When my brother and I were hunting for seals, a skeleton woman approached us. She approached us, clattering over the ice. She wanted to speak to us.

We were scared out of our wits, and ran home to our father like little children. The old man was amazed, and now he’s gone off to meet her. We don’t expect him to return. Why run towards your death? 

The Inuit Brother in The Magic Drum, Tales of the Igloo, collected by Maurice Metayer, 1972. Illustration, “Praying Skeleton,” William Cheselden, 1733.