Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Meinville Cedar Creek Lake)

The ripples left behind by Nine's frantic swim to shore had since dispersed and ebbed away, leaving the dark waters still and almost glass-like in the early hours of the morning. A silence followed in the area, punctuated only by the disjointed chattering of nearby sparrows, and the bark of a squirrel who chastised the pair from the safety of a thirty-foot high cedar bough. For a few minutes at least, the two were otherwise left uninterrupted to gather their senses and contemplate this new world they'd found themselves so unceremoniously dropped into.

Across the opposite end of the lake, a lone figure jogged along a broad, pebbled path that wound through hills of neatly mowed grass and spaciously planted trees. Beyond this early-morning runner, the glint of metal could be seen as it caught the rays of the rising sun, highlighting the frame of a playground swing-set. There weren't any children out so earlier though, and the solo jogger hadn't seemed to notice the colorful pair at the opposite end of the lake. Perhaps too far away to see clearly, a pair of wireless earbuds would explain why this person hadn't heard a pair of bodies crashing into the water moments earlier.

But another pair of ears had.

A dog walker nearer to the beach where Sonic and Nine were catching their breath had come to a stop. They'd heard the splashes, but thanks to the dense swath of trees between them and the lake, didn't immediately spot the two new arrivals. Had some kids thrown some rocks into the water? Had someone fallen in? From where she stood listening, too curious to ignore it yet too reluctant to immediately investigate, the woman was positive she heard voices.

Woof! Woof!

The collie-mix she was walking had also been listening. And when the foreign scent of the fox and hedgehog finally made it to his nares, the dog began to bark and pull at the end of his leash.