Ely

Noise in the Night 

 Ely and his friend Matt said good night to Mr. and Mrs. Oogiak and headed up the stairs to Ely’s little bedroom.  It was a Friday night and the boys had enjoyed a long evening of popcorn and board games.  After talking of school, fishing and hunting, the boys fell asleep.

After a short time, the house became very quiet and still.  Ely, Matt and Ely’s parents were sleeping peacefully, warm and safe, inside the log home.

But then, Ely’s eyes popped open.  He had heard a noise just outside his window.  “What could it be?” he wondered.  “Matt, wake up?” whispered Ely.  “Do you hear that brushing noise just outside the window?”

Matt opened his heavy eyelids and tried to listen for the sound.  Then, they both heard it.

“Ely, get your dad.  Something is out there.” spoke Matt.

Ely quietly slid out of bed and went to get his father.  “Dad, Dad, wake up.  There’s something outside my window.  Matt and I both heard it.”  whispered Ely.  

Mr. Oogiak had been in a deep sleep but he came to his senses quickly and got out of bed.  He put on his flannel shirt and jeans; then, stumbled down the stairs and out the door to see what was going on outside.  Ely and Matt watched out one of the downstairs windows.  After a few moments, Mr. Oogiak came back in.

“You were right.”  said Mr. Oogiak.  There was something out there.  It was a bear cub.”

“A bear cub?  Is that all it was?” spoke Ely with a grin.

“It’s not really a good thing,” said Mr. Oogiak.  “Where there’s a cub, there is likely to be a mama. (A sow.)  And, if there’s a mama in or near the village, someone may get hurt.  The bear may come into the village looking for something to eat and do harm to a human that comes across it’s path accidentally.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” asked the boys.

“I’ll watch for it again tomorrow night and see if it returns.”

Well, Saturday night, it did return and Mr. Oogiak and Ely crept out the front door carefully at the first sound of the cub.  Then, they saw the mama bear over near the Charlie home.  It was sniffing around, probably trying to find something to eat.

The sow caught sight of Ely and his father and began running toward them because she knew her cub was near the Oogiak home.  Ely and Mr. Oogiak quickly stepped inside the log home and shut the door behind them.  They then went to the window and saw the sow and her cub run off across the tundra behind Ely’s house.

“Oh, Dad.  What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.” said his father.  “I need to think about this.  For now, lets go back to bed.  Tomorrow is Sunday and we’ll want to get up in time for church.”

The next day, after the church service, Ely saw his father talking to some of the men.  Ely figured it had something to do with the bear.

On the way home, Ely asked his father what would be done about the bear situation.

“You’ll see tonight,” was all Mr. Oogiak would say.

When Sunday evening came, Ely’s father told Ely that he could sleep downstairs by the fire if he wanted to.  He said there may be some action coming later on that he would want to watch.  But, Ely had to promise to stay inside and only watch from the window. 

Around midnight, Mr. Oogiak stepped outside to join a small group of other men, each carrying a rifle.  Ely watched from the window and wondered why they each needed a gun.  There was only one bear.

The men were alert and watched for the bear to return.  And then, it did return.  The mama bear and her cub came across the tundra.  The men readied their guns and all began shooting in the air in an attempt to scare off the bears.

The guns going off and the men yelling worked well and the mama and cub turned and ran off never to return.  It was a successful endeavor and Ely was proud of his father who had taken care of what could have been real trouble.

Men with common sense are admired.