There once was a boy who lived in Corwin, Alaska. Corwin is a village near the top of Alaska. The boy's village had no water. Since no one in the village had volunteered to help get water, the boy secretly decided he would get water himself from the closest river. The closest river was the Kukpuk River. It took a lot of planning. He had to pack all of his food and things he needed.

One night when everyone in the village was asleep, he crept out of his house to begin his journey. He was creeping very quietly when all of a sudden he heard a terrifying CRACK!!! He got so terribly startled his legs wouldn't move. No sound came out of his mouth. He stood there face to face with a bear. The Boy's reaction was to run. He climbed up a tree to get away from the bear. As his eyes adjusted to the dark he could see that it was a grizzly bear. He stayed in the tree until the bear was gone. He climbed down the tree while being aware of the sounds around him.

The boy, whose name was Sinpak, heard animal noises and darted around. A fox came out of the brush. Sinpak moved towards the fox. The fox felt threatened and charged Sinpak, knocking him to the ground. to Sinpak's surprise, the fox started licking Sinpak. He started laughing.

Sinpak and the fox became friends. The fox and Sinpak went down a path that would lead them in the direction of water. All of a sudden a bear tore out of the woods. Sinpak didn't like to think about his last bear experience. Sinpak hid in the bushes while he watched his best friend get in a fight with a ferocious, hungry bear. The bear ripped the fox and ate part of him. Sinpak cautiously walked to the fox. Sinpak couldn't believe it. His best friend was dead. Sinpak wept as he continued on towards water.

Soon, Sinpak was looking at the big Kukpuk River. He searched for his bucket in his pack. He couldn't find it. He looked again. Sinpak screamed. He was astonished he had lost his bucket. He had wanted so much to please his village and had traveled so far, just to fail. When he looked into the sky he saw the spirit of the fox. The fox spoke to Sinpak and said "Do not worry, I will provide you with something."

Sinpak waited until the fox's spirit came back. Out of the sky came an enormous bucket, "I surely will not be able to carry that big bucket," thought Sinpak. But Sinpak took the handle and lifted. He found that it was very light. He dipped the bucket into the river and filled it with water. Sinpak thought that this was going to be impossible to carry. Sinpak tried and that it was as light as it was when it was empty. Sinpak was greatly relieved when his mission was accomplished.

He returned to his village with water. All the people were looking at him and saw what he was carrying. "What have you got?" they asked. "you will see," said Sinpak. He asked everyone to get a small bucket. When everyone came back with a bucket, Sinpak lifted his bucket and poured some water into each of their buckets. Some screamed for joy. Sinpak's father said, "You have done your job, son." Sinpak nodded and thought back to his journey with the fox. Sinpak looked up and saw that the people had formed a circle around him. A chant started. "Sinpak, Sinpak, Sinpak." Sinpak blushed. Again, Sinpak thought back to his journey with the fox. The fox's spirit would be with Sinpak forever.