I Need The Bugger So I Can See

With a loud gasp he broke from the sea and crawled onto the shore, the smell of downy feathers and lice filling his nostrils. He coughed up nearly half the sea as his paws sank into the sand, shaking the salt from his fur. He had been swimming for days and finally he had hit land, exhausted, cold, and most of all soaked to the bone. In his failing consciousness he became aware of the rough sand scratching at his paws and digging under his fur at his soft belly. Wait. When did he lay down? His orange eyes peered at the small collection of trees before him and realized how much taller they had become. It wasn't long before the discomfort became too great and he sank onto his side, breathing in the salty earth that all but covered his nose. Just five minutes he told himself, just as his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.