“Hang on!!!! Hold on to that rope.”
The old man shouted to the woman from the other end of the deck. The wave hit the boat in sequence as the thunderstorm surrounded it above.
This is not a typical fishing activity that she expected. It appears that her description of fishing is not on the same table as his. It has been almost 12 hours since they left the pier.
The fisherman has a bit of an alcoholic redheaded character. He tends to yell at her for making a mistake, yet he never entirely puts it on her. She is offended at first, then grows used to it since they are in the same boat, and there is no one else to talk to.
“Today we are going to have a big catch. Hold that rob tightly and pull when i said it!!!”
“YES SIR!!!!!!”
The woman shouts back with all the muscle in her throat, fighting against the sound of rain and oceanic waves.
She pulled out all the strength she had toward the leg to build a firm ground while maintaining balance.
Everywhere she looks, it is all blue and white, aligned in a sweeping curve, with depth highlighted by a border along the horizon. Lightning sounds from everywhere once in a while. It reminds her of how loud life used to feel, until that one sound changed it all.
“We got it, let’s get back to….. Whoaaaa”
As they took the net up, the old man tripped over the rope and got himself overboard.
“Hey, Hold on I am coming”
She threw the half-deflated safety donut toward him and hooked a rope onto one of the pulleys.
The friction between her hand and a saltwater-soaked rope gives a burning sensation, and her skin scratches off every time she moves it.
Somehow, it almost felt like the whole situation replayed itself again.
As the old man in the donut was almost reaching hull, the rope started to tear out, then a snap sound echoed.
If she dodges it, she will likely lose the man to the angry ocean, just like what happened that night.
Everything happened so fast. She cannot think clearly; she is afraid of being alone with herself, but she doesn’t want it to unfold as it did that day.
A peculiar sensation surged up amid the chaos in her head. Her body moved to catch the rope in time, but the incoming wave was so strong that she pulled the donut up with all her power.
A massive wave engulfs the whole boat, and she is pushed into the cockpit wall, knocking her out in an instant.
She slowly opened her eyes to the helm ceiling. A white linen roll is placed beside her head with a sharp pain in her forehead.
She gets herself out of the pouch and looks out the window to a navy sky with a tined shade of white at the horizon. Old fisherman set up a couple of fishing rods on the front deck, preparing to catch a particular fish.
“Hi, were you injured?”
“Huh, do I look like an overnight paralyzed body in a soaking blood with fish slime all over? No, I don't think so.”
A typical sarcastic response from him.
“Come, I will teach you the art of fishing, take a seat”
“What do you mean by ' fishing '? Aren’t the past 18 hours considered fishing?”
”Well, that is fishing, but it’s commercial fishing; now this is fishing as hobby.”
The woman felt so out of place. Did he trick her into being a free laborer so he could keep all the profit for himself? It doesn’t matter anymore, because her head doesn’t work as it should.
She sat down in the cold room channel, and they sat quietly for ten minutes.
“I'm afraid of the idea of making a mistake; it is what haunted me this past few months.”
The woman finally spoke up about her fear. The fisherman turn his face to look at her
“What happened last night? It recalls the time when I watched my brother being neck-slitted open and drowned in the river. We tried to protest the company for illegally seizing our native land for industrial use. As long as we are not present in the court, then it will be theirs.”
She sighed out loud and put her left foot on the cover, leaning her face onto a bruised, weak leg.
“Then, it happened again. I was a journalist on a political movement. I was interviewing my high school friend, an activist opposing a political campaign that widens the gap between high- and low-income groups. The situation developed into a riot. The police mistakenly capture me. She tried to help me, but a loud, harsh voice pierced through my ear canal. The next moment, my hand is full of blood, and they drag my body across the street. I watched my lifeless friend lying on the road full of smoke and a heavy smell of gunfire.”
A drop of water fell on her leg. A wind blows past, taking her tears with it.
“I am sorry for your loss.” The old man whispers softly and pats her back.
“I moved here because I hate everything out there. I hate being naive. I hate being labeled a walking curse, someone who always puts everyone to doom. A colorless lunatic is what I despise most, given by my previous greedy, racist employer.”
She paused for a moment as she notices the fishing line vibrated a bit.
“What are you waiting for?”
The fisherman questions her. She jumps off and grabs the spinning reel handle as it speeds up. She tries to hold it back as she moves around to make ground. It was hard at first, then it became much easier, until she pulled the line out of the water. It was some empty air pump cover in seaweed.
“Ha Ha Ha, it's just trash in the sea, probably something a fish throws out so they eat the bait, and the hook holds on to this instead.”
The fisherman laughs as he watches her disappointed eyes fixed on the object in front of her.
“You are a tough girl, you know?, You just need to know how use it.”
“What?”
“First, you know when the fish is approaching, which can be too fast in this case. Secondly, you must observe how it behaves, then follow it. Lastly, knowing the moment to take it or let it go.”
A big question mark pop up in woman head, but it also showing on her face as well.
“Let's put the bait on and continue. If you can save me last night, then you probably can catch a fish.”
She begins to follow the fisherman over the next couple of hours. There are some failures, but also some progress. Finally, she successfully caught a small sea brass with the size of her arm.
”Look, I finally got it, my first fish!!!!!”
”Consider that it is your first self-caught, what are you going to do about it?”
The fisherman asked her as she attempted to keep it in her hand.
“I…. want to release it”
”You know that would set you around 5 coins at least right?”
“Nope, I will keep it.”
She changed her mind suddenly upon hearing the potential price for this small piece. At least it is a reward for progress she had learn in the past day.
They finally arrive back at the pier as the sun rises. Both of them take the fish out of the cold tank and sell it to the merchant, which happen to be quite a large sum in woman opinion.
They walk out toward the shop near the beach after finishing cleaning up the boat.
“Can I ask you something before you left?”
“What is it?”
”Why do you think I am strong?”
He walked up to her and stared into her eyes with a serious expression. She had hardly seen him before.
”There is no person who remains fully sane after a near-death or life-altering event, if they didn’t have a gut like you. A flashback can indeed happen, but you still need to be in the present cause they are dead, dead like a rotten fish, not sick fish in those tanks.”
There was a moment when she thought she had heard it on the radio, yet nothing compared to hearing it from a living person.
”Oh, can we truly pretend it wasn’t there at all? The thing you said when we first met.”
”What did you think when you saved me?”
”Nothing”
“That’s because you are already in the present. You dare to confront what is in front of you and make the best of it. That is what people like us do every time we go out fishing.”
He paused for a bit and turned his body toward the liquor store.
”So, if you want to go fishing again, you know where I am. and…”
He paused briefly.
“Thank you”
”You welcome, Thanks to you…”
Before she could finish the sentence, he vanished into the liquor store.
She walks back to her home and stops by the office along the way to gift her boss a fish she caught as an apology. Her boss smiled as he heard the whole situation. He offered her a break until she was ready to come back.
“It is important that you are in good shape before coming back. Your column has been popular, so you may not want to disappoint your readers.”
She wave good bye to him and walked uphill to the house.
She stands before the fence, amazed at how the house has brightened with a well-maintained garden.
Jack stood there in the walkway cleaning the leaf out.
“I hope you don’t mind a small cleaning at the house. I heard your fishing journey went smoothly, right?
”It went perfectly. Thank you again for advising me about the fisherman. You don’t have to escort me at night anymore.”
”With pleasure, whether you still have night walking or not, I will provide service for this community 24 hours a day as usual.”
He waves goodbye to her as he tidies up everything, then rides the bicycle.
”Goodbye, hope you have a good day.”
She waved back and walked back into the house, took a shower, then lay down on the bed. The cat suddenly hops on, lying down by her side as if she were a big pillow. She put her arm over its body and began to close her eyelids. There is no need to fear for the sleep anymore. She accepts the truth as a whole and falls asleep.