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Water
Water
Tom was boarding a medium sized fishing boat with his father. Finally, after months of anticipation they were finally there in Acapulco. They had been planning the fishing trip for months. Tom was so excited that he had forgotten to eat breakfast. It was a very hot day and Tom’s dad had asked him to buy some water bottles for their outing. They unanchored the boat and started heading away from the bay and into the open ocean. The day was beautiful, but very hot.
They had been heading deeper into the open ocean for about 2 hours now with their fishing lines set for the last hour. Not a single bite. Tom and his father began to talk about tennis. As they were discussing who would win the next tournament, all of a sudden a line was rolling. They hooked something. Tom’s heart raced and his pupils dilated as he sprung up into action. His father usually helped him out, but Tom was older now. He wanted to prove that he could do this without any help. As he grabbed the fishing pole, Tom felt the immense pull from the fish. Tom’s father turned off the engine. Whatever they hooked was very strong. Tom began to reel him in but there was too much resistance, he had to tire the fish out. This became a marathon as 30 minutes had gone by and Tom’s arms and lower back were on fire, but he was still as determined as ever to reel in the fish. Finally, the fish breached the surface and flailed in the air. It was a gigantic sailfish. His slimy, blue skin and elegant, purple sail looked magnificent in the sunlight. It was almost a shame to kill such a beautiful animal, but this didn’t bother Tom. He forgot all about his aching muscles when he saw the fish. Adrenaline flooded his system. Tom’s father was coaching him as little as possible but it was difficult because he was also very excited. The fish started showing signs of fatigue and Tom reeled him to about 5 meters from the boat. Once the sailfish was thrashing on the end of the boat, Tom’s father passed him the short, metal bat they had brought. Tom handed the pole to his father and engaged the desperate sailfish by grabbing the scaley sword at the base with his left hand. He had done all the hard work and had been brave enough to engage the fish’s sword, now came the most barbaric part. Tom choked up on the bat with his right hand while grabbing the fish with his other hand. He swung the bat on it’s skull twice in rapid succession to stun the fish. After this they could board the sailfish onto the boat where Tom delivered the final series of blows to the skull to make sure that the elegant fish was dead. Tom was so ecstatic and his father hugged him and congratulated him on his first time fishing without any help. It was an amazing first solo catch.
After about 10 minutes they put out both fishing lines again and headed out deeper into the ocean to test their luck. It must have been over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and Tom was drenched in sweat. He began to feel a little lightheaded. Moments later another line started running and Tom’s father ran to kill the engine and grab the line but Tom said he wanted to catch this fish too. His father was surprised and a little disappointed deep down, but he just smiled and began to cheer Tom on. About 5 minutes into the battle between Tom and this mystery fish, Tom began to feel a cold sweat on the back of his neck and he began to see black and white dots. Tom’s father noticed his son’s face was going pale and told him to give him the line and sit down and hydrate. Tom said he was fine and kept trying to reel in the fish. A minute later Tom collapsed at the edge of the boat and the fish yanked the pole out of Tom’s hands and dragged it with him into the ocean.
