Flames crawl nearer and nearer to the water. There was no escape by land because of fire on each side of the water. Rabbits quickly hopped out of the brush towards the beach, but they didn’t move when a lynx ran past. Two does gallop past timber; a fox and a martin trot across driftwood. All of them have fear; they pay no attention to each other. More animals gather at the shore. They all try to reach Paddle’s island refuge. Some small ones survive the waves and reach the little canoe, gasping for breath, and holding their noses near the surface of the ash-filled water.
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