[E-Beach] E: Beach - First time at the beach

The warm sunny day had Horacio longing for the sandy beaches of the island. Unable to resist the siren call of the ocean, he collected Zap, his bahrū pup, and headed for the beach. The weather was warm with the barest hint of a cool breeze, just enough tug at one’s hair without blowing sand into one’s eyes. 

Standing on the beach facing the ocean, Horacio closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh salty smell of the sea. He could already feel himself start to relax. Who didn’t love the ocean? 

Beside him, Zap made a small howl before leaping after a bit of succulent vegetation helping to hold the sand dune together. Horacio glanced down at the pup with a grin and watched him play with the plant for a while before moving on to sniff at the bright pink flowers. 

Trotting towards the water, Horacio called, “Zap, come.” 

The bahrū’s ears shot up at the sound of his name. He stood for a moment staring back at Horacio, before running forward. 

“Good boy!” Horacio praised as Zap reached him. He fed the pup a treat and gave him a pat. 

As they approached the water, Zap whined, eyeing the waves fearfully. 

“Hey, it’s okay. There ain’t nothing to worry about. It’s just a bit of water. It won’t hurtcha. See?” Horacio stepped into the small waves crashing into the beach. “Doesn’t hurt a bit.” 

Zap still eyed the waves, yapping as the waves tried to nibble at his paws and dancing away. 

Horacio tried tossing a treat onto the wet sand. Zap stepped forward, but the wave came back and he darted back to the safety of the wet sand. The treat had been pushed closer to him though and he scooped it up before the wave could come back. 

He tossed out another treat. This time Zap darted in quickly to grab it and retreated as the wave came up. 

They continued this for a little while, Zap slowly becoming braver until a wave caught his paw. He shrieked and darted back up onto the dry sand, well out of the way of the waves. He shook the water and sand off his paw, limping like he’d been hurt. Horatio came over, taking the paw carefully before determining that there was no damage and that Zap was just being dramatic. 

“You’re fine,” he ruffled the fur on Zap’s head. The bahrū whined. Chuckling, Horacio picked him up, holding him against the fur on his chest. “Silly puppy. We’ll try again later.” 

Zap snuggled into his fur and fell asleep, so Horacio sat on the beach, happily watching the waves crash on the beach.