The Midnight Fox

Over the following weeks, Tom looks for the black fox, walking through the woods and searching the peaceful ravine. One day, Tom is lying on his stomach on a sun-warmed rock when he sees the black fox run up the ravine and into the underbrush. Tom waits, sensing that she will be back. He passes the time by watching insects and birds. He even slips into a daydream about an old man who invents a flying machine. In the daydream, everyone dismisses the old man because airplanes already exist, but then he presses a button on his backpack and flies away, leaving everyone stunned and disappointed that they didn’t let him explain.

Suddenly, the fox interrupts Tom’s fantasy by returning with a frog in her mouth. She freezes when she sees Tom but simply cocks her head and looks at him with curiosity before continuing into the underbrush. Over the next few days, Tom searches for the fox’s den but only finds the nests of birds, hornets and chipmunks. He sees an old owl and a possum, but no fox. The following day, Tom goes to the creek instead of the ravine and sits beside the water, watching crayfish and schools of tiny fish.