His Fateful Swim

As Jake breezes through the water, the pool becomes an unrecognizable fantasy ocean. The tides come in quickly as Jake fights to stay upright. The waves thrash about and water swells into his mouth, now his breathing is a gruesome task. The fight has become more difficult but he must prevail. He must not let the ocean take him, he must swim harder and faster. He must use his paws as a dolphin would use her fins.

Jake is scared the fight is getting harder and he notices beasts among the sea. Below is a kingdom of demons lurking underneath waiting for the moment to take him but he must not let his anxiety consume his thoughts. The beasts may take him one day, but "not today" he says. He must remember his cause...his master is waiting. He need not swim like an Olympian, but rather a hero with a cause.

With every thrashing stroke he takes he must remember she too is fighting for her life. He cannot stop now, he has come too far, too much is riding on this swim. He will not let her down. He has prepared his entire life for this moment.

Usually his swim is leisurely, moving with ease and beauty like a bird soaring through the sky on a summers day. Today, his moves are like clockwork, with tactical planning. Like an army commander, he moves with purpose. this is what he was designed for, this is what thousands of years of evolution and careful breeding has created. He swims with his ancestors. He swims with the wolves. He swims with the ones who gave him his abilities.

He will prevail. He will get to his master and with each breath he swims harder. He laughs to himself as he hears his breathing, it sounds like a wheel that needs oiling or a basement door that needs fixing. CREAK. Creak. Creak. He must keep moving. He is in sight of his master's home, he is reassured that he will make this swim, he is almost home. He is so close to her he can smell her scent, he can smell that she needs him. He is so close...

And as the tide comes in Jake suddenly hears his owners voice as she screams for him to get out of the pool and the fantasy world he was engulfed in comes crashing down like a piano in the sky. Back to his life he goes, remembering it's much less stressful but he swears to himself that he will train harder and wait for the day where his services may need rendering. He is prepared and he will make it to his master.