Prologue:
Life was peaceful around Calm Lake and had been for as long as anyone could remember. The mountains surrounding the lake kept away most of those unwelcome critters while each year the lake was refreshed by a river flowing down from the mountains into the lake; waters crisp and clean like only the water from a glacier can be.
On this lake lived families of otters, ducks, and even loons. They were a close knit tribe of different creatures. There were no hostile animals or those who were not willing to respect the rights and boundaries of others. They all lived on the lake in harmony and settled any disputes by a vote amongst the elders of all the families.
This would all change one day, however, when a new powerful kind of animal would arrive out of nowhere to come and dominate the other smaller animals. It would take the courage and ingenuity of the young animals to go out into the wilderness and find a way to restore their homeland to the paradise it once was.
However, just for the moment, we can begin the tale at a happier time — the time of the Fall Harvest Festival; a time for sports, community, and feasting.
Chapter 1:
Peter swam as hard as he could and he passed another otter. Suddenly, he was in first place in the race across Calm Lake. He knew he was going to win – for such was the way young animals thought about those things. He could already taste the smoked trout that was to go to the winner. Peter was getting closer and closer to the shore and the finish line. Yet just at that moment, another otter passed him and sped off towards the finish line. It was Mark. He was so shocked at the speed of the otter that he choked on an enormous gulp of water, and just by a fraction of a second splashed his way across the finish line before the otter behind him. Mark had already gotten on firm ground while Peter coughed up water in the clear shallow of the lake, gasping for air. He then smelled the delicious odor of smoked fish The smell hypnotized him for about five seconds before he regained his senses. He walked onto the sandy shored and shook the water out of his fur coat. Then, Peter congratulated the winner politely as Mark received the wonderfully smelly fish, and then he walked off to help his friend Sam the duck get a log ready for the coming log rolling competition.
When he ventured over to the area where they were trimming the log, Sam said to Peter, “You swam great today, you were going faster than anyone else, or so I thought until the end.”
“Thanks,” said Peter as he ripped a little twig off that could ruin an animal’s attempt to stand on the rolling log. “I just wish I had something to eat, swimming that far makes you just want to have a whole feast just for yourself. But I would settle for a few roasted nuts.”
Sam replied, “It is funny you should say that. I brought along some roasted nuts for myself. I am not hungry anymore so you can have the rest of them.”
Peter tore off another bigger twig off and took the nuts from Sam. He was so hungry he simply poured the nuts into his mouth. He chewed for about five seconds, smacked his lips, and let out a loud belch.
Sam told him while he laughed, “That is also the fastest I have ever seen anyone devour roasted nuts. You know what this hot day – surprisingly hot for autumn – makes me want to? Let us go for a swim over to the waterfall at the other end of the lake. We can go diving for fish along the way. When we get there we can set up a camp and spend the night under the stars.” Before Sam could say anything else, Peter started running to the edge of the lake and jumped in and began to yell at Sam to hurry up.
Sam started flapping his wings and rose into the air, and then he sped towards the lake with tremendous speed, for ducks are spectacular flyers. He landed behind Peter and said, “Was that fast enough for you?”
Yet, Peter had just as quickly submerged, and he came up underneath Sam, propelling him into the air. Sam gave a loud quack and said, “Hey!”
Peter just back-floated lazily on the water, laughing so hard that he lost his position and he went under where he swallowed more water. He popped up again, grabbed onto a nearby log that was floating around. He continued laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face while he coughed water up out of his lungs. Sam flew over and landed on the log and started to laugh with him,
As they examined the log they were on, they both noticed one thing. It was an almost perfect log for logrolling; it had no branches and almost no twigs or defects. As soon as they noticed this they quickly decided to engage in a bout of their favorite pass-time, logrolling. They each stood on the log and began to take quick little steps. The log began to roll and they continued their way across the lake.
When they neared the waterfall, the force of the water pounding on the lake made it so that the log could not get any closer. Peter was just about to push Sam into the water when all of a sudden Sam soared into the air. Peter began to push at nothing and almost instantly he fell into the water. This time it was Sam’s turn to laugh hysterically. When Peter recovered and resurfaced Sam flew in circles above him and said, “Come on, let us go find a place to camp for the night.”
They chose to stay close to the waterfall, yet also remain in an area that was concealed. They chose a spot near the lake, with cliffs on one side – from the waterfall, and dense forest on the other two – with plenty of hiding spots for small animals – and the lake on the final side. Neither otters nor ducks like to be far away from water. Once they had chosen their campsite the pair of friends walked to the lake near the waterfall to catch their dinner. It was not long before each of them had caught a couple fish, seeing as the lake animals dwelled on the far end of the lake.
They were starting a fire at their campsite, for these were civilized animals at Calm Lake when all of a sudden Peter saw something in the lake, a pink salmon. Peter silently slunk into the lake and then he dove down deep. Sam could make out Peter as a blur underwater and when Peter struck he seemed to strike as fast as lighting and grasped the slipper fish with its claws so that it could not get away. Peter rose to the surface carrying the prize fish and swam back to camp. When he got there he found Ben making sleeping mats out of seaweed and grass. The fire was already going and the other fish were roasting on a rock next to the fire. They would now have five fish to split between the two of them. Once the fish were slowly being smoked by the fire, Peter said to Sam, “Hey, would you like to go gather berries?”
Sam replied, “Sure, I saw some huckleberries and thimbleberries in the bushes above the waterfall.” So they headed up above the falls and sure enough there were patches of fresh thimbleberries and huckleberries, fresh and ripe for the picking. They both picked as much as they could carry back down to their camp. There they set them on a rock near their camp just as the fish were about to be done being cooked. So they had a feast of fish and berries, especially with the rare catch of the salmon just as the stars were starting to come out and the crescent moon was beginning to show. It was an almost perfect September night of camping. The night was even warm enough that they did not need to cover themselves in their nests built by Sam the duck. With all that food in their bellies they quickly began to nod off to sleep. Or at least, Peter began to quickly fall asleep. Sam was kept awake for what felt like an hour by Peter’s snores, but eventually Sam fell soundly asleep as well.
