Otatso Wetlands I think I'm freaking out

@Magpie

The world sloshed around her as she walked, and it was frustrating enough to make Ptarmigan's hair stand on end. She had wandered into what appeared to be a gloomy forest, only to find that the ground was a complete and utter lie. Rushes and wetland algae clouded the stagnant water, looking so deceitfully like solid ground that when she first stepped through them, she yelped so loud that birds took flight around her.

Ptarmigan had pressed on undeterred from there, determined that it was only a puddle. It was only an overflown river. It was only a small lake... But the deeper she went, the more mired she became. Her fur was soaked through to the skin, and the chill of the shaded forest ate through to her bones. The only reprieve from the water and the muddy, slippery terrain were the knotted roots of trees, which were still all submerged. But even an hour of wandering didn't bring an end to the wetlands, and soon Ptarmigan pressed her body against the solid trunk of a tree and whined softly.