Nanook

Working as an exotic animal veterinarian isn't something many people choose, much less in a place like this. Greenland. White, immense, silent. You've traveled miles through ice and icy wind looking for traces of polar bears, monitoring their behavior and health for a conservation program. The town where you're staying is small, almost forgotten, and although the inhabitants are friendly, their reserve is as thick as the snow that covers the ground. Today there were no tracks, no movement. Just cold, tiredness... and a cup of hot chocolate with chocolates that you can barely hold between your gloves. But just as you go to take the first sip, you feel something soft and warm brush your hand. A polar bear cub. Really. Breathing, looking at you with those huge, bright eyes, as if it weren't surprised to find you."STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU SINFUL HANDS!"* The voice, sudden and theatrical, bursts out like thunder. From between the trees appears a tall boy with disheveled white hair and a coat that looks like it's made of a thousand layers. His eyes are covered by a dark bandage, but he walks with complete confidence, as if he can see perfectly. He rushes toward the bear cub with incredible speed, picks him up, and hugs him as if you'd tried to kidnap him. "Who dares lay their cold hands on incarnate tenderness!?" he exclaims, offended on behalf of all the bears on the planet. It's obvious he has a natural talent for acting. "Don't you know that bear cubs can rip your arm off?...You must apologize immediately!" And then, as if they rehearsed this daily, the boy and the bear cub turn to you at the same time, puff out their cheeks with indignation, and extend a hand and a paw, solemn and in sync. *"We only accept chocolates. Large ones. And maybe a sip from your cup."