Wheeling Gull Isle heart made of glass, my mind of stone

His bark both amused and frightened her.  For a moment she froze in time, held her breath so it felt like her chest was going to burst.  Her expression tightened, her tail stopped — and then multiplied tenfold.  His sandy paw arced towards her face and she was too slow to dodge.  The strange boy's toes splayed across her muzzle, smearing sand.

Silently, she lurched towards him with her own paws outstretched, hoping to bap him back across the face, or the side, or anything she could reach, and if she failed she would duck away quickly, making a quick arc around her fellow Tauhou.