Set in the arctic, a bear discovers he loves a young girl as much as he would have loved a cub of his own. For him and for her, that means, everything changes.
 

         Reynaud fell asleep quickly. Bolrush placed his enormous bulk between her and the mouth of the cave and lay down. He was uncomfortable. The floor was lumpy and his belly was empty and there was an itchy feeling niggling at him, that as much as they'd discussed, they'd still not hit the heart of the matter. He looked wistfully at the girl wishing she had been able to stay awake. Humans could not control their great sleep any more than bears could, he reflected.

         Reynaud had had a major shock yesterday, yet she accepted her new destiny with a calmness that disturbed Bolrush. The child was too dull-eyed for his liking. They'd talked until late last night but irritatingly; Bolrush knew that Reynaud still hadn't fully understood what he was trying to prepare her for.  She began to repeat her questions and her shoulders hunched and drooped lower and lower. Bolrush had recognized these signs and commanded her firmly to sleep. Answers given when the fires of the spirit had burned low were no use to him. Then he too closed his eyes, and despite the cave floor being so bumpy that he would never has chosen it for an over wintering, he slept.

         It was still dark when he awoke, but it had that peculiar quality of darkness that preceded the dawn. He yawned, guessing that the little girl had perhaps only been asleep for two hours as they measured it. He would leave her a while longer. For himself, in summer he slept as little as he had to. His winter sleep was a deep absence, a portion of his life not even accounted for in dreams. Consequently, in summer he only allowed himself to graze the edge of unconsciousness. That way he found his sleep was a living wonder, an extravagance of delight unfolding beneath his lids.

         He had just begun to muse over a particularly coherent set of images when Reynaud sat up abruptly into full, startled awareness.  She drew her breath in sharply and then froze in place as her sleep-dazed eyes registered the polar bear lying in front of her.