sob I just now discovered upon returning from a night of music making that I had not posted my deathless contribution to the travails of the water borne protagonists.

I cannot let it go to waste so consider this a a prologue or a prequel or a sidebar; to my mind those lovely people are still out there fighting for their lives or at least for their story.

Insert wherever:

"The sofa moved elegantly enough as it lumbered down the stream, a stream that was more like a waterfall than a cataract. Jake held the vessel upright as best he could but from time to time and inevitably the side slipped downward and the occupants were drenched again, wet to a degree that could not have been forecast. Finally, and with finality, only four were left in the sofa boat; the rude wizard was clinging with one hand to one leg but his face was untroubled."