Wheeling Gull Isle MMMbop!

Towhee thrashed, kicking through a disorienting galaxy of bubbles. Her eyes stung and her lungs burned as she fought toward the surface. Her head broke through with a loud gasp, then whipped side to side as she tried to orient herself, get her eyes on her opponent.

The sandbar was behind her and to the left, perhaps a dozen feet away. The sea lion was still there, though it wasn’t alone. Towhee’s soul fled her body at the sight of her grandsons striking at the same beast which had just flung her into the ocean like a toy. She yelled and began paddling fiercely.

As soon as her feet touched the bottom, she launched out of the water, putting herself in between the sea lion and the two young wolves. Her wild orange eyes found theirs as she crowded them back toward the safety of the island, well aware that she was vulnerable to an attack from the rear. Better her than them.

The sea lion gave her all of three seconds before it struck from behind. It didn’t merely yank her tail and fling this time. Instead, its weight crushed against her back as she felt those yellowed fangs close on her wet scruff. Towhee didn’t even have time to scream before it plunged into the sea, dragging her underwater with it.

Neither one of them resurfaced.