To build a raft

“Have either of you ever even built a boat before?” Mia asked Pun-hmorg and Zona as they padded up onto the sandy beach.

“Of course not!” Pun-hmorg said proudly, outstretching his wings with a little wiggle. Zona giggled as well as he danced towards the waves that came in.

“Yeah I suppose none of us ever really had a need for a boat before. Why aren’t we just flying there now?” Mia looked out over the water. It was pretty warm out so she didn’t think she’d have the energy to fly to – wherever they were going – but certainly it was safer than risking a modge podge water craft they manage to scavenge from the beach.

“We don’t know how far we need to go,” Pun-hmorg said smoothly as he started digging through the white sand of the beach. “Besides, it’s more adventurous this way!”

“Yeah, Mia! Embrace the adventure!” Zona agreed, bouncing along the beach in excitement, the parchment with the map waving in his hand.

“Alright then,” Mia couldn’t help but smile at her friends’ enthusiasm. “Let’s see what we can do about getting us on and across the water.”

There were a ton of shells and stones littered around the shore. Mia couldn’t help remembering all the beaches she’d been to previously and how rocky they were – her paws sore after just walking along the shore, but this beach was different. The sand was soft and just the right temperature and there weren’t enough things in it to make it uncomfortable to walk on. Here she could just take a stroll and enjoy the view and the feel of the sand and smooth stones beneath her feet. Every now and again she’d stop to look at one of the shells sitting in the sand, the bright colors painting the sandy shore.

“Why hello there, friend,” Mia said as she spied a little crab crawl out of the sand in front of her and start to head to the sea.

“Crab friend!” Zona exclaimed excitedly and he came over to watch the crab with Mia.

“I can’t believe you two are making me be the only one to figure this out.” Pun-hmorg called from deeper on the shore – near the treeline. He had a small pile of sticks that he had started to gather not too far away.

“I think we’re going to need more than a pile of sticks to get afloat,” Mia commented with a big smile on her face. “Let’s split up and see if any of us find anything. We’ll probably want some supplies for the ride as well – I certainly didn’t pack anything.”

“I can go check that cave over there!” Zona said quickly and darted off before anyone could say anything.

“We passed a small shack on the way in so I’m going to walk back to see what I can find there,” Pun-hmorg shared.

“Okay sounds good,” Mia nodded. “If they have a wooden table, maybe we can use that as the base of our boat and just make a raft? I’ll walk down the beach a bit further to see if there’s anything that’s washed up the shore for us to use.”

“Deal!” Pun-hmorg smiled big and flicked his tail happily, his radiance shining just a bit brighter as he did. “We’ll meet back here soon and hopefully Zona isn’t gone for too long.”

“See you soon then!” Mia called as she turned to run down the beach more. The breeze coming off the sea rolled through her fur, keeping her feeling cool and fresh as she trotted down the beach. She couldn’t help but get a bit distracted as she watched the sunlight glitter off the sea. A few fish were jumping off towards the horizon and overall it was such a mood.

Thanks to the views it didn’t feel like a lot of time had passed until Mia found herself in front of an old broken raft tangled up in some driftwood and seaweed.

“This is perfect!” She said to herself as she started to clear away some of the debris and start to drag the raft back towards where she left her friends. Once she got it free she could see there were some holes and broken boards that would need to be fixed before it would support the three of them.

“Mia you found a raft!!” Mia turned to see Zona coming towards her, dragging an ore and a little bag behind him.

“Zona!” Mia hurried over to him to take the ore and help him out. “How did you get this all the way back here?”

“You underestimate me, Mia,” He teased, a big smile on his face. “I even found some berries that we can snack on if we need! They’re good for hydration which is essential when you’re on the sea.”

“Good find, Zona! Now we just need to figure out how to fix the rest of the raft and reinforce it and then we’re set to go.”

“I think I can help with that!” The two turn to see Pun-hmorg behind them, pulling a few planks of wood behind him. “I didn’t find any furniture but these planks were resting near the fireplace. That shack appeared to be long since abandoned judging by the layer of dust on the everything so I don’t think anyone is going to miss these.”

“That’ll be perfect!” Mia grabbed the planks, and with the help of the others, some vines, and bashing a few things here and there with rocks, the three managed to fix up the raft.

“Well I’ve definitely seen better,” Zona commented as the three stood next to each other examining their work.

“At least it’s sturdy enough for all three of us now,” Mia said as she took a big jump, landing forcefully and intentionally onto the raft. The wood caught her with a thud but their fixes held.

“Nice work! Let’s get this baby in the water then and we can be off on our adventure!” Pun-hmorg said as the three pushed the raft through the sand towards the water, and with a big leap the three jumped on and let the waves carry them off onto the next part of their adventure.