Reed was grateful to feel sand between her toes once more as she returned from the bogs of the swamp to the beaches of the coastal area. It felt like it took days to rid her dreads and fur of the spurs and stickers and sticks and leaves and mud that clung to her. She was a wolf with thick fur and a body built more like a male's than a female's. She was lacking in grace in almost every action she took and tended to just barrel ahead when an obstacle entered her path. The swamp had taught her that doing such a thing would drain her energy and fill her coat far more than taking the time to navigate the terrain more delicately. "Stupid mud" she cursed under her breath as she sat at the shores of the beach, washing her tail for the umpteenth time while the salt water that lapped at her legs. She had fallen several times in the mud and had come out more mud than wolf by the end of it all. "Never again" she promised herself, unawares that the jungle and swamp had been the cause of her amnesia to begin with, well, in a roundabout way.
Her bath had turned into a night of star gazing as the sun sank below the horizon and the stars and moon lit the clear sky. The lands beneath were lit quite well with the moon's glow illuminating the coastal foliage and reflecting off the surface of the water. The waves lapped at the shore, lulling Reed into a peaceful slumber as she gazed upwards, her thoughts going quiet as she fell into a meditative state. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep with her front paws crossed and her muzzle rested gently atop them.
Her dream was gentle, showing Reed a beautiful day along the beach where she hunted for crustaceans. She was watching the horizon for something - or maybe someone - and had posted up on a rock after having snagged a snack. Another voice spoke to her, then, and she jumped to the voice's rescue. He was hurt! He was scared! Reed was there, however, and she jumped in for the rescue. Just as quickly as the dream started, it came to an abrupt ending. She had saved the voice, yet no matter how hard she tried to make the figure out, he was just a blur to her.
Reed jerked awake as she suddenly came to. Her head lifted and she stared out as the sun started to peek above the horizon. Oh no! She'd fallen asleep! Oh no no no! She was supposed to stay awake! She quickly bolted to her paws and checked the line she'd dangled out into the shores before cleaning her dreads for the billionth time in hopes of securing herself something to eat besides tiny crabs. Only when she checked the line, it was gone completely. "Noooo" she groaned, sad that her hard work had been quite literally washed out to sea. It had taken a lot of effort to figure out how to sharpen a shell just right, and even harder work figuring out how to secure a string of twine so it held the shell, but didn't obstruct it. "I'm just gonna have to find it then." she muttered out loud to herself, swinging her head around to find something suitable to use as a flotation device. After all, Reed was not a wolf who could swim without aid.
Some stalking up and down the beach finally revealed to her a decently sized piece of dried drift wood. Working it lose from the sand had her panting by the time she had managed it, but thankfully dragging it to the water was a little bit easier. She gripped the log with her jaws by a small knot that stuck out from the main piece and pulled it little by little until her hind paws sunk into the sands where the ocean water took over. A few more heaves and success! The log was able to float! Now for the scary part...
There was no way she was going to be able to stand on the log. Each time she tried to step onto it, the log rolled and threw her into the shallows of the water. It only took a few tries before she gave up, now absolutely drenched from head to toes. So, she went for a different tactic. She draped herself over the log, hind end on one side and front end over the other and craned her neck to keep from dunking herself beneath the waves. No. This wouldn't work either. It was impossible to steer. But... what if she turned herself so her belly laid with the log, one front leg and one hind leg on each side of it? After dunking herself several more times, she managed to climb on top so she laid with the log instead of across it. She experimented with kicking her paws and found some success in directing herself against the current. She had no idea how she was supposed to find her single piece of twine and shell like this, but she was determined!
So, off Reed floated on her log, leaving the safety of shore behind. She wasn't all dumb decisions, however. She wouldn't dare swim out into open ocean like this. Nah, instead she angled herself towards a landmass in the distance. Maybe the waves had pushed her twine over onto that shore? There was only one way to find out, after all. And find out she intended to do. Her paws touched sand beneath her, and with having made her way onto the island, she shook and began her search.