Where a certain canine wishes she had stayed awake.

We went along that trail for a good while, and my legs were now pretty much ready to give way from under me. I could tell the kids were getting tired too. The little boy was now on his father’s shoulders, and the girl was lagging instead of marching along at her usual trailblazing pace. Long before we stopped, my sharp ears picked up the sound of rushing water. Even though my fears of the vet had been stilled by then, my fear of bath time had first slowly, but now like a terrible flood came upon me. But I bravely continued, determined above all not to let my family wander off into danger without me there to help them. Even if it meant a bath. When they did stop, it was right in view of the biggest torrent of water I had ever laid eyes upon in my life! There before me, water was cascading down from the sky and into a huge pond. I nearly melted on the spot! But my family didn’t seem to sense the danger I felt from it. When they saw it, huge grins lit up their faces, and they proceeded to lay down their stuff on some rocks right next to that huge lagoon! If this was what they did every time they left the house without me, it was beyond me how they had survived this far. I just knew I had to make sure they didn’t get hurt. Luckily for me though, everyone was beginning to eat, so at least I’d be able to sit down and breathe for a while. I did just that. But even lying down wasn’t enough to calm my fears. Everyone seems so carefree and happy, I could tell they weren’t prepared for anything. But they seemed to be ignoring the water right then, at least. So I gave my weary old legs a rest for a while, and before you could say, “go fetch” I was asleep. I’ve never regretted sleeping as much as I did that day. 

I woke to find every single member of my family splashing around in the water, completely unaware of danger! I nearly went crazy to see them enjoying themselves, not realizing that water is the worst element of all time! I wasn’t sure how to save them, especially in a way that I wouldn’t get wet myself. I paced around by the edge of the water for a while, unsure of what to do. Once I dipped my foot into the ominous liquid, but jerked it back out again as fast as I could once I realized how cold it was! And then, of course, those kids had to laugh. I even heard one of them say that I was afraid!! Of course I was scared! And they should have been too if they knew how awful water is. I battled about helping them for a long while, when finally my protective side gave in. I just had to rescue them before it was too late. 

Drawing in a massive breath, I dove beneath the waves before I could convince myself otherwise. The freezing water seeped through my fur and into my skin, chilling me to the core. I didn’t know it was possible to shiver and quiver as you swam until then. If you could even call it swimming in the first place. I was thrashing and kicking as hard as I could to get over to where my family was. And they were just as eager for me to get there too! I didn’t know if the cold had just started to sink in for them or what, but suddenly they wanted my help! I couldn’t leave them stranded there now. It was my duty to save them. I wasn’t getting very far, seeing as I don’t have much experience with swimming, but at least I was making some progress. 

The two oldest kids started heading my way though, and I naturally assumed they began swimming towards me in their desperation for help. My head kept going under, and I was consistently flooded with all the water up my nose and in my mouth, but I battled on to meet them as any brave dog would. When I finally got there, the boy started pushing me towards the rest of the family. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, since my head was getting ducked under even more now. I was losing energy, and could barely tell which way was up!