-c- 2008 Mcgraw-hill Ryerson Limited May 2026

The next morning, August died in his sleep. Elias found him with a smile on his face, one hand reaching toward the nightstand where the compass used to sit.

He raised the rifle. His hands shook. “You’re not real.” -C- 2008 mcgraw-hill ryerson limited

He packed a backpack: tent, dehydrated meals, a satellite messenger (his father insisted), a rifle for polar bears, and the compass. He left a note on the kitchen table: Gone to find Tivon. Back in two weeks. The next morning, August died in his sleep

“Did you know Tivon stayed?”

Standing in the doorway was a woman in a blue coat, dark hair, kind eyes. She looked exactly like the photograph on his father’s dresser. The photograph of the woman who had walked out of their house when Elias was three years old and never come back. His hands shook