Water. Water. Water. Why is there water around me? It certainly wasn't there before. I felt angry. Angry at Tuftyfur for not coming with me and the water, for disturbing my sleep.
"Why did you do that for! Can't you see I'm trying to go to sleep! You should try it! Then you'll see why I need my beauty sleep!" I shouted. The waves replied to me by splashing water droplets on my nose, clearly saying, I don't care. I suddenly felt stupid. Obviously the lake doesn't need to sleep, let only hear what I'm saying. I took a couple of deep breaths, trying not to think how deep the water looks. "I'm safe on this rock. I'm safe on this rock!" I shout, as if I'm daring to challenge the law of nature. The water rises steadily, crawling slowly up the moss covered rock that I'm standing on. A cold gust blows, shaking my disheveled fur. Soon enough, the merciless lake will swallow the island, with me along with it.

I look around hurriedly. My was heart thumping so loud, I couldn't hear anything else. The edge of the lake was much further away than before. Somewhere in the distance, black dots (presumably other wildebeests, I thought) wandered aimlessly. I narrowed my eyes. One of the black dots, no two, were bouncing around madly, like an aggravated rhino. Hope leaped up inside me. One of them must be Tuftyfur! If I know him well enough, he'd be telling me to hurry up and swim! I thought, getting ready to plunge into the glittering surface of the lake. Wait! shouted another part of me. Make sure it's the shortest route! I grudgingly looked past my right shoulder to check. The land looks further on this side, the black dots path seems closer. I turned to the left, but a clump of trees blocked my view. That side can't possibly be a shorter distance than this side. The water was still creeping up higher. I better go. Sucking a deep breath, I lept off the rock and into the rising waves.

I landed on my bottom.

That wasn't expected, I thought. Wobbling and shakily standing back up on my four hooves was harder than I thought. The currents tugged my foot like baby koala to it's mother, pulling my shaggy fur and not letting go. Waves slapped my face, soaking my short horns and stinging my eyes every now and then. When I finally did get on my feet, the water splashed uncomfortably on my belly. Good thing that it isn't too deep. That would make the journey even harder than it is already. I trudged unsteadily past the turbulating currents. One, and two, I thought to myself. Steadily, the water became deeper and rose to the hairs on may chin. I turned back to see how much progress I made so far. By now, the moss covered rock should be underwater. Good. I walked at least 3 metres already. I looked closer. The rock I slept on was still above the lake surface. In fact, the rock looked untouched. Why is the rock still dry? Maybe I swam faster than I thought. That's great then. I felt proud, unstoppable even. You can't catch me! I thought to no one in particular. I turned back to my destination, and headed towards the black dots. I'm still far away, since the black dots still look as tiny as ever.