The water tastes funny. I bet things live in it.

At first I don’t mind, since I’m so thirsty that a puddle of mud would probably taste good. As my thirst subsides, I’m hit with multiple sensations. First is the searing cold of the water burning the inside of my mouth and throat. How can cold burn?! The ice feels like fire. I pull back from the lake, thrusting my head up and sending a shower of burny water droplets out all around me while smacking my lips together to try and get rid of the nasty feeling. That’s when it occurs to me that the water tastes funny as well as cold. All kinds of horrible things might live in that lake, like… I don’t know… sea snakes. Sea dragons.

I barely have time to contemplate this before I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I react in my favourite way, by freezing instantly and staring rigidly forward in horror. Maybe whatever it is will think I’m a weird-shaped log and leave me alone.

Maybe not. It moves again. I hold my position, but in my head I’m freaking all the way down to freak city. Should I run? Play dead?? Maybe I should turn and look at it so I know what I’m dealing with. Then again, what good will that do? I don’t know anything. Mum is the one who knows what to do with stuff like this. Mum knows stuff and Thalia does stuff and I just fall over a lot.

Shuffle shuffle at the corner of my eye. I can’t take it anymore. I need to see what it is. I turn my head slowly and get my first glimpse of a giant grown-up wolf lying among the grass, staring at me with this intense stare like she’s going to eat me right up. I jump a mile in the air and land face-first in the water. Immediately, I scramble back onto my paws, twisting around to keep her in sights and back up. Unfortunately, from my current position backing up means backing into the lake until the water laps at my sides. Any fur which isn’t soaking wet by now is standing on end so I look half-drowned, half-poofy. I yelp a couple of times, then try remember that I should probably show submission so that I don’t get eaten. I lower my head but forget to stop yelping, so I end up inhaling a bunch of water.

Like my day could get any worse, now I’m drowning. I go into full-on panic mode and backpeddle further in the water, so now it’s lapping at my neck, while I desperately try and snort/spit everything back out. I think some of my snorted water goes flying towards the weirdo wolf with the intense eyes. I freeze again.

“S – sorry!” I squeak.

LEFTERIS
homeless year-old cub. bugs suck.