my mind is a fickle place

One of the goats had jumped the fence. It wasn't unusual and hardly a job for a pup, but he had watched Oddie jump up and over the wall and his head had cocked. Though just a pup, he wasn't tiny by any means, giant paws yet to be grown into, ears that would never stand quite up and the bulk his long collie fur provided, gave the kid the illusion he was a lot bigger than he actually was.

With a bit of scrambling, he was free. He perched on the top of the structure for a moment, looking out over the lake that lay just beyond their borders. There was movement out there and his nose twitched. It smelled like the estuary but different. A quick glance over his shoulder told him nobody had spotted him yet, so he slunk down into the strange new world and paused.

Expecting an adult to appear at any moment, he froze with that herding dog stillness that was soaked into his bones. As the minutes ticked by with no adult swooping down to scold him, he inched up, creeping forward, chest low to the ground. Intent, and unafraid.

"speech"