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A quote: “I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance – waiting for the bathroom.” ~~ Bob Hope
I’ll start with a story …
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“Whatcha doing?” Billy wipes one sleeved arm across his nose.
“Digging.”
He rolls his eyes. Pretty funny for a six-year-old. “I see that, Rob. What for?”
“Digging to China, birdbrain.”
“Don’t call me that, I’ll tell mom!” his lower lip quivers.
I shake my head, “You know China is straight down from here. If I dig far enough.”
He isn’t buying it. Lip still out.
I stop talking, back to digging. Set, push, scrape, lift dirt out of the hole. Set, push, scrape, lift dirt out of the hole.
“What’s in China, Rob?”
I stop, looking over to see his now curious face. “China people, I suppose. Houses with funny roofs.” I’m trying to remember the pictures from school. We had ‘China’ last semester in geography. “Chinese food, too. You like that.”
Billy tries to smile, “Yeah. Egg rolls mostly.” He looks up at me, “Do they have cats in China?”
“Yeah. Everybody has pets all over the world. China, too.”
He whispers, “Then it’ll be ok. Pumpkin will have friends.”
That’s when Mom comes out the backdoor carrying a small box and Pumpkin’s favorite blanket. For the hole I just dug.
I hope he finds friends in China, too.
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license
Cameron says: The boys cried out in joy as they reeled in a fish. It was a tiny little thing but they were as proud as if they’d landed a marlin.
But I knew I had to act quickly. Thankfully, it occurred to me to fill the bag at my side when I saw the kids heading towards the lake.
“Hey!” I called. “Get back! Get away from the water!” They looked at me with a slightly irritated expression.
“We’re not trespassing,” the older one said. “And we don’t need a license to fish.”
I brandished my cane and they backed away. That was the moment that the creature chose to emerge from the water. It had the shell of a turtle and greenish skin. I got in between it and the children.
“Kōsai,” I snarled. “We have an agreement.” To the shock of the kids, it began to speak to me. I cut it off with a curt gesture.
“Boys,” I said. “Kōsai is a Kappa and this is her place.” I reached into my bag and put cucumber slices in their hands. “Offer it to her nicely and tell her your name. Then you’ll be able to fish peacefully here.”
The water splashed in the planters, bringing back memories from Bill’s childhood — had he been twelve yet? Fred was three years younger than him, which put a lower bound on his own age at the time.
They weren’t supposed to go down to the creek by themselves, but it was a lazy summer afternoon in Wisconsin, and they were both bored to tears. Mom and Dad had gone into town, and big sister Kate was supposed to be keeping an eye on them, but she was engrossed in one of her 4H projects.
So Bill and Fred had grabbed their fishing poles out of the garage and headed down to the creek. Not that the fishing was all that great — mostly carp, with a few catfish and the occasional crappie. Nothing that was really good eating like trout or bass, but fishing was something you could actually do, rather than just romping around the back yard and not getting too close to the pasture where the cows were grazing.
Except for one big problem — Fred was a bundle of wiggles. He knew you needed to be still and quiet so you didn’t scare the fish away, but he just couldn’t help himself. Every flick of the bobber and he was so sure he’d caught a big one that he’d shout so loud the whole county would here. And he’d let you know his disappointment when it turned out he’d caught nothing but a random weed.
Bill was about to call it quits when he got a hard tug. Finally, something to make it worth the risk of coming down here by themselves.
Except the fish dangling on his hook hardly even qualified as a minnow. Heck, he’d seen goldfish bigger than that measly little excuse for a carp.
Nothing to do but free it from the hook and put it back in the water. And as low as the sun was getting, better head back to the house before Mom and Dad got back and asked where they were.
Bill Hearne was surprised to see a flicker of golden scales and translucent fins among the plants that were to provide the restful presence of greenery even as they helped maintain the lunar settlement’s oxygen levels. On second thought, Alice had mentioned the need to maintain certain balances, and the easiest way being stocking these aquatic planters with fish.
However, nobody was going to be fishing up here.
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