October Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Secrets and Shadows

Time Setting: 1939 & 2017

Genre: Historical/Life

Minimum Word Goal: 120,000

Timespan: August–December

Locations: Warsaw, Poland; Mundare & Vegreville, Alberta

Main Characters: Olga Niemcyk, Adelejda Myshaniuk, Keeleigh Niemcyk

Background Information:

1939— Even to herself, Olga is no one special, if anything, actually, she finds herself lost within the family — no hard feat, considering that she's one of twelve children — even though she is one of the older ones.

Considering her life rather ordinary, Olga likes to read books that take her to extraordinary places where interesting and adventurous things happen, things that are much more interesting than her mundane existence.

Being as she is a young woman of seventeen, however, her parents are putting significant pressure on her to do much more with her life than read books, which she chafes at, because she wants to do adventurous things in life, not ordinary things like everyone else does.

Disappearing into fictitious worlds is much better than being in the real world on another account too: with the tension in Europe due to next-door Germany's absorbance of Austria and dismantling of Czechoslovakia, things are getting scary. In a book, she can close it up and put it away if things go in ways she doesn't want. In the real world she can't escape.

2017— Growing up in small-town Alberta, with family close at hand, Keeleigh has never really had big ambitions or grand plans, she's been content to just live a simple life in which nothing in particular happens to her.

She is very interested in history, especially the histories of individual people, and in preserving the local history of the hardworking people who had the courage to leave their homelands for the unknown.

History is also a big part of her work, which is as a historical reenactress in a specifically Ukrainian themed historical village, and it's a work she enjoys very much, especially considering her mother's family is of Ukrainian heritage and she can source historical knowledge from her grandmother.

Recently, her paternal great aunt's health started to fail and now her great aunt has passed. As much as she should be mourning, though, Keeleigh can't help but be excited. People reminiscing about her great aunt at the funeral would give her a great amount of personal history to learn, and she might even be able to get historical artifacts and things from her great aunt's possessions if her dad's cousins let her, even if they aren't Ukrainian artifacts.

Pronunciations:

Niemcyk: kneeehmsick

Adelejda: ahdehlehdah

Myshaniuk: myshahneeuhk

Keeleigh: keelee

Novel begins on October 2.

Baffin Island: Day 17

Word Total: 120,004

Year to Date: 750,065

Summary of Events:

Yukon wanted to get up and walk around, but the nurse, Samantha, told him he wasn't allowed to; she checked up for his friends on his behalf and then they got talking about other things, though. JT, Kyle, Alex, and Josh — all of whom had been released — came to visit Yukon and tell him Ryan had already gone home and sneak him out of his room to visit Ben for a bit. Yukon finally was released, but found himself not really wanting to say goodbye to Samantha . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""And I don't even have anything on me," Yukon said.

"For what?" Samantha asked.

"Well, to give you something," Yukon replied. "To show my appreciation and stuff."

"It doesn't really matter, you've said thank you," Samantha replied.

"But . . ." Yukon trailed off, looking down at her hands, still softly resting in his. "I feel like I should do more than just say it."

"It's fine," Samantha said.

"Do you like chocolate or something?" Yukon asked.

"Yeah, I like chocolate," Samantha replied.

"What kind?" Yukon asked.

"Straight milk chocolate mostly," Samantha replied. "Although I do like Toblerone too, but it's kind of expensive to get around here."

"I know," Yukon said. "Do you think I could send you something?"

"If you really want to," Samantha replied.

"What's your last name, though?" Yukon asked. "Just so that I can make sure I get it to the right Samantha."

"MacNaughton," Samantha replied.

"Not McNaughton?" Yukon asked.

"No," Samantha replied.

"Okay," Yukon said. "I'll try and get you something."

"Alright," Samantha said. "But I should take you down to your parents."

Yukon nodded reluctantly; not only not wanting to leave Samantha, nor see Tiffany again, but also because he didn't really want to let go of Samantha's hands.

She slid them out of his hold, however, and led the way out of the room and down to the lobby.

Yukon forced himself to smile for the sake of his dad and Tiffany, who were both quite happy to see him. When he got a glance out the hospital doors, however, and saw the pale blue eyes and eagerly happy face of Ulloriaq looking at him, he walked past them and out the doors.

Ulloriaq barked and her entire hind end started moving back and forth with her tail as she pranced with happiness at seeing him again.

Going down onto his knees, Yukon rubbed Ulloriaq over enthusiastically. It was nice to see her again. She looked so clean now, and she felt so soft, like she'd been taken to the groomers or something, and her wound was quite clean, with only a small bandage covering part of her leg.

He looked back toward the hospital and saw Samantha looking at Ulloriaq almost longingly.

Eagerly he beckoned to Samantha, and with only a moment's hesitation she came out to see Ulloriaq.

"This is your dog?" she asked.

"Yeah," Yukon replied, getting up off his knees. "She's friendly, you can feel free to pet her."

Samantha looked between the hospital doors and Ulloriaq before finally scratching Ulloriaq's head gently, prompting Ulloriaq to wag her tale and smile in her affable, canine way.

"She's such a gorgeous dog," Samantha said.

"Yeah," Yukon said. "She's beautiful."

"Thanks for letting me pet her," Samantha said, looking shy. "I should get back inside, though."

"It's only fair, considering everything you did for me," Yukon said.

Samantha smiled. "You're very welcome."

Yukon nodded and Samantha slipped back inside. Yukon wished he would've even snatched up her hand and kissed it before she'd left, but he hadn't, and now his dad and Tiffany were coming out the door and he had no opportunity to go back after her now."

Next post will be on September 30.

Baffin Island: Day 16

Word Count: 114,111

Summary of Events:

Toward the end of the day the group finally sighted the buildings of Iqaluit, but decided to spend one more night in the tundra. The next morning they went to Yukon's great aunt and uncle's house; his great aunt and uncle then proceeded to take them to the hospital to be tended to for all their injuries from the trek. Yukon was coming out of anesthetic from the surgery to reset his broken ribs properly when his dad and stepmom came to visit, and his stepmom's mood wasn't making things pleasant . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Yukon grimaced and turned his head away from Tiffany's loud exclamations. His brain still felt foggy and her shouting didn't really help anything.

"Going out in the middle of nowhere!" Tiffany ranted. "Where's the fun in that? Or do you find it fun to scare people out of their lives? Hm? Did you hear me? Is that pleasant to you?"

Tiffany shouted the last two questions into Yukon's ear, making him turn away all the more.

"Ma'am, please, you're disturbing the patient," the nurse said. "I understand your concern for him, being as he is your son, but you must allow him to recover properly."

Yukon's brain revolted at the idea of him being considered Tiffany's son. Sure she had the darker hair like he did — although not as dark as his — but that was purely coincidence, they had no blood relation.

He couldn't summon the ability to verbally protest, however, so he grimaced some more.

"Actually, she's not his mother biologically," his dad corrected. "Yukon is only my son."

"Oh, I'm sorry sir," the nurse said.

"Don't worry, it's a common misconception, seeing as they have similar coloured hair," his dad said. "Yukon's mom was actually part Inuit, thus why Yukon spends so much time up here."

"Oh," the nurse said, sounding interested.

"Did you think about the heart attack it would cause us?" Tiffany demanded right into Yukon's ear again.

Yukon tossed his head in distress and gave the finger.

"Tiff, why don't you go get me a coffee?" his dad asked. "And get yourself a latte or something."

"I'm not going anywhere until I can be sure he's alive," Tiffany snapped.

"Babe, he's moving," his dad said.

"Even comatose people move, but that doesn't mean that they live," Tiffany replied.

"I'll still be here and I'll let you know if anything happens," his dad said. "Go get me a coffee, maybe call your mom and see how Carter's doing."

"Carter's fine, and he'll be fine too," Tiffany snapped. "But I'll go get you a coffee."

"Thank you babe," his dad said.

Yukon heard the sound of a soft peck before Tiffany's heels echoed off down the hall.

"She's definitely worrisome," his dad said, sounding as if he were apologising to the nurse.

"It seems so," the nurse said.

"But he's all good?" his dad asked.

"The wrist and ankle sprains were minor to begin with from the best we can tell," the nurse replied. "We've given him injections to help the healing process. From his records we found he was up to date on his tetanus, but we gave him a booster shot against tetanus and a couple other things because of the bite wound on his chest. The surgery to reset his rib was successful, but we will have to watch for potential overreaction with his bones repairing, as they'd healed improperly, so the rib had to be broken again. His lung should heal well now too, and we've been feeding him a nutrient-rich liquid diet so far. We're going to start adding solids over the next week and after that he should be free to go home."

"At least he's okay," his dad said. "I mean, any of them could've died out there.""

Baffin Island: Day 15

Word Count: 108,115

Summary of Events:

Ben apologised to Yukon for his behaviour and the group continued walking in much better spirits, although Ulloriaq started behaving unreasonably, to Yukon's stress; it was only when Alex got attacked by a bird of prey that they realised she'd been trying to warn them of the bird. Yukon spent much of the day thinking about his girlfriend and how much he missed her. The next morning their traps had failed to catch any rabbits, so Ulloriaq hunted a couple down before they set out for what they all hoped was their last full day of walking; although Yukon began to feel like they were headed in the wrong direction because he'd not sighted Frobisher Bay yet and started stressing . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Ulloriaq nosed his leg and Yukon looked down at her. She gazed at him with concern; she'd sensed his distress with that uncanny ability of hers again. He stroked her head and wished that his stress over whether they were headed the right way could be alleviated.

A thought suddenly occurred to him and he looked down at Ulloriaq. She was a dog. Dogs had better noses than people. She should be able to smell the ocean if they were close to it, or otherwise be able to tell him if they were off track.

"Where's the ocean Ulloriaq?" he asked. "Go find me the ocean."

Ulloriaq jogged ahead, her head high, scanning. Yukon was pretty sure she'd understood what he'd said, and he had to admit that sometimes it impressed him that she could understand him so well. He wondered if it was because of how much he talked to her like she was another person.

Regardless, he hoped that she had, indeed, understood what he wanted, and was going to seek out the nearest saltwater to their position.

She picked up to a lope for a bit, but then slowed to a walk, favouring her bandaged leg. Yukon felt bad for her. He hoped they were on the right track for her sake as much as anyone else's. They were all in pain, and they probably all should've seen a doctor a long time ago.

Ulloriaq stopped and barked.

Yukon hurried over to her and looked. He couldn't see anything at first, but then he noticed a glitter just to the right of dead ahead. A relief and elation swelled within him like he'd never felt before in his life. Frobisher Bay — it had to be.

"We aren't stopping here for the night, are we?" Ben asked, startling Yukon.

"Just over there," Yukon replied, pointing. "Do you see that glitter?"

"Yeah," Ben replied after a moment's scanning.

"Frobisher Bay," Yukon said.

"We're almost there," Ben sighed, his voice drenched in the relief that filled Yukon.

"What is it?" JT asked.

"That distant glitter, that's Frobisher Bay," Yukon replied

Alex whooped with glee and everyone else hurried up to look, Ryan even lifting his touque to see, while Kyle quickly fired up his camera and focused in on the distant glittering of the bay.

"There it is," Kyle said, almost reverently. "The distant shore of Frobisher Bay. I'd like to know how in the world we're going to get there in only a day and a bit, but there it is."

"You know how we're going to get there," Josh said. "We're going to keep walking."

"Do we power walk now?" Ryan asked.

"If you want," Yukon replied.

"We're almost there, pack," Alex said, before launching into his generally pathetic howl.

Everyone joined him, even Ulloriaq, as if she, too, sensed the immense relief that finally sighting Frobisher Bay gave the rest of them."

Baffin Island: Day 14

Word Count: 99,008

Summary of Events:

Yukon and Ben got into an argument before JT separated them and talked with Yukon about why the two of them weren't getting along. JT then tried to talk to Ben about the same thing, but he wouldn't listen. Wolves howling the next morning woke Yukon up; he was grateful to see, however, that they hadn't taken any rabbits from the snares, although he did see one approaching and threateningly ordered it to leave . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"The wolf came to a halt, almost as if startled, and rather hesitant. It lifted its gaze to him, its pale blue eyes looking confused and sad.

Wolves didn't have blue eyes.

Yukon's heart rate accelerated, causing his day-old wound to throb due to its proximity to the vital organ. He felt suddenly horrible, and yet elated at the same time.

He dropped to his knees and stared. He could hardly dare to think it, much less say it, but he had to.

"Ulloriaq?" he whispered.

The head lifted and a light came into the pale blue eyes while the tail wagged, just at the tip, suggesting there was still a fear and hesitancy.

"Is it really you Ulloriaq?" Yukon whispered, his voice coming out hoarse as tears threatened his eyes.

The wagging of the tail increased. Its soft thumping on the ground reached his ears.

"Come here," Yukon whispered.

Instantly she shot to her feet and quickly closed the distance between them. Yukon clutched her to his chest and sobbed. He would never have believed that she would find her way back to them after all this time. He couldn't begin to imagine where she'd been, and he could hardly believe that she was back. She was actually back. She was alive, and she'd come back to him.

With a puppy's enthusiasm her tail, as well as her whole body, wiggled as she tried to almost cram herself further onto his lap than she was, her big, soft, tongue leaving stripes of warm, wet saliva on his chest, arms, hands, neck, and face as she greeted him.

"It's really you," Yukon whispered, his throat still closed with emotion as he looked at her.

She sat back, her tongue hovering on the edge of her teeth in a wide canine smile that showed she was, without question, just as happy to see him as he was to see her.

"Where have you been?" he asked, sliding his hands into the thick, tangled fur about her neck.

She uttered a somewhat howl-like yip.

"Were you with the wolves?" Yukon asked.

Her tail wagged with enthusiasm.

"Why did you leave me Ulloriaq?" Yukon asked. "I was so worried about you. I thought you'd died Ulloriaq."

The happy expression on her face fell and her tail stopped wagging. She took on a contrite expression and lowered herself to her belly, her eyes seeming to brim with apology.

Yukon rubbed her head gently and watched as she barely moved the tip of her tail.

"At least you're here and okay, though, which is more than I could've asked for," Yukon said. "As much as I wish I knew where you'd been. Come, let's go tell everybody you're back."

Instantly the happiness was back on Ulloriaq's face and she hopped to her feet, following alongside him at an enthusiastic trot despite her limp."

Baffin Island: Day 13

Word Count: 90,032

Summary of Events:

Cresting a ridge, the group was prompted to stop by the breathtaking sight of Lake Amadjuak which lay below them. Alex lost his cellphone when he nearly fell trying to take a picture of the lake. Yukon was woken up by a strange sound that Ben went to investigate before trying to fight a wolf for the rabbit it was trying to take; Yukon came to Ben's aid and successfully killed the wolf before tending to Ben's extensive wounds. Later on they stopped for a breather — being as Ryan was trying to walk more, and Ben was still rough from the attack — and Yukon and Kyle went down to the lakeshore to top up their water bottles before they moved on; on the way down Kyle dropped his cellphone . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""I need to find my cellphone," Kyle said. "Did you see where it landed?"

"In the lake," Yukon replied.

"It's waterproof to thirty metres," Kyle said, then furrowed his brow. "Or maybe it's thirty feet."

"Kyle, come on," Yukon said, putting on his socks.

"This is cold water!" Kyle shrieked.

"See?" Yukon said. "Come on."

"I have to find my phone!" Kyle cried. "Even if I lose my feet and legs in the process!"

"It's not worth it Kyle," Yukon said.

"I've got invaluable footage on it!" Kyle exclaimed. "If I want a complete documentary of our trek I need that footage!"

Yukon sighed. "Kyle, I didn't even see where it landed other than in the lake, we don't need to be held up for hours. We want to go home."

He stood on the shore and watched as Kyle scoured the waters frantically looking for any sign of his cellphone. 

Eventually Yukon tied himself back to his rope and leaned casually against the rock face, watching as Kyle desperately searched. He checked his watch. It was ten to the hour.

"You have ten minutes before I'm hauling you out of there and forcing you back up the hill without it," Yukon said. "I'm waiting no longer than that."

"I have to find it!" Kyle cried. "I refuse to leave it here!"

"Then you should've put it in a more secure pocket," Yukon said. "Not that the security of your GoPro helped it any."

"What?" Kyle exclaimed, looking at Yukon.

"Yeah, those rocks that hit your head cracked the face, I think they may've even corked the lens," Yukon replied.

Kyle swore. "Even more reason to– there it is!"

He scrambled off to the east and thrust a hand into the water that emerged triumphantly, the Toronto Blue Jays logo-adorned side of the case facing Yukon.

"Now to get some shots," Kyle said.

"Six minutes and we're out of here," Yukon said.

"I think it's literally frozen," Kyle said. "I need to thaw it out."

Yukon watched as Kyle pinned his phone between his thighs and stood there for a long time. It was three minutes to the hour when he finally got it thawed enough to take some shots.

"We're shoreside on Lake Amadjuak, just topping up our water supplies." Kyle narrated. "It took awhile to thaw this thing out, as it landed in the lake, but I would not leave it behind, and I thankfully don't have to. The water in this lake is way too cold for its own good, I'm surprised there's no ice cubes in it, but I have to say this is a way prettier sight than I expected."

"I think it's because of the fact that there's less heat here, which fosters the growth of algae and other bacterias," Yukon replied. "You have forty five seconds."

"Man, you're serious about your time limit," Kyle said. "I'm coming.""

Pronunciation:

Amadjuak: uhmahd'youack

Baffin Island: Day 12

Word Count: 84,010

Summary of Events:

Yukon and Kyle stayed up late talking about Canadian geography. The next morning Yukon woke up to the smell of cooking rabbit as Ben finally succeeded in catching one, to everyone's joy. Subsequently reinvigorated, they set out for another day of walking during which they spent a lot of time talking about advancing JT's career. Yukon was woken by the howling of wolves and couldn't help but feel uneasy . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"The howls sounded like they were close by, and there was something else about them, something more haunting and cold about them. Yukon didn't know what it was, but he felt like there were ominous portents of danger in their calls as they rallied together.

For all he knew the wolves could be calling each other together into a big hunting pack to come after them; the wolves could've been following them for some time, and were wanting to take them down for food or something.

Maybe it was hunger he heard in their voices that made them seem more haunting and cold, more dangerous. Maybe the wolves were starving like they had been, and were seeking to take them down because they were big and meaty.

That thought made Yukon uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. But not as uncomfortable as the thought that maybe, just maybe, his imitation howls two days ago had actually encouraged the wolves to start heading in their direction, even though he'd been hungry at the time.

The wolves could possibly have been able to tell he was a human imitating them, and if they had, maybe they'd decided to rally together in an effort to take him down and eat him, as well as any others in his company — whom they would have assuredly heard and identified as non-wolves.

As much as he could pull off a good howl, Yukon wasn't sure what exactly he'd communicated by it. Wolves used howls to communicate all manner of different things, and that was part of the language that he didn't understand.

He knew they used them for rallying a group together to go hunting, and he was pretty sure that even news could be communicated by means of the howling, good or bad, and maybe even news of food, just based on the pitch of the howl, the duration, or how many undulations of the tone — to say nothing of any other possible differences that could communicate things.

Yukon hoped that his howling the other day hadn't attracted the wolves, and even if it hadn't, he hoped that the wolves hadn't picked up on their human scent at all, and that it was just coincidence and coincidence alone that had them seemingly being followed by the wolves wherever they went.

They were getting closer and closer to home. Yukon felt like they'd rounded a corner in their trip. They'd all been ready to give up, but they'd all dug in and found the strength to keep going, and now they were buoyed by food and the fact that they were only a week away from home, also, too, it seemed like they were ready to keep going with a renewed energy and vigour they'd lost rather early on in their trip.

He didn't want wolves to come and ruin that progress now, he didn't want wolves to come and demoralise the group. They were so close, but yet, in the same breath, they were also really far away."

Baffin Island: Day 11

Word Count: 75,017

Summary of Events:

The group came upon a rabbit hole, but Ben failed to catch the rabbit. Yukon found himself feeling quite irritable, and was encouraged by JT to take some time to himself. Yukon felt somewhat better after doing so, although he also felt a lot like giving up, which he first confessed to JT before deciding that he ought to tell everyone else as well . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""I like that pack idea," Ryan said. "It's almost like wolves."

"That's kind of why I said it," Yukon replied.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked.

"I feel like giving up," Yukon replied.

Kyle's jaw dropped. Ryan lifted the touque to look at Yukon for a brief moment before grimacing and putting the touque back down.

"Did I really just here you say that?" Ryan asked. "The Indefatigable Yukon Sarka actually wants to give up?"

"Yes," Yukon replied.

"Somebody better write that down," Ryan said. "Or are you rolling Kyle?"

"Not even close," Josh replied. "Unless you count the drool rolling out of his mouth as his jaw hangs slack in astonishment."

"I wanted to give up when we started this hunger trek," Alex said. "I don't see how activists can go on fasts for their causes. I don't have a cause and I don't ever want one."

"I was ready to give up when you told me this was all your fault," Ben said. "You've never been so obstinately self-condemning like that before. I never would've dreamed you would ever be so convinced that you're the bad guy in all this."

"I was ready to give up after Ryan nearly drowned." Josh said.

"I was ready to give up after the first day," Ryan said. "I'm actually enjoying this whole being carried around thing, except for my head hurting. But at least my legs aren't tired anymore."

"See, you are the last one," JT said.

Yukon sighed. "But to continue, as much as I feel like giving up, and I know that we all feel the same, we've kept going because the others around us have inspired us to keep going; after all, the only way we can get home is if we get ourselves there. Literally no one aside from us seven knows where we are, and they won't likely figure it out very soon either, considering that we've travelled over four hundred kilometres away from the helicopter, which is where they're going to go first."

"That's a pleasant thought," Ryan said.

"We have to get ourselves home whether we like it or not, and we've travelled four hundred kilometres so far, which is no small feat," Yukon said. "It's only because we're all in this together that we're going to make it the next four hundred kilometres."

"That sounds really inspiring, actually," Ryan said. "Like something some hero guy would say in a movie."

"I don't feel like a hero," Yukon said.

"You aren't really a hero, though," JT said. "It's not like we were in distress and you saved us. You're just the guy who's brought us together and held us together, even when we haven't really wanted to do this together. You're the one common factor we have, the glue that's kept us all together, and the one who knows the way home too.""

Baffin Island: Day 10

Word Count: 66,006

Summary of Events:

Prior to setting out after Ryan's near-drowning it was conclusively determined that Ryan had a concussion, and a severe enough one that he was to be carried, which Yukon determinedly helped with despite his sore wrists — having been thrown into a rock by the ocean while looking for Ryan — and ribs. When they stopped for the night they were officially inland, with the ocean quite distant from them. The next morning the wind finally stopped, but Ben's efforts to catch some rabbits were unfortunately futile; he and Yukon, being the only two awake, discussed the possibility of being found by searchers soon, considering it was nearly two weeks since they'd set out . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""In order to do that we just have to keep walking," Yukon said. "And if something comes along and makes our trip easier, that's great, but if something comes along and makes it worse we have to dig in and keep going, no matter how hard we've been taxed or are being taxed. No one knows where we are, no one knows how to find us, the only way we're going to get home is if we get ourselves there."

Ben nodded. "That's actually kind of a scary thought."

Yukon nodded. It'd occurred to him when they'd been deciding whether or not to set out on this trek, and he felt like he might have even shared it then, but thinking about it now, now that they'd left the place people knew they'd gone, made it all the more chilling.

They were literally in the middle of nowhere, and absolutely no one knew where they were aside from themselves. Everyone at home, all of their parents, siblings, other friends, other relatives, grandparents, and anyone else who knew they'd gone on a trip was probably more than sure that they were having a great time doing all those things people did on camping trips.

The reality was, however, that they'd forgotten their food, they'd been hunting and scavenging their way across the tundra, all of them were tired, many of them were injured, and on top of that, at the moment, they were starving.

Not to mention, in most of that time they'd travelled somewhere in the vicinity of four hundred kilometres on foot, all the while at high risk for being spotted and hunted by the savage carnivorous wildlife that called the island home.

When somebody — probably Josh's dad — arrived at the helicopter, the news he was going to bring back would be a sickening shock to everyone at home. The beginning of worry would be instantaneous.

Yukon hated to think of making people worry, but he knew it would happen regardless. Everyone would be frightened, he was sure the government would be called to get involved with the search right away and soon ships would be scouring the coast, planes and helicopters would be streaking the sky, and they might even have some ground crews with dogs that would go around trying to track their trail and figure out where they'd gone.

Considering the likelihood of all that searching commencing — which Yukon was more than sure was off-the-charts high — it would seem the likelihood of being found by helicopters and planes scouring the area would be equally as high, or at least, halfway as high.

If they made it all the way back to Iqaluit on foot, completely unseen by scouring aircraft would be almost disappointing, actually. It would either suggest that people looking for them were blind, or idiots, or that they were hiding from people. The other option was that people weren't looking on the route he'd tracked out with his map."

Baffin Island: Day 9

Word Count: 57,003

Summary of Events:

The wind continued to blow, leaving them no opportunity to stop and eat because starting a fire would be a waste of effort, which led to Ryan and Kyle complaining of hunger. When they stopped for the night Yukon gave Ryan and Kyle a talking-to about their griping. The next morning the wind continued and Josh unfortunately lost his sleeping bag to the more intense wind. Later on in the day the wind was still blowing when they had to go around a small fjord, unfortunately though, Ryan got swept into the ocean when a wave hit him while crossing, prompting Yukon and Ben to go after him in the water; it took awhile before they even found him, but they finally did . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Once he was on shore JT hauled him to his feet, where he staggered, in part under the weight of Ryan's backpack, which caused pain to shoot through his ribs, and in part because he still didn't have enough air in his lungs.

Ben soon emerged from the water with Ryan, who was limp and actually deathly pale. Yukon felt sick.

Josh appeared shortly and helped Ben haul Ryan away from the water while JT guided Yukon after them.

Yukon kept his gaze fixed on Ryan as Ben started doing compressions. Brackish seawater spewed out of Ryan's mouth in the rhythm of Ben's compressions, and it looked disgusting, but that wasn't why Yukon felt sick. Ryan was unmoving, unresponsive. He looked dead. Yukon could only hope he wasn't.

JT turned him away from Ryan and guided him toward where Kyle and Alex were sitting, both of them looking pale and ill.

Without a word JT removed Ryan's backpack, which he tossed at Kyle. He then peeled Yukon's soaked pants off of him and unfurled his sleeping bag, which he wordlessly ordered Yukon into.

Numbly, Yukon climbed in and huddled himself deeply inside it, burrowing in the warmth of its thick minus-forty-degree-rated insulation. He felt like some of the trembling was because of the fact that he was freezing, having been swimming in the Arctic Ocean — which was cold at the best of times — on a windy day, but also that some of it was fear.

A deep, dark, dreading, sickening fear. A fear that wouldn't let him think of anything else — even the fact that he was freezing: but that Ryan might possibly be dead.

He couldn't hear anything, and the longer the silence remained, the more ill he felt.

Even though he was thoroughly sure his stomach had nothing in it, having not eaten for the better part of two days, but he still felt like vomiting nonetheless. He had never felt so sick with fear in his life; even the uncertainty of life after his mom's death and the fright at having to travel alone to a place he'd never been to meet a man he'd never known were pathetic in comparison to the abject fear of this moment.

If Ryan was dead it was his fault. He'd chosen the route, he'd even insisted that they head for home in the first place! The last thing he wanted was to actually, really lose one of his friends, and even if the rest of his friends refused to blame him, others would surely, like Marc and Carolyn, much less Ashley, Dylan, and Kelsey — Dylan especially, considering he and Ryan were quite close.

Suddenly the sound of vomiting reached his ears; Yukon shot his head out of his sleeping bag and looked around frantically.

Ryan was sitting half up and turned toward the ocean. The vomiting sound came again and Yukon saw some rather brackish-looking water flow away from Ryan.

Yukon was about ready to collapse with relief. Ryan was alive."

Baffin Island: Day 8

Word Count: 48,004

Summary of Events:

Yukon woke up to find that a strong wind had rolled in overnight and stolen his t-shirt, it also nearly stole Alex's sleeping bag, but otherwise just moved things around and prevented them from being able to have breakfast because they couldn't light a fire, prompting them to set off on empty stomachs . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Yukon sighed and tried to keep relaxed. It was hard, considering that the wind, he was sure, was in the single digits above freezing, due to its ferocity and the fact that it was coming off the generally cold Arctic Ocean.

"This voiceover isn't going to work so well," Kyle said. "I guess I'll have to rerecord something at home that can go with all the other narration I want to put over when I've compiled all of the shots for the final edit."

"How long do you expect the final edit to be?" Alex asked.

"I have no idea," Kyle replied. "According to my math I've got about four days — as in twenty four hour days — worth of footage from since we started walking alone. So I've got about eighty six hours of footage."

"Ninety six," JT corrected.

"What do you mean ninety six?" Kyle asked. "Four and four is eight not nine."

"But eight and eight is sixteen, not six," JT replied. "Carried numbers don't go off into the Twilight Zone."

"Right," Kyle said. "And that's not counting the footage from our preparing to leave to the kayaking tournament."

"What is your optimum to pare it down to?" Alex asked.

"I'd say at max I'd want ten two-hour videos," Kyle replied. "If I could pare it down to one or two would be awesome. I could do four too."

"And if we want to see them we'd have to go onto YouTube?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Kyle replied. "Although I'd love to actually have premiers for them, especially so we can all watch it together, and maybe kind of reminisce about the trek. We could even bring family and stuff to watch them too."

"You do realise how expensive it is to fly between Ontario and Nunavut, right?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Kyle replied. "And if nobody wants to pay to fly either way we could maybe set up something of a simulcast, either that or we could send you guys a notice when it's officially uploaded and you guys can have a premier party up here and we can have one down there together, and maybe even have a Skype between each other to get reactions and stuff."

"The wonders of technology," Ben said.

"You sound like that's a bad thing," Josh said.

"No, it just sounds really complicated," Ben replied.

"I'd like to have it that you guys are either part of the first viewing or get to see the first or second viewing because you guys were a part of this," Kyle said. "If it weren't for you guys we wouldn't really have had a trip — much less pretty much all of our food."

"It's nice to be appreciated," Josh said."

Baffin Island: Day 7

Word Count: 45,046

Summary of Events:

Kyle spied what appeared to be seal, but upon the group's approaching them, they realised that they were walrus, which weren't worth trying to catch if they couldn't catch a seal. As they continued walking they got discussing the validity of respecting other people's desires and choices, which Yukon had initially feared would explode into an argument. Waking up the next morning, Yukon discovered some seals had come to the beach just beyond them after they'd gone to sleep and woke up Ben, Josh, and Alex to help him get one at last; unfortunately all the seals got woken up — but thankfully not before they'd secured their decided victim . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Yukon grimaced at the pain of the rope tightening and pinning his fingers between it and the neck flesh of the seal. He took the knife and struck it across the seal's neck.

Instantly the seal bellowed out in pain and turned toward Yukon with teeth bared once again.

Finding his mark, Yukon struck the knife through it again as the seal's head sagged weakly. Yukon quickly pulled his other hand free from the rope and dropped the knife before wrapping his arms around the seal's lower body as his friends scrambled to their feet.

"Pull!" Yukon shouted.

They pulled back while Yukon did his best to hold the seal in place.

"Release!" Yukon shouted.

"What are you trying to get us to do?" Ben demanded.

"One hard jerk!" Yukon replied.

"Alright," Ben said. "One, two, three, pull!"

A loud snap sounded in Yukon's ear. He released the seal and straightened.

"Why did you want the rope lifted?" Ben asked.

"So I wouldn't cut it when I went to cut the seal," Yukon replied.

"Why didn't you move right away when we lifted then?" Josh asked.

"I don't know," Yukon replied.

"What was with the jerk here now?" Alex asked.

"To break his neck," Yukon replied. "That ensures he's wholly dead."

"Well it's successfully dead," Ben said. "And that's what's important."

"Now we get the eyeballs!" Alex said gleefully.

"Dibs!" Josh exclaimed.

"I get the other one!" Alex said.

"What?" Ben swore. "Yukon and I came up with the idea."

"But Yukon said I'd get one if I helped," Alex said.

"Didn't I say there might be an eyeball in it for you?" Yukon asked.

"Come on, please?" Alex asked.

"Yukon's the one who's been through all kinds of stuff throughout our trip," Josh said.

Alex looked at them sadly. "But I'm the youngest one here!"

"No, actually," Yukon said. "Ryan's two months younger."

"So you mean he hasn't had his birthday yet?" Ben asked.

"It's later on in the month," Yukon replied.

"Am I still the oldest?" Josh asked.

"No," Yukon replied. "Kyle had his birthday in March."

"And I know I'm younger than JT because I'm born in December," Ben said. "But regardless of your age Alex, you haven't been through half of what Yukon's been through."

Alex sighed.

"You can have it," Yukon said. "I don't know if I said I might or not, so I did kind of promise it to you."

"But Ben's right," Alex said. "You've been through a lot."

"There's still time to catch another seal before we head inland," Yukon replied. "And if we don't then you just owe me one next time you go hunting."

"Wouldn't you much rather have it fresh, though?" Alex asked.

"I still have a chance," Yukon replied. "And if not, invite me hunting then."

Alex shifted his jaw.

"Let's carry this thing back to the camp so we can get started cooking it and have it ready for breakfast," Ben said. "We'll discuss the eyeballs once we have them out.""

Baffin Island: Day 6

Word Count: 39,051

Summary of Events:

Yukon woke up and found that not only were they surrounded in a fog, but he couldn't find Ulloriaq. In spite of all his efforts, Yukon couldn't summon her, and his friends refused to let him go looking for her, which incited him to great rage that caused them to knock him unconscious. When he woke up he mourned Ulloriaq for a bit before finally deciding to continue on with his friends, who waited for him. Even still as they travelled, Yukon kept looking for Ulloriaq and hoping she would find them, but to no avail. They then spied some seal coming in to shore and tried to catch one by roping it, although they roped a male seal, which required all of them to haul on the rope to bring him in . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"It soon seemed like they were making good progress, considering that they were actually moving. Suddenly the line jerked and Yukon found himself falling backwards, with Josh doing the same ahead of him.

His back slamming into JT sent a vicious pain shooting through his ribcage, and Josh landing on him only added to that pain. If he would've been able to breathe Yukon was sure he would have screamed.

"Get off of me," Yukon swore through his teeth.

It took longer than Yukon appreciated for him to be free to get up, but when he finally got free a vicious pain shot through him as he tried to get up and he collapsed to the ground, tears of pain running down his cheeks.

Hands grabbed at his arm and hauled him up, leading to even more excruciating pain that sent him crumpling down to the ground again. He swore as tears poured out of his eyes, he couldn't hardly see anything between the agonising pain and the tears that it caused.

"His ribs," Ben said.

Josh swore.

Yukon rolled so that he was laying on his back and whimpered.

"Let me have a look," Ben said quietly.

"No," Yukon whimpered.

He felt Ben lift up his shirt anyways, and then there was the prodding, which prompted him to cry out and try writhing away, which only agonised him all the more. He had never experienced such wretched pain in his life.

"Hold still Yukon," Ben said.

As much as he wanted to, for Ben's sake, he couldn't, the pain was too much for him to keep still.

"Josh, come sit on him," Ben said.

Yukon screamed when Josh's weight settled onto his ribcage. His eyes felt like they were popping out of his head with the pain, and yet he couldn't see a thing. He shrieked and flailed.

"Get off," Ben said loudly.

The pain subsided some, but not enough. Yukon took a deep breath and sobbed. He didn't know why it seemed everything unbearable had to happen to him, first his dog disappeared, and now he was pretty sure his ribcage had been shattered into a billion pieces that were stabbing everywhere.

"Can I at least get someone to sit on his legs?" Ben asked. "And somebody else to hold his arms?"

Yukon cried out when his arms were pulled upward, but they weren't held tightly or anything, besides, that pain became insignificant when Ben started applying the salve.

The pressure on his ribcage blinded him with pain. He screamed and fought against the holds on his legs and arms viciously. He had never thought that pain this excruciating could be lived through, and he wished that it wasn't dearly. He wanted nothing more than to die at this moment."

Baffin Island: Day 5

Word Count: 30,064

Summary of Events:

Alex spotted some seals as they were walking and he, Ben, and Josh tried to kill one, but failed, and Josh got deeply bitten in the process. As a result, they went without supper and breakfast the following morning, but Ulloriaq caught a ptarmigan to stave off their hunger. Yukon was woken by the howling of wolves and thought that he'd lost Ulloriaq, only to realise that she'd been howling with the wolves, which displeased him; his calling for her woke up the others and Ben discovered that he had a broken rib. Having stopped for another day, Yukon and Alex went into the ocean to catch some fish for their meal . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""Where do you think we want to go looking for fish?" Yukon asked.

"I don't know, maybe a little more–"

"Eagh! What is that?" Yukon exclaimed surging up out of the water.

"What is what?" Alex asked.

"Something touched me on the ribs," Yukon replied.

"What did it feel like?" Alex asked.

"It was small and– aagain!" Yukon exclaimed, flailing.

"I didn't see anything," Alex said.

"It was like I was being kissed on the side by something with a mouth the size of a Barbie doll," Yukon said.

"You don't think . . ." Alex trailed off, as if expecting Yukon to know what he was thinking.

"I have no idea what you're laying down," Yukon said.

"The fish are attracted to the salve," Alex said.

Yukon looked at Alex sceptically. He couldn't be serious, could he? What could possibly be in the salve that the fish might think appealing? It was a ridiculous idea, but yet it didn't seem entirely out of the question either.

"Come closer to the shore so you don't have to tread water," Alex said. "Let's see if I'm right."

Yukon swam until his feet touched the sand.

"Now hold this at your armpit and hold this out," Alex said, handing Yukon a corner of the net.

"What about the bottom of the net?" Yukon asked.

"Ben!" Alex called.

Ben hurried into the water.

"How about you hold it at my armpit and I hold it underwater?" Yukon suggested. "I think that's less weird for both of us."

"Yeah," Ben agreed.

"And I'll hold it here," Alex said. "And now we'll wait and see, just try and hold still if they touch you, we want to eat them."

"This is ridiculous," Yukon muttered.

He inhaled sharply when he felt the sensation again and Alex swam in close. "Let go with your left hand!"

Yukon did so and Alex wrapped the net around his back. He could feel something writhing against him.

"Now what?" Yukon asked, squirming in discomfort at the writhing sensation.

"Come on," Alex said, pushing Yukon toward the shore.

"I told you they're attracted to the salve!" Alex exclaimed as Yukon's back cleared the water. "That was a cinch!"

"Just so long as you know the salve is not applied specifically for fishing purposes, we still have potential for further injures along the way," Ben warned.

"Can you get it off my back?" Yukon asked. "I'm not enjoying this."

Alex hurried Yukon over to their campsite and released the net. Yukon turned around to see quite the sizeable fish writhing around on the ground. Josh handed Alex a club, with which he struck the fish on the head, causing it to stop moving.

Nice as it was to have supper, the method of catching it had been more than a little awkward and unpleasant, as far as Yukon was concerned."

Baffin Island: Day 4

Word Count: 24,027

Summary of Events:

Yukon got to thinking about how the fact they were hiking home was his fault because he'd wanted to do the trip. Ben noticed and worked to convince him that nothing of the sort was true. As they were talking Ulloriaq suddenly took off at a run . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"A sudden horrible thought struck Yukon: Ulloriaq was carrying all the firewood, and it could hinder her abilities to attack or fight, which could lead to her getting injured.

Quickly he picked up into a run after her. He felt like his backpack was slowing him down, but he wasn't sure if it was the best thing just to drop his backpack and hope someone else would pick it up.

The ground suddenly dropped out from under him and he hit the bottom harder than he'd expected. Pain shot through his ribcage, wrist, and ankle, but regardless he scrambled over the top again and pushed himself to keep running despite the pain that shot up his ankle and through his ribcage with every stride and breath.

Ulloriaq was still running, and as fast as he was going, Yukon felt like he was falling behind. He had to catch her before she got hurt. He urged himself to go faster yet, but even still he felt like that wasn't getting him anywhere.

Unfastening his backpack as he ran, Yukon pulled it off. The reduction of weight made him feel almost like he'd just dropped an elephant off his back. He felt like he could fly almost.

But even still, he felt like he was getting nowhere in relation to Ulloriaq, but he refused to let himself give up, he needed to get the firewood off of her before she got hurt or killed by it or because of it.

Yukon thrust his legs at the ground as hard as he could, trying to push himself further and further ahead, trying to gain on Ulloriaq somehow.

Suddenly Ulloriaq came to a halt. Yukon ran for all he was worth to try and gain some ground before she started off again.

When she did start off again Yukon noticed that she was coming back just as fast as she'd left, but he kept running anyways. She'd get to him faster if he worked on getting to her as fast as he could.

Something moved under his foot as he went to push off another stride, and instead of continuing to go forward, Yukon went down face-first, the wrist that he'd hurt before making contact with the ground again and sending a shot of near-blinding pain up through his arm before it buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

His sides heaved in spite of the pain that shot through his left side. He wanted to get up, but he couldn't make himself do anything other than breathe.

He heard the rapid four beats of Ulloriaq's gallop as she got closer. It slowed down, though, until finally she was right beside him, nosing at him and whimpering sadly.

Yukon still hadn't pulled enough air into his lungs to do anything else, so he just kept breathing, even though he wanted to say something to Ulloriaq, much less pull the harness off of her and let her go get whatever she'd run off to bring."

Baffin Island: Day 3

Word Count: 21,079

Summary of Events:

Despite his tiredness from the kayaking tournament the day before, Yukon got up and prepared to leave. After packing what they couldn't carry into the helicopter they all set out toward Iqaluit . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"After a bit Kyle jogged past so as to come around and be in front of the group, walking backwards, one of his three cameras he hadn't left behind out in front of him; his phone and one of his GoPros were the other two he'd brought along to shoot with.

"Here we are heading out from our campsite," Kyle narrated. "Our hope that our forgotten food would be noticed and brought to us, unfortunately, was not realised, and so we undertake the trek home. Eight hundred and fifty kilometres or so on foot."

"Or more, not or so," Yukon said. "Guaranteed it'll be nothing less than eight hundred and fifty K."

"Based on the estimations of our esteemed guide, this will take us no less than three weeks," Kyle continued. "In other words, we will be walking for awhile."

"My speculation is that a trip on foot of this length hasn't been undertaken in a good century," Yukon said. "With the advent of vehicular traffic, and the greater availability of horses even, in North America have eliminated the long foot treks of old."

"What about Terry Fox?" JT asked. "Didn't he get from BC to Ontario on foot?"

"I thought he started in the Maritimes," Alex said.

"I don't know," Yukon replied. "Besides, there was a vehicle always keeping an eye on him, and, above all, it was not out of necessity. He didn't need to do it. He wanted to do it."

"So you're saying a trek of necessity of this length hasn't been undertaken in a good century," Ryan said.

"Exactly," Yukon replied. "For sure not in the last fifty years. Planes and cars, much less trains, have eliminated the need for treks like this."

"And horses too," JT added.

"Yeah, them too," Yukon said. "None of which we have."

"And we wouldn't want to break poor Ulloriaq," Ben said.

"I feel bad enough making her carry the firewood," Yukon said.

"All this to say that this is probably the most unique video to be posted in the existence of YouTube," Kyle said. "Never has such a thing been documented; and, honestly, I hadn't expected to document something like this. I was thinking fun in the far north, not survival in the far north."

"It's like an unscripted DIY Survivor or something," Ryan said.

"And a little more vicious than Survivor," JT said. "One, because nobody can get voted off the island because there's nowhere to go, and two, because if the group's numbers reduce that means somebody died."

"And we won't think about that, if you don't mind," Josh said. "It's bad enough I'm leaving a hundred thousand dollar plus helicopter full of more valuables yet behind, I don't want to think about dying.""

Baffin Island: Day 2

Word Count: 18,027

Summary of Events:

Yukon woke up before everyone else and found that his dog was missing; he successfully called her and discovered that she'd found a whale that had recently died, from which he harvested some meat for a meal. He and his friends then decided to have a kayak racing tournament to spend some of the time while they waited to see if their food would be brought to them, which didn't seem to be happening.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Yukon looked over at Alex and raised his eyebrows.

"Readysetgo!" Alex shouted before taking off.

"Not even fair!" Yukon shouted, starting of after him.

Alex only laughed.

Yukon flung his paddles as fast as he could go and quickly not only caught up to Alex, but passed him.

"Like you needed a fair start!" Alex complained.

Yukon laughed. "You're right! It probably would've only made you look worse!"

Alex swore. "I'm going to need to start going to the gym and trying to become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger!"

"I don't think that'll do anything for you!" Yukon called, turning around tight and starting back. "It has to work, not just look good!"

"Fine then!" Alex replied. "I'll kayak home and kayak all the rest of the summer and all winter!"

Yukon turned sharply to parallel the shore when his paddle struck sand and let himself just gently float.

After a few moments Alex joined him.

"There's a problem with your plan," Yukon said.

"And what's that?" Alex asked.

"Our route takes us overland, otherwise it would take us months to get back to Iqaluit," Yukon replied.

"We're not going to find much food overland," Alex said.

"There'll be rabbits," Yukon replied.

"Yeah, but what are we going to catch them with?" Alex asked. "The ground's too solid for pit traps, I didn't bring any of my live or clamp traps, and we can't really effectively build a snare either."

"Maybe Ulloriaq can catch them for us," Yukon replied. "She's faster than we are, and she's been intent on practising her hunting skills as it is."

"Will she catch them without eating them or infusing them with dog germs?" Alex asked.

"She got the bird when we arrived," Yukon replied.

"Yeah, but birds have longer necks than rabbits do," Alex replied.

"Good point," Yukon said. "I don't know. We may have to try for a seal or two the night before and see if we can carry some meat along with us for a couple of days."

"How long will the overland part take?" Alex asked.

"A good half the trip," Yukon replied.

"So we'll have a week and a half to two weeks on the coast and then the same overland?" Alex asked.

"About, yeah," Yukon replied. "If I recall correctly."

"Being as there's that whale, though, couldn't we just stay here and live off the whale for two weeks?" Alex asked.

"It isn't going to dip below freezing in the next two weeks," Yukon replied. "Do you really want to eat two week old whale meat? It's going to have rotted something terrible by then, and it'd probably be more likely to kill us than help us survive."

"I guess that's true," Alex said. "Especially being as we can't smoke any of it or anything like that."

"It's better to keep moving and keep finding fresh meat than to try and stay in one place and make use of the whale," Yukon said.

Alex sighed and swore. "It really seems like we're being forced to have to go home whether we want to or not.""

Pronunciation:

Ulloriaq: youlohreeack

Baffin Island: Day 1

Word Count: 9,024

Summary of Events:

Yukon and his friends loaded everything into the helicopter and set out for Baird Peninsula. Upon arriving they unpacked their things and settled down to have supper . . . only to realise that the coolers containing their food were nowhere to be found. His friend who piloted the helicopter went to go back to Iqaluit to get the food, only to have the helicopter fail. After some work his friend determined that the failure was something he couldn't fix without parts from Iqaluit, leaving the group to decide whether they wanted to wait to be found or head back on foot . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""I though we came here to have fun, though," Ryan said. "Walking for three weeks doesn't sound like fun to me."

"I don't know about you," JT said. "But all things considered, I don't feel like I could have all that much fun either way: hoping that someone will bring us our food or come find us when we're done, or having to go for a three week walk after we spend two weeks here."

"We wouldn't want to wait two weeks before setting out for home," Yukon said.

"But if we tried to stay here and have fun for two weeks, considering the situation, I wouldn't want to have to be looking forward to a wait of unknown length or a three week walk," JT said. "I don't think any of us are in the mood to just have fun anymore."

Everyone around the fire shook their head.

"So then we're presented with the options: do we just want to wait here, spending our days hunting for our meals, waiting for someone to show up either with our food or to convey us home; or do we want to start heading home?" Yukon asked.

"I don't think we should head home straight away," Josh said. "I mean, there is the possibility someone's seen our food."

"Yeah, but still," Yukon said.

"I say we should wait at least two days before setting out, just in case someone has seen our food," Josh said. "And if someone arrives with our food then we're set and we stay here for the rest of the time — because we'd tell them about what happened and they can bring us the part and then we'll be able to go home — and if not, then we go home."

Yukon shifted his jaw.

"That sounds reasonable," Alex said.

Ben nodded.

"I mean, we should give it a chance," Ryan said. "After all, I don't really want to go for a big long hike if we don't have to."

"Exactly," Kyle said.

"Why should we wait two days?" Yukon asked.

"Well, because there's the possibility that someone's seen the food today and will bring it to us tomorrow," Josh replied. "However, there is also the possibility that Dad will only notice it tomorrow morning, and because he'll have the trip with the researchers he probably won't be able to bring it to us until the day after."

"If it's not noticed in two days then it's not worth waiting around for," JT said.

Yukon shifted his jaw again.

"Exactly," Josh said. "We'll probably end up eating more hunting than the food we prepared for the trip than we prepared for the trip by that point."

"Are we sure it will only take three weeks?" Ben asked.

"Yes," Yukon replied. "I looked at my topographic map, and the terrain isn't all that rough along the route we'd take. I mean, there are some difficult bits, but they shouldn't really slow us down all that much. At most it'll take us a month.""

September Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Baffin Island

Time Setting: 2017

Genre: Thriller

Minimum Word Goal: 120,000

Timespan: July 1-21

Location: Baird Peninsula, Baffin Island, Nunavut

Main Character: Yukon Sarka

Background Information:

Conceived from a brief encounter between his parents, he lived a generally unstable life with his mother, mainly due to her alcoholism and resultant need for money to feed her addiction.

He was born in British Columbia, and lived there until he was three years old. His mother then learned that her father lived in Iqaluit in Nunavut, and moved them there, where the instability only increased.

His grandfather was a man of many women, and many of them, and many of his children by them, all lived in the same house. This was a significant stressor for him, but it was thankfully met with some relief.

His grandfather's sister and her husband lived just down the street, and offered a much more stable environment — much less one that had some peace and quiet — which led to him quickly spending a lot more time with them than with anyone else.

In fact, he spent so much time with his great aunt and uncle that they added a special bedroom for him onto the plans for the house they built when he was seven, and dedicated a lot of their time to caring for him and teaching him about his Inuit heritage.

When he was on the cusp of thirteen, however, things changed. After having spent the night with his great aunt and uncle, he went to school like any other day, only to be shortly summoned to the principal's office, where a police officer informed him that his mother had been killed.

His great aunt and uncle sought to have him put under their care, but probing by the government revealed that his mother had placed a name down for his father on is birth certificate. The man lived in Ontario and was contacted. He asked for a paternity test to be sure and the results came back that they were indeed father and son.

With the encouragement of his great aunt and uncle, he was sent to Ontario to meet his father, stepmother, and half siblings, and found that, despite his fears, his father was a nice man who was more than pleased not only to meet him, but to care about him.

His stepmother was overbearing in his mind, and his half siblings didn't really appreciate him all that much, most especially his older brother, but the loving care of his father has made up for the shortcomings of the rest of his family.

Having, still, a deep love and care for his great aunt and uncle, he has spent his summers with them, also appreciating the more rural atmosphere in Nunavut, and the ability to get out into nature much more than he has in Ontario.

After graduating high school he went into university for a wilderness-related degree; not that he's entirely sure what he's going to use it to do, but he has a deep love for nature and wishes to do something that allows him to be in the great, wild, untamed outdoors far more than indoors or in an urban environment.

In the last month he finally graduated from university, and to celebrate he has decided to go on a trip with his three closest friends from Ontario and his three closest friends from Nunavut, with the destination being the uninhabited Baird Peninsula on Baffin Island for two weeks of near-complete isolation from the outside world, which might possibly allow him to put his new education to use.

Pronunciations:

Nunavut: noonahvoot

Iqaluit: ihkahlooeet