Her second autumn was the most beautiful yet.
Timid trotted through the trees, constantly tilting her head to see the bright colors beginning to emerge around her. Where she had come from, fall had meant cooler weather, and one tree whose leaves turned dirty gold. Here, though, there was a promising palette of scarlet and deep orange and brilliant yellow, and even the browns looked promising. The leaves were half-changed, some still stubbornly clinging to their summertime green, but soon she knew that there would be both a ceiling and carpet of royal colors here.
The small hybrid grinned and raced toward the smell of a lake; she was thirsty, and she could only imagine how the image of the trees was reflected in the waters. Pads brushed over soft grass and then rock and sand, and she skidded down a slope to where a small wooden boat was docked. Rain water was collected in it, and it looked stable; she thought it was a giant, upturned leaf rather than a boat, not being entirely familiar with this small sort. Her claws digging into the old wood of the private dock, she stepped gingerly into the boat and fell to the bottom of it when it rocked underneath her. Of course anything lying on top of the water wouldn’t be steady.
Giving her coat a brief shake, Timid managed to stand upright in the boat and dip her head to get a quick drink. However, this did not last long. There was a sudden splash in the silence, the sound of a rock plummeting to the depths, and with a yelp of surprise she jumped. The boat flipped, throwing the half-wolf off so that she fell into the water with a louder splash.
Glad that she was in lupus form, the shaken ginger canine dog-paddled to the shore and heaved herself into the rocky beach, eyes huge. She didn’t know that the few extra feet given to her optime form would have meant that she could stand upright in the water. Right now, she sat down on her rump, dripping wet, her green-yellow eyes seeking out the source of the splash that had startled her.
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