Totoka River uuliktuk ☙

He could almost smell the sea.  He had paused by the bank in a moment of thoughtful speculation, to plan his next moves since soon he would be out of room to walk in this direction.  

He heard the noise before he felt it, a distant rumble that quickly was on top of him, a stampede of the invisible.  But it did nothing -- there were no clues and he felt more like he was walking through a rushing river than walking on the flat ground.  Birds took off elsewhere, but somewhere another wolf shrieked as the tumult continued.  If he was on a mountain he'd call it an avalanche, but here he was out in the open, frozen in his spot by the unfamiliar.

Then the earth calmed, and shakily he took a few steps as if expecting the world beneath him to betray its normal stillness again.  He had heard her, but hadn't seen her, and called out in return, Hello?  Do you need help?  The man stood alert, ears forward, a show of confidence, even though his words had slightly wavered.