Rachel was looking down at me when I opened my eyes. "Bill! I can hear a kid calling for help down by the water!"
I sit up, still a little disoriented from my weird dream. Then her words sink in and I scramble to my feet. The rocky shore down below us is very dangerous. If there is a child in danger, I need to get to him or her fast.
Moving to the edge of the cliff, I can just make out a wailing and crying over the pounding surf below. Sure enough, a kid is down in the rocks, yanking on his leg. He seems to have a foot stuck, and the waves are crashing around him already.
"Go get the cell phone out of the car, Rachel!" I run along the edge, looking for a path down. "If I can't get down there, we'll have to call 911!"
I find a narrow trail leading down to the beach, and have to be careful as I work my way down the steep and treacherous path. My foot slips a couple of times, but I finally make it down to the water level. The spray is blinding, and a couple of the breakers make me stagger as they crash over the rocks and hit me. The kid must be terrified.
I can just make him out now. A boy, maybe ten or eleven, with dark hair. He is bare chested, with black pants, and some sort of novelty hat or headband that has horns on it. He sees me and yells something as another wave slams over him. I can barely make him out, for my vision is blurred and my eyes sting from the salt water.
I reach him finally, and squat down to check his foot. "It's OK! I'll get you out of here!" My hands feel hard, thick surface - some sort of heavy shoes? It feels weird, very wide and uneven, with a softer area in the middle. I try to find laces, for whatever it is, it is jammed tight between the rocks. Failing that, I slip both hands into the crank and yank up with all my strength.
The boy's foot comes free just as a huge wave crashes over us. I grab him tight to keep him from being washed away, and heft him up. He grabs me around the neck, his face pressed agains mine, and his legs wrap around my waist. I carry him carefully off the rocks, and find an opening to a tiny, deserted beach at the base of the cliff.
I yell up to Rachel. "It's OK! I got him! See if you can spot anyone who might be looking for him!"
"OK. I'll walk up the path here - there is a camping area a bit furhter down." Rachel waves from the cliff and then leaves as I make it to a relatively soft patch of sand. The boy is still clutching me tightly, and I pat his back.
"It's OK, kid. You can let go now. Let's sit on the beach."
The boy shifts back in my arms and looks at me. He is sorta homely, coarse-featured, with a protruding lower face and big teeth. I blink, trying to clear what must be distortion from seawater. It looks like he has small horns curving out from his forehead. The boy grins suddenly, and I am startled by his eyes - they are huge, solid brown, with odd irises. Like those of an animal!
It occurs to me that the legs wrapped around me feel odd, and that the one hand supporting the boy's rear end is reporting thick, wet fur and what feels like a tail. However, I can't tear my eyes from the boy's. He traces my cheek with a thick-fingered hand. "You saved me! Now I am going to reward you..."
I suddenly feel very dizzy and disoriented and then: