About Grace

Winkler sleeps for two days, considering the repetitiveness of life in his few clear moments. He wonders if he’s trying to allow nature to take his life and wonders why he has survived up until now. He can’t believe Naaliyah is there. He admires her dedication to her work and her continuing fascination with insects.

When Winkler is stronger, Naaliyah tells him she’s going to Fairbanks for supplies. Winkler tells her that his family is dead. When he tells her all that has happened, Naaliyah accuses him of giving up. She tells him he should continue to look for Grace. In addition, she wants to take him to Fairbanks because she worries about his health. Winkler begs her to allow him to stay, offering her money to get more supplies for him too. She reluctantly agrees and teaches him how to care for the insects while she’s gone.

After Naaliyah leaves, Winkler forces himself to get up and eat some tuna. He cares for the insects, thinking how monotonous this would be for Naaliyah after a while. He goes to the shed and discovers a bed there covered in furs. He sleeps there. The next day, he goes for a walk, discovering without his glasses the unique light of the area. When he returns to the cabin, Naaliyah has returned with her purchases. They spend the afternoon stowing everything away. Winkler announces that he’ll sleep in the shed from now on. Naaliyah gives him glasses that she bought him.

Winkler attempts to stay out of Naaliyah’s way during the day, cutting wood and walking in the area. They share tea together at night before they go to bed. Naaliyah goes to Eagle every Friday to get the mail and call her professor. The days grow longer, and Winkler finds himself thinking about the past.

November brings freezing weather. Naaliyah concentrates on breaking down firewood and stacking it wherever she can find space. Winkler is anxious for snow to begin. When it finally snows, he walks along the creek most of the night, enjoying the falling snow. He remembers seeing a microscope in the cabin. He takes it outside and studies snowflakes he catches as they fall. He tries to find an independent snow crystal, but finding them is difficult, and when he does, they melt too quickly to study. Naaliyah encourages him to go inside due to the cold. It snows again a few days later, and Winkler again goes outside. When he comes back inside, Naaliyah tells him that the microscope has a photomicrography set he can use to take photographs. He asks her to get film for it. However, his eyesight, the shake in his hands, and the lack of light make getting good pictures difficult.

On Christmas, Naaliyah makes a chicken dish and reveals a gift from Soma and Felix. It contains a cake mix, which they make even though they don’t have all the ingredients, and letters from Soma. The letter talks about those left behind in St. Vincent, including Felix’s heavy drinking and Soma’s plan to visit Chile. Naaliyah gives Winkler a second envelope that contains an address for Herman Sheeler. She says that Soma wanted to do something to help, but Winkler is annoyed by her interference.

Winkler keeps the address for Herman but doesn’t consider writing to him. Instead, he focuses on getting a print of a snow crystal and ignores Naaliyah’s concern about his staying out in the shed without a source of heat. As January slowly progresses, the cold deepens. Winkler can no longer stay outside for longer than a few minutes. At the end of January, the generator breaks down. Naaliyah works on it but grows frustrated. Winkler encourages her to go inside and eat something, telling her that they’ll try to work on it again but if they can’t get it going by morning, they’ll leave. Naaliyah goes back to work on the generator and eventually gets it working again.

In February, Naaliyah encourages Winkler to reach out to Herman. She tells him that at the very least, he can learn what happened to Grace. He continues to resist. February is as cold as January, but Winkler gets his first good print. In the middle of the month, they see the northern lights. Winkler gets more prints but nothing nearly as vast as what W. A. Bentley was able to do in his book Snow Crystals. One day, he sees a moose looking in the window of the cabin, but Naaliyah isn’t aware of it. The moose reminds him of the deer he saw that he didn’t wake Sandy to see. He finally decides to write to Herman.

Winkler writes three letters to Herman, telling him about the Yukon and asking for information on Grace. Time passes. March comes, and the weather slowly begins to warm. He writes to Herman one more time, deciding that he has only one dream left: a desire to know about Grace.

In April, Winkler continues to focus on his prints. Naaliyah begins a relationship with the ranger she’s been communicating with over the radio and also starts going into town to dance. Some nights, she doesn’t return until very late. Some nights, she doesn’t come home at all.

Winkler writes a letter to Herman explaining how Winkler and Sandy would meet on Wednesday when Herman was at hockey. Winkler apologizes for hurting Herman and begs to know something about Grace.

The snow and ice begin to melt. After a routine Friday trip to town for the mail, Naaliyah returns with a letter from Herman. The letter tells Winkler that not only is Grace alive, but she’s also been married and divorced and is the mother to a young son. Winkler thinks of the morning his father found his mother dead and went to the neighbors’ house to use the phone. Winkler saw the ghosts of the animals of the tanner’s pelts gather around his mother, escorting her spirit away.

Winkler and Naaliyah begin their journey back to Anchorage. The truck becomes stuck several times, but they make it to the Yukon safely and begin the 500-mile trip home.