Duck Lake can't remember when it started

Although the heat away from his northern home was sometimes too much for the aging male to bear, there was one benefit to the near-constant fair weather. Murdock loved to swim - something he'd only been able to find out since coming to these warmer southern regions. Soon, it would be too cold for that even down here, but for now, he still liked to come down to the lake and swim for a while.

The shore was just a line in the distance when he finally decided he'd had enough. The male turned himself around, his thick tail acting like a rudder behind him, and paddled to shore with long, powerful strokes. The proximity of the lake had helped him to regain some of the muscle he'd lost to hunger during his wanderings, something that Murdock was greatful for when he spotted a feminine figure draped in fetching greys.

Letting out a loud bark to hail her, he sped up his strokes to reach shore more quickly, never one to pass up a chance to shoot the breeze with the fairer sex. "Hey, stardust. Wait up," he called, dragging himself out of the water and shaking the water from his pelt.