Lake Rodney Chipster

so sorry for the wait

Her voice rang out across the lake and was picked up by the boy's ears with ease. With as much grace as a drowning rat, he began to doggy-paddle his way over to where he could see her pale silhouette on the shore, not far from his current position. After what felt like hours of agonising progress (but was really about a minute), Butterfly finally touched down on the sandbar with a huff of relief.

Despite the coldness of the water, he could feel his cheeks burning as he waded until his hackles were above the surface, then his knees, and finally his ankles. If he'd wanted a bath, he'd certainly had one by now. He was huffing and puffing like an old man at this point as he neared the stranger - taking a few long deep breathes he hoped his ineptitude hadn't been that obvious.

"My knight in shining armour," grinning sheepishly, he gave himself a good shake (undoubtedly poor Ceridwen was probably in range of getting wet). "On a real though - thanks. And uh, sorry for crashing your afternoon." Snapping his mouth shut, he groaned inwardly as the warmth spread from his cheeks all the way to the tips of his damp toes.