Saving an animal(fragmented recollection of a dream)

We were rescuing some sort of animal. 

it was black and white and had no fur on it. 

it was small so i could hold it easily in my arms. 

I struggled for a second to tie my shoes while cradling the thing.

There was snow all around us, and an ocean near by. 

It was a strange sensation, the salt of the sea, hanging on the cold arctic air. 

I forget who i was with. 

After all of our efforts, the thing escapes, this is the worst thing that could have happened. 

Its been spotted making its way over a series of neck breaking ridges, they rise and fall like statistics on a graph, marking the progress of an indecisive cancer patient. 

like a hero i can climb these things, taking almost no effort, but the animal is just so far, reaching the ocean now.

Before the actual ocean there is a cold, shallow sound. 

the animal is splashing in the water, making its way towards the deep. 

He looks at me, i tell him i can’t go in the water, i’m sorry, you’re going to have to go in after it.

i turn and backtrack to the level snow. 

i’m not the hero, not even in my dreams. 

moments later he returns with the animal in his arms, and i wonder if it really needed saving.