Duck Lake Riveted

Turquoise retraced her steps back to Duck Lake, the afternoon sun waning ahead of her and coating everything in a harsh golden polish. Squinting, she walked to the water's edge, happy to have the lake to herself this time, and lowered her head to drink. When she finished, she licked the stray droplets off her chin and turned to stroll around the shore, her tawny body moving leisurely despite the thoughts churning around in her head.

By her third circuit, Turq decided that she must made a decision by nightfall. She couldn't linger here forever, stuck in some sort of purgatory. She would either head back out into the wilderness, perhaps even attempt to track down and make things right with Rivet... or she would point her nose east and go home. Turq ground her teeth together as she pondered the pros and cons of each choice, feeling as torn as ever and wanting to beat the stuffing out of someone because of it. Fortunately, nobody approached her, so the violence remained contained internally.

The glare wore off as the sun slipped behind some distant mountains to the west and Turquoise gathered her haunches beneath herself, sat beside the lake and closed her eyes. Focus, she coached herself inwardly, and make a goddamn decision already! She sucked in a deep, steadying breath of the cooling evening air, her eyelids fluttering as she concentrated. At length, she felt herself tipping toward a final decision.

"Got it," she breathed and opened her eyes to see Rivet standing on the opposite shore, staring at her with those unwelcome, beautiful, loathsome, lovely eyes of hers.