As Peng shook the water from his mane, silver beads flew off into the night. He blinked his eyes and looked around. A movement from the edge of the lake caught his attention.
Peng was wary at first. The two-legged creature wasn’t big. But sometimes it was the small ones that were the most dangerous. A light swept across the water catching Peng directly in the eyes. The beam hurt like a sharp splinter, but he was held transfixed. Then the light went out.
There in the black silence, the two creatures watched each other. Peng felt as if they had met somewhere before so he lifted his head and called out. The small creature did not move.
Peng walked towards the shore. With each footstep, clouds of silky soft mud drifted up to the surface. But then, something sharp on the bottom of the lake cut into his foot. Peng cried out in pain.