Gone Fishing - A Farmer Story
By Dana Short
Timmy snuck through the yard towards the pond. He had heard the old Farmer head into town in his horse buggy. Imagine that? A horse buggy. Anyhow, he figured this was as good a time as any to try out his luck at the new Fishing Pond. Word was that old Watters had been stocking it up with some prime fish. Timmy figured he could maybe help to un-stock it a little.
As he snuck through the old man's farm, he was especially careful not to be spotted by Katelyn Watters, as she hadn't been on the buggy with her father, and therefore was still home.
So, he skirted the house, trying to keep on the other side of the barn whenever he could, until he could get down into the bed of the small creek, and follow it up to the dam the Farmer had built to create his Fishing Pond.
The fishing pond wasn't really big, but it did have a small dock in it, with a little row boat tied up at the end of it.
The pond was small enough one could row that boat clear across it in any direction with only a few strokes, but Timmy figured it was big enough to justify a little one man boat, like the one it had, and the dock sure made a nice place to fish from.
This was evident from the fact that at the end of the dock, barely in the shade of the tree growing at the edge of the pond, was a small barrel, and leaning up against that barrel was old Watter's own fishing pole. Also, sitting against the base of the barrel, was a small tool box, which when Timmy opened it, proved to be the old man's tackle box! The top of the box was separated into little trays, each carefully labeled, and sure enough, next to a box with a couple copper pennies in it, was a sparkling new fishing lure!
Timmy was over come by the image of fishing out of the old man's pond, using his own pole and lure. It was just, so, perfect.
Tossing his own gear aside, Timmy reached into the box and pulled out the lure, being careful not to catch his fingers on the sharp hooks.
Next, he bent down and retrieved the old man's pole, and after whistling to himself in admiration for the old man's taste, he spooled out a bit of line so he could tie the lure on to it.
As he started to thread the line through the eye on the lure, Timmy was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness, and his vision got all fuzzy.
He felt his head spin, and then suddenly he dropped everything, and fell over sideways into the pond.
He felt his body cramp up in the cold water and go all numb, and found he couldn't even move as he sunk down to the bottom of the pond.
He let out a bubble of air, as his lungs emptied out, and then he felt his consciousness fading. . .
His last thought was that when they found his body, everyone would figure he got what he deserved, sneaking onto Old Watters's farm, and trying to catch some of the old man's own fish, just for the heck of it.
He didn't drown, though. As his body lay at the bottom of the pond, it began to change. It grew smaller, and flatter, his legs merging into a single shape, and his arms shrinking up against his side, until finally, he was just about the biggest catfish anyone ever did see.
-o-
Katelyn had heard the splash as Timmy's body had fallen into the water, and she headed down from the house to see what cause it. She stood silently just before the dock, and took in the scene laid out before her, then she headed back into the house to wait for her father to come home, figuring there was nothing she could do.
-o-
Later that evening, after Katelyn had told him bout the commotion on the small dock, the Farmer went down to his pond to straighten up.
He knew he shouldn't have left his toolbox out, but he just hadn't figured on someone coming by and getting themselves into it.
He looked into the pond, and noted as Timmy swam by. Then, he picked up Timmy's abandoned pole, and fished the boy's abandoned clothes out of the pond.
He collected his own pole, and Timmy's, and set them at the shore and went back to take care of his tool box.
Bending down and shaking his head a bit, the Farmer pulled out a pair of pliers, and picked up the lure from where it lay on the dock. He then walked over to his tool box, and opened it up, carefully replacing the lure in the small box marked "Fish Fly".
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