sh,

was a hu

sly. She huffed out a hot breath and pushed back her curls with one hand

g." She mutte

it its hot." Despite wading ankle deep in the river, the cool of its lapp

hem of her shirt. A cool wind brushed against her exposed nave

she turned and waded out of the sloshing water, stepping over the intricately wea

n her a massive catch, maybe some salmon or catfish... rum

lden sand was warm beneath her cracked feet, the soles flashing pink like tongues as she

bette

d past and dappled on her skin. All was quiet and mellow. In the distance was the sound of streaming cars, owned by the rich fo

limp by her hand. She foraged through it with a blind hand, fingers groping for the half eaten dry sourd

ndlessly while tearing at the slice of sourdough. Occasionally her dark eyes flicked to the

towards the water. ignoring the sloshing movement as

th

lanced through her. The struggle was futile as she fought nothing in specific before

mucking the pig stalls... but no... just had to come up with some bright idea." A wave at the net floating about t

e shade where she knelt before the knapsack and opened her journal, squinting at th

brows furrowed in a concentrated line, A

pa

crowded the pages. Once so confident were those numbers, poised with square shoulders and a a

the

as the river's presence, the number bega

athed the n

ps of her knees. She just needed to drown out the gurgling sound of the river, so insistent, so annoying. Some peace and quiet

e grit her teeth and counted to ten while contemp

zon as it sunk to its knees, the heat remained like a mist on her. "My net got carried

her the shovel and sent her back into to

the heat..." that c

d use that to

und. Gripping her curls she stared up at the sky now turning a

on me, whoev

the sky to the water. Snapping around, Adara remained still on her knees. Unm

but only for a heartbeat

sh of

heart thumping against her rib cage, cheeks drawn wide and tight as the si

it. I

ither did she notice that one pant had come undone and was soaking up the water g

oo ta

oked

atf

ndly, groping wildly at the fish expecting some slipper

es...

with a grunt, lifted the creature out of the water. Barely. The size of it was far too great for her st

r was not

om it

ared blankly at the face of the man before her. With skin so pale it seemed near translucent. She could map th

ma

ipping a m

sed the sight of him nor his origin. Not until her eyes dared glance towards his mouth which was heavil

ni

be