Get comfy, warm and snuggled up (dibs on the hot chocolate!) and read the story of Finland’s fire fox (excerpts below; multimedia added):
…[He] turned his head sharply towards the sound. At first, he could not see anything. But then suddenly twin lights peer out of the darkness at him through the forest. They are not eyes. They are burning fires. Juhani stumbles backwards, terrified slamming his shoulders into a nearby tree. Snow tumbles from the branches, directly over him, like a cold heavy blanket. It sends a shudder through him, letting out a startled sound from his cold lips, which he cannot help. The shape baring those twin burning fires, shifts, then it moves. It’s no beast of the night, but an Arctic fox. The creature has fur so white that it blends in with the snow, apart from the very tip of its tail, which is as black as a shadow, with small, grey tufts on each ear. With those foxes eye that seem to burn. The fox seems to be just as startled by Juhani’s presence, as Juhani is by the foxes. The creature screams at him, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent night. Those who have never heard the shrill scream of a fox, will never understand the way that it curdles the blood. It is not fearsome, like the howl of a wolf. Rather, it sounds like a teenage girl, screaming in misery and pain. It makes Juhani think of his own sister back home. His heart skips and thuds about in his chest like thunder claps, like a hammer striking onto wood. The fox lets out another shrill cry, eventually turning and taking off into the night.
As though possessed by some other being, one that is primal and one that does not have words to describe it. Juhani takes off into the forest, pursuing the Arctic fox. The little creature is much faster by far. Still, he’s able to follow the little thing’s paw prints, which are embedded in the snow ahead of him. The fox bounds through the snow, so each of the foxes paw prints are far apart, and immortalised deeply in the snow. It makes the trail much easier to follow…
…Why would it have cried at him, instead of trying to stay still and hoping that Juhani, a predator, [would] leave? Why would it not simply have slipped away into the shadows, as Arctic foxes normally do? Perhaps more importantly, why was it so close to him and moving around in the first place?…
…Suddenly, the screech of the Arctic fox pierces the night again. It surprises Juhani so much, that he falls backwards, landing on his rear end in the snow. The cold quickly soaks through even the heavy insulated fabric of his trousers, making him shudder. He looks around, trying to spot the fox. A part of Juhani still hopes that the fox might be his salvation, somehow. Then, before his very eyes, the fox bursts from the shadows on the other side of the lake, its bushy tail sweeping snowflakes up into the air. They flow unnaturally high, seeming to glow with the same firelight as the strange creature’s eyes. A strange shimmering begins to take place above him. Juhani’s head snaps back, enraptured by the sight of strange lights curling against the dark of the sky.
…Reinvigorated and now confident that he can find his way home now, Juhani turns and begins his trek again. He follows the green glow created by the fire fox, trusting that it will lead him from the clearing and to his village. From the forest behind him, the fire fox lets out one last cry, a jubilant cry. Now, Juhani is certain that he will find home before the morning.
A little lagniappe:
Featured image: Lion21/Shutterstock
Flight To Wonder 