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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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