Coconut Grove We were staying in Paris.

The tide came gently, and beneath the intensity of a July afternoon sun he considered venturing out into deeper waters. It felt good on his ankles, on the rugged pads of his paws, but the thought was brief and he decided to remain in the shallows where he could feel the land beneath him.

Probably a wise decision, considering the attention he seemed to draw toward himself. Dark eyes found the skinny frame of another canine, a coyoye he noted with distaste, and he frowned deeply in its direction. "What?" Viinturuth paused to stare, wondering why this one hadn't skirted around him like most of its kind seemed to do.