I woke up early, before the sun. Laura had rolled over sometime during the night, and was facing away from me. I could feel the cold on my face, and in the dim twilight, could make out my breath it was so cold. I put my feet on the cold floor of the cabin, slung my bathrobe over my back and headed to the living room to get the fire going again. A few sticks of kindling, a crumpled up piece of newspaper and a little blowing on the coals soon had the fire roaring and crackling.
I made my way to the kitchen, and realized that the power was still out. So I set to the task of making coffee the old fashioned way. I heard my dog scratch at the back door and went to let him in the house. He’s a wolf hybrid, so cold weather isn’t usually a problem for him. Coming home usually isn’t a priority either, as he hunts most of the time for what ever he eats. With the recent storm, I’d imagine that the pick en’s were a little slim out in the wilderness, so he came home for a free meal and a warm place to lay down.

With the back door open, I went ahead and got another armload of wood. It has stopped snowing, but the sky was still very dark and cloudy. I estimated that there was probably two feet or better, of fresh powdery snow on the ground, which meant that this far off of the beaten path, the roads were still un plowed and impassable.

I returned to the living room with my armload of wood, and Bear was growling in the direction of the bedroom. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw Laura standing in the doorway, a comforter wrapped around her with a look of terror on her face. “Bear!” I shouted at the dog. “Is that anyway to treat a guest.” At the tone of my voice, he put his head down, his ears back up and started wagging his bushy tail. “It’s ok Laura, he’s a friend of mine.” I patted the top of Bear’s head.

“Is that a wolf?” Laura said, kind of shakily.

Bear put my hand in his mouth playfully, and started to shake gently. “Well, His dad is a wolf, but mom was a St. Bernard. He’s a hybrid.” I explained, “Full blooded wolves usually aren’t this thick and big.” I continued to play with him. “It’s ok, let him smell you. He doesn’t bite friends.” I reassured.

Laura came a little closer to us and Bear stopped playing for a moment to sniff at the new intruder. “He looks really mean.”

“That’s it, put your hand out so he can smell you.” I held on to Bear’s collar, more to make Laura feel comfortable than anything else. “He’s a big ole teddy bear.” I said roughly scratching the top of his head.

Bear sniffed at Laura’s outstretched hand, and then gave it a quick lick as if to say, “ok, you can pet me now.”

Laura put her hand on the top of his head. “Nice doggy.” She said, but still didn’t want to get very close.

“Well, the phone doesn’t work, the power’s still out, and it’s going to snow some more.” I announced getting a can of dog food out of the cabinet, which took Bear’s attention away from Laura. “If you had any plans on going anywhere today, they’re cancelled.”

I opened the can of food, and put it in Bear’s bowl with a plop.