My eyelids had grown heavy as I waited to watch the sun rise. The air was cool; it was past twilight and the rushing river to my right was like a lullaby. It took all my power to not let my eyes shut and I immediately regretted my decision to have spent last night and the day before exploring. The sun’s rays were beginning to come visible, their streaks of light lighting up the once dark sky. I roll onto my back, blue eyes glued above; I always thought the most beautiful transformation from night to day always took place in the heavens. I lazily stared above watching as the sky turned different hues of pink and purple, hardly aware of the fact that I had begun to doze off…

My nightmares were vivid, full of giant elk with blood red eyes chasing me down. At one point I had fallen through a crevice in the ground and somehow fallen in a brightly lit meadow. My brother, who died as a pup, frolicked through the grass, stuck in the body in which he died. I beckoned him to follow me to the safety of our den, the sun was setting and fear rattled my body. He ignored my calls and ran further away. My stomach coiled as a black mass rose from the grass, towering over the now frozen pup. I woke up with a start before the nightmare could be finished.

I sat up quickly and my fur dripped with the water from the river. It took me a moment to figure out how exactly it had managed to get to my dry spot. Blue orbs don’t take long to lock onto the gray she-wolf swimming in the brook; it seemed she hadn’t even seen me. My breaths are heavy from the shock of waking so suddenly and I stand with my legs parted as I try and catch my breath. I give a light chuckle at the manner in which I’d been woken.

I won’t deny it, the she-wolf had taken me by surprise. After catching my breath and shaking the loose water droplets from my fur I look up to see her paddling closer to the shore, her emerald eyes finally finding me. "Oh hey there.”

"I hope you enjoyed your swim because I didn’t enjoy mine.”

My voice was light and humorous and I gave her a friendly smile. In all honesty she had saved me from having to relive the ending of that awful memory that always found its way into my dreams. If that meant I had to get a little wet I was alright with that. Walking towards the water now I move closer to the gray wolf that is still swimming. I wasn’t as strong as her, and I knew it would be better to stay in the shallows and so I did. The water was below knee deep and it gave my legs a soothing chill as long as I kept moving. And so I paced with her as she swam. I turn my dial towards the emerald eyed fem, black lips parting to let out a honeyed voice.

"My name is Psyche. What can I call you?”