A Fictional Narrative

Chapter 11:
cave 
stalactite (v)
petrified wood
sinkhole
karst topography
geode

Chapter 12:
glacier 
advancing
crevasses
terminus

  Mint: A Narrative

Morgan Miller

Lani was used to the cold, but after four hours of being lost in it, she couldn't help but admit to herself that she was in danger of frostbite. Lani's pup, Mint, had slipped down into a crevasse. Lani was trying to find a shallower entrance into it, but it seemed to extend, deep as ever, across the whole top of the glacier. Poor mint, thought Lani. He was probably colder than she was by now. Lani knew that this was an advancing glacier, and that the terminus, where the crevasses were shallowest, was several miles west. Maybe I should turn around and go check on Mint, Lani thought to herself, maybe I can find a way straight down to him if I just look hard enough. Lani had lived all fourteen of her years in a little village south of the glacier. She'd never even seen the terminus. Maybe it was further than she thought. It made more sense, to her, that she either stay on the glacier surface, above Mint, or go back to the village for help. Lani's village had experienced a lot of strife in the past year; unbeknownst to them until recently, they had settle in an area of karst topography. In the warmer months, the icy ground would thaw a little, and the groundwater would dissolve the limestone below them. They lost six villagers to a horrific sinkhole that collapsed catastrophically last spring. The village was still recovering. They'll be so mad at me for losing Mint, thought Lani. Lani's grandfather had warned her to stop adventuring atop the glacier. Lani didn't listen. She was too fascinated and excited about the danger, especially after having found petrified wood and other fossils in the sinkhole. One time, she'd even found geodes at the base of the glacier. The glacier had torn up the ground and revealed all sorts of treasures that Lani couldn't resist. I guess this was the earth's way of taking something from her for everything she had collected. Mint had always been her buddy. And now the earth was taking Mint away from her. Lani felt a lump growing in her throat. Hot tears were welling in her eyes. She knew that her only option was to ask the mourning village for help. They were the ones who had found Mint's mom in the mountain caves three years ago; she had been killed when an earthquake caused the fall of several stalactites to the cave floor. Mint had his brothers were left without their mother. The village took them in to train them for hunting. Lani had begged for Mint to be her personal pup. Mint was smaller, and useless for hunting. They gave in and allowed her to have Mint. If they could just have a little sympathy now, maybe there would be hope for Mint's return to the village. Just Maybe.

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