the trapper's gift

"take my hand little one, we getting close now." the old man said as he led the little girl by the hand through the knee deep snow drifts. mr. kahloon had the weather worn face of an arctic trapper and the hands to match. his dark leathery skin was pulled back tight over his high cheek bones and his kind eyes squinted from the blistering cold. his stout frame and thick handmade fur coat gave him the appearance of a polar bear walking backwards crapping a catcher's mitt. "come little one, its close now." it was kaleena's birthday and she was excited to see what papa had instore for her. the wind whipped over the snow drifts throwing the powder into the air making the frozen plain look like a dance of a thousand ghosts. they finally reached the edge of the snow bank and the old man pointed down the sparkling vista as kaleena's eyes lit up. "oh papa!" ...and there they were, hundreds of newborn seals. kaleena began jumping up and down. the old man reached into his sack and pulled out his old hand carved clubbing stick. "have fun little one."