RD20190301

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it was a timber wolf. A chill spread
through my whole body. I knew at
once that familiar shape, even after
four years. “Hello, old girl,” I called
gently. The wolf edged closer, ears
erect, body tense, and stopped a

few yards off, her bushy tail wagging
slightly.
Moments later, the wolf was gone.
I left Kupreanof Island a short time
after that, and I never saw the animal
again. But the memory she left with
me—vivid, haunting, a little eerie—
will always be there, a reminder that
there are things in nature that exist
outside the laws and understanding
of man.
During that brief instant in time,
this injured animal and I had some-
how penetrated each other’s worlds,
bridging barriers that were never
meant to be bridged. There is no
explaining experiences like this. We
can only accept them and—because
they’re tinged with an air of mystery
and strangeness—perhaps treasure
them all the more.

This story originally appeared in the
May 1987 issue of Reader’s Digest.

With four tiny pups to feed, the mother
wolf would need to stay nourished.

What’s an Award Worth?
Biologist James Watson once put his Nobel Prize up for auction because of
financial difficulties. It was bought for $4.7 million, then promptly returned to him.

A bird enthusiast paid more than $11,000 for a medal of bravery awarded to
Paddy the pigeon, the fastest carrier bird to return to England with news
of the D-day landing (flight time: about five hours).

Steven Spielberg has spent more than $1.3 million buying vintage Oscars
at auction (including Bette Davis’s statuette for Jezebel) that he then donates
back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences archive.
new york times, bbc, los angeles times

rd.com 97

Drama in Real Life

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