Greatwater Lake every leaf speaks bliss to me

Some time after Pumpkin’s adventures with the bear and the woman who looked a bit like her, she was off. She found a creek and followed it northwest, and soon found herself standing on the bank of a gigantic lake. She was surrounded by trees and could hear the calls of birds and other wildlife. Ducks swam in the lake. It seemed a busy place. She liked it here. She could imagine it would be an excellent place to live in high summer. When you got hot, you could just slip into the water to cool off. And when you were hungry, there was plenty of prey around.

Pumpkin grinned lazily as she trotted around the western side of the lake. It was too far to cross the other side by swimming. Besides, it was colder today than it had been in the last few days, and it was drizzling. Not a great day for a swim. Still, the cold didn’t bother her so much as it reminded her that autumn was coming. She continued to move through the trees, wondering what she would find on the other side of the lake. She hoped to stop soon, to find a pack that would take her in. She wanted a place to call home.