Through Black Spruce

While running one morning, Will encounters a bear. Instead of running away when he throws a rock at it, it starts to approach him. Will sprints away from the bear and falls to the ground; “the [bear’s] growl sounded like a poorly tuned motor. I screamed. A rusty door squeaked” (41). His friend Joe stands at his feet. Will is afraid and embarrassed but accepts a ride home from his friend.

Will then describes why he wanted to be a pilot: “I wanted to leave this place, this ground, this earth, and just soar” (42). His parents lived very traditional lives, and Will wanted to escape. He becomes a pilot the day that his mother died from brain cancer caused when “the army […] left piles of oozing barrels” (42). His father gifts Will the rifle after his first flying assignment. He is afraid of his son flying alone, and Will is afraid whenever he leaves his Cree-speaking father alone in town.

Attempting to socialize Gordon, Annie takes him to a local bar but immediately regrets it. The place feels hostile; “a lot of people milling about there are Netmaker allies” (45). After two beers turn into five, Annie starts dancing, and Gordon heads to the bathroom.