Canoeist: Fantasy

Ten years of paddling her own canoe, so to speak--by which she meant both literally and that she hadn't actually had a date in that time, or at least not a second date--and this happened. She met a handsome man by the side of her campsite (no asking questions about why he was there, nope, not gonna ask any questions, not when it had been that long) and the next day she found him floating skinned in the river. It was enough to make a woman give up canoeing and dating both--turn paddling her own canoe into just the metaphor and not the actuality as well. She was a bit shocked at herself that the first thought that went through her mind upon seeing a skinned corpse was that she should maybe stop even trying to date, and she started to try and scold herself for feeling that way--when the corpse moved. "Oh, god, you're alive!" she exclaimed, horrified. Immediately she paddled alongside him, splashed her way clumsily out of the canoe, and hoisted him into it. There was no way she could have pulled him in at the appropriate angle while trying to to capsize, and as it was, it came awfully close, but she wasn't going to risk him drowning and she didn't know what else to do with him. There was no land closer than a couple of minutes worth of paddling and she couldn't just drag him in her wake like a--like a corpse. She'd been planning on using some of her utility rope and--


Inspiration: Late 30s woman wearing a t-shirt with "10 years" and a picture of a paddling canoeist
Story potential: High.
Notes: Good opening for a not-twenties female protagonist with a few miles on her (figuratively and literally). Also, skinned selkie!