with Duane, she’d been coming to his cave. When she dropped by in the morning, Magic would often discover that Duane hadn’t yet awoken, and by “often,” I mean all the time, because Duane tended to sleep in.
“Come on, Duane!” she would holler while attempting to prod him off his mattress.
“Hmm? Ah-mmmm-zzzzzz,” Duane would semi-reply.
It was fortunate for Duane that he was such a sound sleeper and far too big for an arctic fox to push out of bed because Magic would eventually give up and leave. But not before sighing dramatically and exclaiming, “How does someone waste the day like that? I mean—really!” to which Duane would reply, “Mmmm-ah-phu-zzzzzz,” followed by two loud snorts.
On the occasions that Magic visited later in the day, when he was awake, Duane found himself overwhelmed by her energy and exuberance.
“Finally, you’re up! Well, it’s about time. Do you know what I’ve been doing the whole while you’ve been snoozing away? Do you? Never mind asking because it would take another hour to list everything off.”
“Okay,” he would reply unsteadily.
Duane wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to Magic when she went on like that. Then again, it didn’t really seem to matter if he responded either. “What are you having for breakfast?” she might ask. And no sooner than Duane would reply with an “Oh, I don’t know, maybe I’ll have a bowl of—” Magic would cut him off with an “I jumped as high as a musk ox the other day! I landed right on Handsome’s back. You wouldn’t think it possible, but I totally did it.” And no sooner than Duane would reply with a “That sounds like quite a high jump indeed,” Magic would have moved on to the topic of home renovations for a fox hole. Duane gathered that Magic didn’t have a long attention span.
Duane once asked Handsome how he handled conversations with Magic because she would drop by his field whenever Duane was still asleep in his cave. Handsome didn’t have any advice to give. Handsome never even noticed that she was talking to him, as he was generally too preoccupied with his reflection in his new hand mirror. The only time he was made aware of Magic’s presence was the day she jumped on his back. “I am not a fan of surprise acrobatics,” he told Duane. “One should not be used as a pommel horse without fair warning. It’s simply good manners.”
Magic was a puzzle to Duane. In some ways she was loud and bossy and not always considerate, but on the other hand she was so full of energy and fun and playful.
“I was thinking, Duane,” she might say, always poking him in the ticklish part of his belly whenever she said his name, “wouldn’t it be amazing if you, Duane (poke), and I could fly? Wouldn’t it, Duane (poke)?”
By the third Duane-poke, he would be giggling and helpless, but he would also be intrigued by the idea. “To fly like C.C.? To look down on the Very, Very Far North from the sky? Oh, yes, I think that would be amazing.”
Meanwhile, Magic would be running circles around him, shouting happily, “Never mind flying like C.C.! How about flying like me?” and then she would throw herself into the air with her front paws spread out like wings, forcing Duane to react quickly and catch her. The power of her throw would cause him to fall onto the ground on his back. “That, Duaney-Duane (poke, poke), is how a flying fox flies,” she would say, grinning with mischief.
On the day that Duane brought her over to the Shipwreck to meet C.C. for the first time, it was clear that this was not a good idea at all. Before C.C. had the opportunity to study Magic’s face, the arctic fox was running all about her room, opening jars without asking, knocking over C.C.’s research papers, and spilling chemicals that required C.C. to quickly open more windows for ventilation. To say that Magic ruffled C.C.’s feathers was both an understatement and a statement of fact because at one point she came up to C.C. and said, “Can you really fly with those wings? I mean—really! If I had wings, they would have much longer feathers than those.” As hurtful as those comments were, what made things worse was that as she said them, Magic was lifting up C.C.’s wings and looking under them. Duane gasped in horror, knowing how much C.C. did not like being touched. He rushed over to steer Magic out of C.C.’s room at once, giving C.C. a weak apologetic smile before closing the door shut.
“Well, that was a nice visit!” declared Magic, demonstrating she had no awareness of her behavior.
The story that I am about to tell you begins right after those words were spoken. Duane wanted to explain to Magic how C.C. would prefer contact of the nonphysical variety, but before he got two words out of his mouth, she was bounding down the Shipwreck’s corridor peeking into all the other rooms. This led into an unplanned game of hide-and-seek in which Duane was trying to find Magic among all the boxes and strange objects, and Magic was sneaking up behind Duane to poke him in the back before rushing off to hide again. The game only stopped because Magic came across a strange object that caught her attention.
“What’s that?” she asked Duane when he joined her in the room that contained the strange object.
Had Magic asked him about most any of the other items that filled the rooms, Duane would have had to confess that he didn’t know what they were. But Magic was looking at a long object made of wooden slats nailed together that curled back on themselves at one end. And because Duane had been curious about the same object on one of his earlier trips to the Shipwreck and had asked C.C. the very same question, he knew what the object was.
“It’s a toboggan,” he replied. “According to C.C., you can use it to pull supplies along the ice.”
“Or according to me,” Magic said with a twinkle in her eyes, “you could use it to slide down a hill really, really fast!”
A smile grew on Duane’s face as he imagined it. “I suppose you could.”
“Duaney-Duane (poke, poke), we’ve got ourselves an adventure!”
So Duane carried the toboggan off the Shipwreck and pulled it along the Mainly Frozen Cold Ocean toward the snowy shore. Magic sometimes sat on the toboggan while Duane pulled, and she sometimes ran around Duane when she couldn’t sit still any longer because she was too excited thinking about going downhill.
“Let’s try it on Whaleback Hill!” she said, referring to the hill well-named because it indeed looked just like a whale’s back.
“All right,” agreed Duane.
“No, scratch that! Let’s try it on Double Whaleback Hill!” Magic said, referring to another hill also well-named because it looked like two whales stacked on top of each other.
“All right, I guess,” Duane agreed, slightly less confident.
“No, wait!” shouted Magic, stopping right in front of Duane with her paws out. “Not Double Whaleback Hill!”
“Not Double Whaleback Hill?” Duane asked.
Magic’s voice got very low and very serious-sounding. “No, Duane (poke), what we must go down . . . what we absolutely, without a chance of changing our minds, must go down is . . . Baby Whaleback Hill.”
You may be thinking, and quite rightly, that after suggesting Whaleback Hill, followed by Double Whaleback Hill, to then suggest tobogganing down something called Baby Whaleback Hill would be somewhat less exciting, not more. You would be wrong. Baby Whaleback Hill resembled not one but one hundred baby whales piled together in a giant pyramid shape. It was monstrously tall and covered with endless bumps and bulges from top to bottom. Why it wasn’t called the Mountain of One Hundred Baby Whales just goes to show that not everyone is as good at giving names as Duane is. In any case, Duane’s concern about Magic’s suggestion was because of what the hill was, and not what it was called.
“I don’t know, Magic. Baby Whaleback Hill could be too much for us to handle.”
“Ugh! Come on! I mean—really!” Magic was working herself up into an exceptionally overdramatic outrage. “Duane! We’ve dragged a very heavy toboggan all the way from the Shipwreck, and I’ve come up, on my own, with the most brilliant idea for an adventure. Please do not tell me that you intend to let these great efforts all go to waste! Hmm, Duane? You’re not telling me that, are you?”
The force of Magic’s determination was like a hurricane gale. It pinned Duane’s will into submission. Even though he knew that it had only been him who pulled the very heavy toboggan, he didn’t feel able to speak up. Even though Duane had very serious concerns about the plan that Magic was suggesting, he didn’t feel strong enough to argue. “No,” he replied sheepishly, “I’m not telling you that.”
“Good! So let’s get climbing!” declared Magic happily, as if her last outburst hadn’t even happened.
Following Magic’s lead, Duane pulled the toboggan up the steep side of Baby Whaleback Hill. They climbed and climbed the snow-covered mountain, reaching a level that was already above both Whaleback and Double Whaleback Hills. But before Duane could set the toboggan down for their great adventure ride to begin, Magic stuck out her paw to stop him.
“Higher!” she said.
Duane gulped. “Higher?”
Magic gave him a mischievous grin before bouncing up the mountainside. Obediently, Duane followed, with his heart beating faster, not just from the exertion of climbing the mountain but from the mounting fear inside him. When he finally caught up to Magic, he again started to set down the toboggan before being stopped.
“Higher!” Magic insisted.
“But,” Duane attempted weakly, “isn’t this too much?”
“Come on, Duaney-Duane (poke, poke), we’re nearly there!”
The voice inside Duane was trying to get his attention, trying to tell him to stop and insist that they go back down. But Duane was not listening to that voice, even though he’d known and trusted that voice for as long as he could remember. Magic’s voice was stronger, more convincing, and more confident. Magic’s voice held the promise of excitement and adventure. Duane followed that voice farther up the steep mountainside as if he were under a spell.
They reached an elevation that looked down upon the Very, Very Far North, with a few clouds actually hanging below them and the Shipwreck nothing but a speck seen far off in the distance. “Here!” declared Magic, pointing at a spot for Duane to place the toboggan. Anxiously, he did, and then he sat down on it.
“I will sit in the front,” insisted Magic, “because I want to experience the complete thrill of the ride! Are you ready, Duane?”
“No, not really,” said Duane, quietly but honestly.
“Well, ready or not, here we go!” Magic yanked both of Duane’s arms, causing him to bend forward and so creating just enough weight on the front end of the toboggan to tip it into motion. They were off, heading down the terrifyingly steep incline, picking up speed with each passing second.
Bump!
“Whoa!” they both cried after hitting the first of many knobs and swells along the way.
Bump, ka-bump, ka-bump-bump-bump!
“Whoa!” cried Duane again, this time on his own.
They were barely staying on the toboggan. Each bump lifted them a few inches above it so that it gave Duane a true sensation of flying, or maybe just falling—falling very quickly from a very tall height. In any case, it was a new feeling. The great fear Duane had as they climbed up the mountain was being overtaken and replaced by something more powerful: the feeling of exhilaration. The ride was reckless and wild; it was madness! But as the seconds continued, with the toboggan still rushing down at supersonic speed and the bumps still tossing them up again and again, they still hadn’t crashed, and this created in Duane an odd sense of security. Maybe it’s going to be okay after all, he thought.
Bump, ka-bump-bump, ka-bump-bump-ka-bump!
Each bounce fed Duane a jolt of electricity. There he was, rushing down a mountainside, with the whole world blurring around him. He felt unstoppable, invincible. He gave in to the excitement. “Whooo-heeeee!” he shouted with glee.
Bumpity-bumpity, bump-ka-bump, bump-ka-bump!
“Whooo-heee!” Duane shouted louder. “Magic, isn’t this fun?”
It was then that he noticed how quiet Magic had become. Since she was sitting in front of Duane, he couldn’t see how big her eyes had grown shortly after they pushed off the edge. He couldn’t see how hard she was clenching her teeth and how hard she was both grasping and pushing against the curl of the toboggan as they hurled through the thrilling ride that was, as she had pointed out earlier, her own brilliant idea. Magic didn’t speak because Magic was in the deep throes of terror.
But then Magic did speak. It wasn’t loud at first because it was directed more to herself than to Duane. “I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t . . .”
“What?” asked Duane.
“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t . . .”
“What was that?” Duane was straining to hear above the whoosh of the toboggan sliding over the snow and ice.
“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t . . .”
“Magic, you have to speak louder!”
And then Magic did speak louder, at the top of her voice, in fact. “I CAN’T DO THIS, DUANE!” she screamed, just before she tossed herself off the side of the toboggan.
Time instantly expanded—at least it did for Duane, at that moment. The world relaxed into a slow, steady beat, like the drip of an icicle on a cold, cloudy day. Duane twisted his neck around, following Magic’s sudden departure, watching the whole unexpected episode unravel before his eyes in slow motion. Magic jumped, and then she tumbled head over heels once, then twice, then three and a half times, until she came to a complete stop on her back, splayed onto the snow like a fox-shaped cookie cutter. The last thing Duane saw as he continued to plummet down the steep mountainside was Magic sitting up, giving herself a shake, and then waving cheerfully at Duane without a care in the world.
It was a happy image. Duane gave a sigh of relief for Magic while he turned toward the front of the toboggan, toward the portion of the thrilling adventure ride that was still unfinished and awaiting. And at the very moment he did turn back around, time snapped like a stretched elastic band. It returned Duane back to the ridiculous speed of the runaway toboggan that was hurtling him down the side of Baby Whaleback Hill (so badly named, all things considered), and the fear that Duane had set aside earlier, so as not to spoil the fun, was back now, bigger than ever. Duane was very, very afraid, and to top it off, he was now all alone.
Bump, thump, thumpity-bump, ka-bump-bump-thump!
Oh dear oh dear oh dear, thought Duane. This will surely be the end of me. Why did I listen to Magic?
Bump, thump, thumpity-bump, THUMP!
The toboggan hit a much larger protrusion that sent it, along with Duane, high into the air and on a slant, as well. Duane had to lean over to the opposite side to bring the toboggan squarely back onto the snow. THUD! Duane averted what might have been a terrible crash, but the thrilling ride didn’t slow down. Even if he’d had the wits about him to jump off the toboggan like Magic, he couldn’t. There was no time. The big thumps were coming one after another now. Bumpity-THUMP! Bumpity-THUMP! Duane was leaning every which way to keep the toboggan upright and to keep himself from injury. The THUDS of the toboggan hitting the ground each time felt so hard. Duane was bruised and sore all over.
Just below him but approaching very fast was the bottom of Baby Whaleback Hill. If he could hold on a little bit longer, there would be an end to the scariest thing he had ever done in his life. The gentle comfort of hope in Duane’s heart could only be felt in tiny spurts in between the THUMPS! and THUDS! But steadily, steadily, the steep incline did level off. Duane was not going down so much as going straight. Yes! This was indeed a true moment of hope and relief for the poor polar bear, or at least it would have been but for two things: the toboggan had barely slowed down at all, and directly in its path was the much smaller, but still not insignificant, Whaleback Hill.
Duane and the toboggan shot up Whaleback Hill with the gracefulness of a swooping bird. After they quickly reached the summit and then went up and over the hill, it was as if Duane had been launched into space. He truly was flying now. There was nothing but sky around him. Higher and higher the toboggan went, but also slower and slower. For a brief moment, Duane experienced absolute silence, which was peaceful but also dreadful, because that was the moment that he and the toboggan, so far above the ground below, finally stopped.
After that, it was all about falling. Duane let go of the toboggan because there really was no purpose in them staying together at this point. He wished the toboggan well and then focused on his own descent. As he was very high in the air, there was plenty of time for him to think before he hit the earth, so he did. I really don’t think I’m as much of an adventuring polar bear as I am an exploring polar bear, Duane considered. I should try to remember that if I live through today. But if I don’t survive, I wish to acknowledge how much I will miss my friends, C.C., Handsome, and even Magic. Oh, and let’s not forget Sun Girl and the Pack. Speaking of which, isn’t that Sun Girl and the Pack just below me? What are they holding, I wonder?
The answer to the last question that Duane managed to ask was that they were holding a large blanket by the edges, all of them—Sun Girl using her hands, and each member of the Pack using their teeth. The blanket was stretched out as tight as they could pull.
PHUMP! Duane hit the center of the stretched blanket.
BOING! Duane bounced off the stretched blanket.
THUD! Duane landed decisively, but safely, in a patch of nearby snow.
The very much alive polar bear stayed in the snow on his back as Sun Girl and the Pack gathered around him.
“You’ve been having an adventure, Duane,” said Sun Girl.
“I have,” agreed Duane. “I tobogganed down Baby Whaleback Hill.”
“We saw you,” said the Pack in unison.
“It’s not very well-named,” Duane suggested.
“We agree,” said Sun Girl and every member of the Pack but one, who blushed and looked embarrassed. “It’s more of a mountain.”
“I shouldn’t have gone down it,” said Duane. “It was dangerous, and I knew it was dangerous, but I pretended that I had forgotten. I was trying to impress a friend.”
Sun Girl nodded in understanding. “How did that work out?”
It took Duane a few weeks to recover from his adventure. There were bumps and bruises everywhere that needed to heal. During that time, Magic continued to drop in, boisterous and loud as always, never a mention of the toboggan ride. Duane had already forgiven her. Duane’s heart was incapable of holding a grudge. He would accept Magic for who she was, bossy yet playful, self-centered yet fun, but he would not forget who he was either. And he wouldn’t forget how to say no.
