Lisa said she knew a shortcut through the woods, but after walking a mile or so she admitted they might have made a wrong turn. “Should we go back?” she asked Auguste.

“I vote we keep going,” Auguste answered, and Lisa agreed, so they continued along the path, which not long later entered an area that had been decimated by a forest fire a decade or two ago and now contained many saplings and small trees but nothing of substantial size.

Then, around the next bend, they came upon something huge, and stark, charred black and weathered smooth. It blocked the path.

“How strange,” Lisa said. “I suppose we could go around it, whatever it is.”

“I believe it’s a totem tree,” Auguste said, “and before we pass it by we should pay our respects.”

“I’ve heard of a totem pole, but what’s a totem tree?” Lisa asked.

“A totem is a sacred spirit, or the emblem of one,” Auguste informed her. “This one may have been abused. It has a rather fierce look.”