On a dogsled, an Eskimo hunter is controlling the direction and going forward smoothly on the snow.
The sled is carrying the hunter with a beard in the white furry hat, as well as a dead seal. Some fish in different sizes are in a string, waggling by the side.
After climbing over a few snow dunes, the hunter sees a house made of ice. He pulls the rein. The sled slides on the snow for a few meters and stops steadily.
The hunter rubs off the ice crystals on his beard with his thick gloves and drags the dead seal down the sled. An adult seal can weigh 180kg, and the weight of this young seal is at least over 100kg. If he didn’t have a sled, he would have a hard time bringing the seal back after killing it.
The hunter lifts the woolen door curtain of the ice house. An Eskimo teenage girl stands up, “Dad, you catch a seal today?”
The hunter puts down the seal. Looking at his daughter Tess’s glad little face, he rubs her hair. Winter has gone and there will be enough food for them. His daughter will no longer be starved. How can he not be happy?
Tess runs out and hugs the sled dog. She comes back with the string of fish. Food is too much, so she buries the fish under the snow to keep them fresh and clean.
Tess is only ten years old but she has already started helping out her family. She skillfully butchers the seal along with her father.
“Dad, look!” While washing the seal meat, Tess finds a bead covered in blood in its stomach. She rubs the bead on the snow and finds that it is a round and shiny pearl. She holds it up and shows it to her dad.
The hunter takes the pearl and looks at it. A pearl like this is rarely seen at the North Pole. God knows what the seal has eaten.
Since Tess likes the pearl, he gives it to her to play with.
The hunter feeds the dog with the seal’s viscera and comes back to enjoy the meat with his daughter.
It is hard to make a fire in this ice land. Thus, the Eskimos always eat raw meat for a living. Recently, with the development of society, few Eskimos still live in ice houses and eat raw meat except for those who live at the North Pole. The hunter and his daughter are two of the few people who stick to this traditional way of living.
After eating, Tess lies on the blanket and plays with the bead.
Some Eskimos live nearby, and they always help each other. The hunter sends most of the rest seal meat to his neighbors.
Tess is alone in the ice house. She is tossing the bead and enjoying the fun. The Eskimos came to the North Pole from Asia thousands of years ago, and they look like typical Mongolians: short figure, yellow skin, and black hair. Tess herself actually looks like a girl in the State of Huaxia.
The hunter is back. Seeing that Tess is still playing with the bead, he is glad that she likes it so much. Tess’s mother died while giving birth to her. All these years, he raised her with goat’s milk and went hunting to keep her stomach full. However, he really had no idea how to play with a teenage girl… Even the sled dog was able to make the little girl happier than he could.
There is no night in summer at the North Pole. It is the end of winter and the beginning of summer, and the night comes late with snowstorm.
Since they live in an ice house, they can’t make a fire at night or else the house may melt down. The hunter covers Tess with a thick blanket made of bear skin. He is so tired because of all the hunting today and he falls asleep soon at the other corner of the house.
Out of no reason, Tess is having a hard time sleeping tonight though she is full.
She is holding the bead she found in the seal’s stomach in her hand. The bead seems to be warm, and she doesn’t want to put it away in this cold night.
Tess has heard of several fairy tales. This bead comes to her in a strange way, so she feels that a fairy must live in the bead.
Certainly, until the little girl stays up late and finally falls asleep, no fairy comes out of the bead. Water Reiki is fluctuating around the bead, which is the reason why it attracts the little girl so much.
The next day is sunny. After having seal meat for breakfast, the hunter goes to discuss things with the neighbors.
Tess stays at home and plays with the sled dog. Water Reiki around the bead continues to gather, and its affinity makes the little girl unwilling to put it away.
The hunter returns home at lunch.
The Eskimos have saved a lot of seal skins during winter. They hate to be exploited by the fur traders so they plan to go to the town and sell the skins by themselves. The hunter will be gone for a few days, and he tells Tess to stay at home and not to go out at night.
Tess promises without hesitation, but her mind is actually focused on the bead.
After talking to his daughter, the hunter moves out all the seal skins he has saved during winter and loads them on the sled. He leaves with some food.
Tess is born lively. She stays at home for the first two days. However, she is just a teenager. She has no one to talk to in this ice land, and the sled dog is gone with her father. Listening to the sound of wind and snow hitting the door curtain, Tess is sleepless.
The sound of sobbing comes from nearby. Tess is scared and curious. She gets up and lifts the door curtain quietly.
There is a row of footprints in front of the door which are not completely covered by snow.
Is her father back already?
Every time her father comes back from the town, he brings many shiny candies. Thinking of the sweetness of the candies, Tess forgets about the sobbing sound. She assumes that her father is at the neighbor’s so she puts on a fur coat and runs out, following the footprints.
Wind is blowing along with snow. In the dark, the little girl can’t even open her eyes. She is unable to tell the directions, so she lowers her head and follows the footprints. Of course, she fails to realize that this is not the way to the neighbor’s.
Tess has no idea how long she has been walking. All she can feel is that her legs are getting numb and her body is chilled to the bone.
Tess looks up and around and finally realizes that she is lost! Getting lost on the ice land at night is deadly.
Little Tess finally remembers that her father has told her not to go out at night. Her lips are blue because of the coldness. She tries so hard to hold back her tears.
At this moment, Tess hears that something is moving. She barely opens her eyes and looks to that way. Several meters away, there is a strong figure. Father?
Tess trots forward. She covers her mouth with her hand after seeing the figure clearly — it is not her father. A polar bear is holding some meat, and the red cord on the meat was tied by her!
Father is not home yet. The polar bear is stealing the seal meat and fish Tess buried under the snow outside her house!
The polar bear smells the living human. Polar bears are not picky. They even eat rotten meat when they can’t catch fish in summer. Of course they eat human, especially little ones who are defenseless like Tess… The polar bear throws away the meat in its hand and rushes at Tess.
Tess turns around and starts running. She falls down on the ground, and the bead in her hand drops. Tess can’t see where the bead is in the dark.
With her feet stuck in the snow, ten-year-old Tess is too scared to cry. The claws of the polar bear become closer and closer. Tess curls up and calls for her father, shaking.
Suddenly, a beam of dazzling light bursts out in the direction which the bead drops to. The polar bear is scared and it takes a few steps back.
Tess’s eyes are wide open. She stares at the bead which she has been playing with for days. The bead shines and gradually floats into the sky. With a blink of an eye, a woman in dress shows up—
Against the light, Tess can’t see the woman’s face clearly. The glowing bead hangs on her wrist like a little sun which lights up the night at the North Pole.
The woman’s dress is so thin and pretty. Is the woman a fairy who comes to save her?
Tess stares at the fairy who is walking closer to her and cries.
