Somehow, all three knew how to swim and stay afloat as donkeys. For this, Emily was happy that they'd inherited some of the instincts from their forms. Without them, Emily realized they probably wouldn't be able to walk properly, let alone swim.
"Which way is land?" Alison asked.
"I remember which way the ferry went," Emily said.
"Get back here you stubborn asses," the Coachman yelled. "Are you really willing to risk drowning just to get away from us?"
"I'd rather risk that then stay with them," Stephanie said.
"I don't wanna drown but they might hurt us if we stay," Alison said. "Lead the way Emily."
Emily swam up to and past Alison and Stephanie. She looked back to make sure they were following as she did her best to swim away from the docks.
Battling waves and cold water, they swam as fast as their donkey forms would allow them.
The desire to not only escape but stay alive kept them going for what Emily could only assume was hours. They made progress but it was slow. Emily kept looking back the entire time to make sure Alison and Stephanie were following. Hours later they'd made it to a shore.
They were hungry and tired; even they didn’t know where they were. But at least they had escaped.
Emily sniffed the air in hopes of smelling something they could eat. The wind carried the delicious scent of grass with it. Emily couldn't help but flare her nostrils to take in more of the scent. She knew it was acting more like a donkey but it felt so good to do it that she couldn't help it.
She remembered what she’d said to Stephanie about resisting little pleasures lest they make the trio change even more on the inside. Away from Pleasure Island however, it seemed safer. If it wasn't, Emily knew that it could only be a matter of time before they could no longer resist and became donkeys through and through.
"Follow me girls, I can smell some grass over there," Emily said.
Emily led the way as they started walking.
"That's okay for us to eat?" Alison asked.
"Why not, we're donkeys and that's what they eat," Stephanie said. "It's not like we have any real choice."
"Okay," Alison said.
They walked a short distance until they came to a forest by the beach. A short walk through it let them to a large field with a lot of long grass blowing in the wind. There was a river running along the other side of the field that led towards a rocky area that bordered the forest. It reminded Emily of the field from her dreams.
"It smells delicious," Stephanie said.
"Is it okay for us to eat?" Alison said.
"It smells good and looks okay," Emily said. "Let's try a bit and if it tastes okay, I think it'll be fine."
Emily was the first to enter the field. She lowered her head, bit off some of the grass and chewed it. It tasted wonderful as it smelled. She seemed to be okay after she swallowed it.
"It seems to be okay," Emily said.
Alison and Stephanie ran into the field beside Emily and started eating as Emily resumed eating. The group ate for a while until their bellies were full.
"We should drink some water before we go," Emily said. "Hopefully, the river is okay for us to drink. We can't drink the seawater."
They walked over to the river where Emily tested the water. It tasted good and seemed to be fresh. Emily nodded for Alison and Stephanie to drink before Emily drank until she’d satisfied her thirst.
"That was good," Alison said. "It's nice here. I wish we could stay but then we'd never go home."
"Come on girls, we'd better get started," Emily said.
"Can't we run around and play for a bit?" Stephanie asked.
"If we do, we'll just waste energy we need for swimming," Emily said.
Stephanie hung her head. "I guess so. But I still want to play."