Totoka River Stoned on Shiva

@Deirdre , but all are welcome!

Olive was not feeling herself today. 

It had all start with a dream - nay, a nightmare. It was a ghastly reverie that left Olive crying and shifting her her sleep. In the dream, a dark spectre had loomed over her; it’s form hidden in a shroud of fog. The shapeless figure had drifted ever closer to her body, which had been immobilized by the ground. The loamy, mossy dirt inched up her legs and had wrapped her haunches. Held tightly in place, the phantom continued to mount it’s attack, portending her untimely death. In her sleep, Olive’s paws tugged at the ground as her lithe legs jerked in protest. Olive suddenly jolted awake and felt her mouth, sticky with foam, and her ears already cocked high upon her crown. She allowed a moment’s reprieve before shaking the restless sleep from her body. She arose silently and vowed not to return to the location that had so poisoned her unconscious mind. 

The sun, gently rising over the distant hills and trees, did nothing to soothe her frazzled mind. In her drowsy state, Olive kept her eyes to the ground in front of her and moved one paw in front of the other. She ambled on, determined to keep moving should the spectre of her dreams returned.  

Soon, Olive found herself face to face with a river that cut through the landscape like a hot knife. The she-wolf, somewhat awakened by her trot, gazed at the water curiously. It was clear and cool, having descended straight from the mountains. It was a thing of beautify: how the water wove around the river bed, dancing in crests and swelling movements - Olive could barely restrain herself. She lowered her maw to the river and drank it’s cool waters, feeling the sensation as it spilled down her throat and into her hungering belly.

For an instant, a flash of silver flicked across her line of sight. Instinctively, Olive lunged her body towards the shape - she knew it to be a fish, a delicacy! While Olive entirely expected her jaws to close around the slick body of the fish, her teeth clicked together with an empty splash. Her momentum kept the weight of Olive’s body moving further into the river. The riverbed sharply dropped off, leaving no foothold for Olive to stand upon.

Olive yelped and yipped as the strong river knocked her legs out from other her. The sudden change in environment shocked her initially. The water did not batter or tossed her around but rather swept her downstream at a smooth, brisk pace. Olive’s thick coat, waterlogged and heavy, caused her to struggle to keep her head above the water. Legs kicked out, flailing in any direction, in an attempty to control her trajectory. Every muscle, alight with fire. Her mind, suddenly clear with the rush of adrenaline. Water, the element which Olive identified most closely, had forsaken her. The energy of the river (which she so admired) pushed her further downriver and kept her towards the center of the tow, no matter how she tried to swim towards the bank. It was the spectre from her dream, in aqueous form!

No, Olive was definitely not feeling herself today.