chapter 4: the river-monster

wolfrock looked into the river, preparing herself for the jump. "it'll be fine," she said to herself. "it'll come naturally."
she jumped. everything seemed to happen in slow motion. sailing through the air, glancing at the black, swirling water below her, suddenly realizing how stupid this was. "oh, why did'nt i just hunt with the other wolves?" she wailed, twisting in a futile attempt to land herself on a rock. with a splash, she crashed into the icy waters. she struck out with front paws, uselessly thrashing in the water, feeling her body go numb. this was the end, she knew it. suddenly she heard a voice, her mother's voice. "you'll be all right, dear, you'll be okay."
"mom?" whispered wolfrock. "help me, mother! please!"
she felt a warm bubble of air, surrounding and supporting her. somehow, it was just the right temperature.
"now wolfrock, dear, try swimming. it's like running, but underwater. you will not drown, i promise."
wolfrock tried it. it was just like her mother said! it was actually really easy! she felt that warm bubble of water slowly dissipate. contrary to her expectations, though, she didn't sink! and with the exercise, she warmed up. the water didn't feel so cold now. she was actually enjoying it.
suddenly she heard a shout.
"wolfrock! no! geet out of the river!"
it was dawn. why was she here? did she like swimming too?
"no!" she replied hotly. "i like swimming too. you can't just kick me out!"
dawn arrived breathlessly at the edge of the river as wolfrock was clambering out.
"it's not that. no one swims here! are you crazy? you could have been attacked by the-"
a huge, scaly ...thing erupted from the river and grabbed dawn. wolfrock caught a glimpse of a red mouth, rows of long teeth bigger than knitting needles, and wide black eyes.
she screamed and started to run. "help me! dawn's been eaten! HELP!"