1 Catching the Big One

A pickup truck rumbled down a dirt road next to a large lake in the murky predawn light. It stopped at a packed dirt parking lot, in front of a wooden cabin. A tall white-haired man with a wrinkled face, dressed in old army pants and a fisherman's vest over a thick green army sweater, got out of the truck. He grabbed a large bag and a tackle box from the cargo bed of the truck and walked towards the cabin.

Before he reached the cabin, its door opened and a man in his middle age came out with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.

"Morning Jack! You came earlier than usual today. What caused that spring in your step?" the middle-aged man shouted to the old man before he took a sip of his coffee.

The old man, Jack, gave him a bright smile and answered "I couldn't sleep much so I decided to come in early and set things up, Earl. My son and grandson are coming today too."

Earl responded with a slight smile of his own and said "That's great. Come in then and let's get you guys signed up." He turned on his heel and went back into the cabin on which a sign reading "Lake Serenity Bait & Tackle" stood.

Jack followed him in and went to the shop counter, while Earl went through a door into the back of the shop.

After a few seconds, he came back with a large book which he opened up on the counter and asked Jack "So, with what did you arm yourself today?"

"I got two for myself, two for my son, and one for my grandson." Jack answered as he opened his large bag and showed off the five old fishing rods to Earl.

"OK, I'll just write up five rods to Jack Nash so you'll get a discount. That'll be $49.95 for the lot. Sounds good?" Earl said while he wrote it down in his ledger.

"Fine with me. Keep the change." agreed Jack and gave him $50.

"Gee, thanks. Your generosity knows no bounds." deadpanned Earl as he gave Jack the bird.

"Times are tough for all of us." Jack threw back over his shoulder with a crooked smirk on his lips and walked out of the shop.

Jack walked down the shore of the lake to his favorite spot. Once he got there he took out the fishing rods, three folding chairs, and a mesh net bag for holding fish from his large bag and went about setting his camp up.

In the middle of the preparations he looked at the time on his cellphone, it showed 04:36 AM.

'Kevin and Jacob should get here around 8 AM. Leaves me with some time to fish on my own.' he thought with a smile and went about setting his two rods up. He left the other rods in front of the other two chairs, ready for use. He also sprayed insect repellent around the fishing spot to get rid of mosquitoes for when his family came.

When he finished setting up the camp, Jack sat down on his chair with a sigh, fished out a cold beer can from the bag, and finally gave his undivided attention to his two floats in the water.

The Sun slowly rose over the horizon and painted the world in greens, yellows, and browns.

Jack finished off his third beer and decided to reel both of his rods in. He didn't have any luck all morning, so he changed the bait he used, recast the rods, and settled back into his chair.

He checked the time on his cellphone, it showed 08:24. Jack furrowed his wrinkled brow and decided to give his son a call.

After five long rings, his son finally picked up with "Hey dad… what's up?"

Jack ignored the tone and asked "Hey Kevin when are you guys coming to the lake? It's already past 8. I've set up everything, so you don't need to bring anything extra. Just make sure to dress up in warm clothes"

His son was silent for a couple of seconds and then spoke "Yeah, about that. You see, Jacob isn't feeling well. I think he has a fever. I tried to get him out of bed, but he looks really sick. I don't think we'll make it to the lake today."

Jack's forehead furrowed as concern tinged his voice when he asked "Is he OK? It's fine if you can't come; his health is always the top priority. Make sure to take him to a doctor if it stays that bad."

Kevin's voice came over the cellphone "Yeah, I'll do that for sure. Sorry about this. We'll come next time. Bye, dad."

Jack gave a slight shake of his head as he said "No problem, I'll catch enough fish for the three of us and we'll have a barbeque when Jacob gets better. Take care, son."

Just when he meant to end the call, he heard a faint voice saying from the other side "Are you done talking with grandpa? Come on dad, Tommy's dad is waiting for us, we'll be late."

The call ended.

Jack looked at the 'call ended' screen on his phone and blinked a few times. Then he sighed, got up from his chair, and returned the rods and chairs he set aside for his son and grandson back into the bag.

When he finished packing up their things, he stood in front of his rods and looked over the lake for a few minutes, shook his head, and started walking back towards the "Lake Serenity Bait & Tackle" shop.

By this point a number of cars already parked in front of it. Jack walked into the shop and saw Earl finishing the signing up of another man. Jack gave him a friendly nod as he went out of the shop.

"What's up, Jack? Ran out of bait?" asked Earl with a smirk on his face.

Jack gave him a little shake of the head "Nah, looks like my family won't make it. They had… other obligations." he said with a sad little smile, and continued "I wondered if you could charge me for only two rods since I won't need the rest?"

Earl frowned a little as he refused with "Sorry Jack, all sales are final. Why don't you just use the rods? You paid for them already anyway." he went around the counter and continued "Tell you what; I'll even throw in a box of bait free of charge."

Jack shook his head as he said "Nah, no need. Never mind then. See ya later, Earl." He turned around, with his broad shoulders slumped a little, and walked out of the shop.

A few seconds later Earl followed to the porch of the shop, hesitated for a moment, and then yelled "Keep your shoulders straight, soldier!"

Jack stopped walking, straightened his shoulders, gave a crisp salute to Earl, and yelled "Hooah!"

He walked slowly back to his fishing spot, a thousand thoughts churning in his mind.

When he neared it, he saw one of his floats bobbing up and down in the water.

'So what if they don't want to come, I'll still keep my end of the deal.' he thought and ran towards his rods.

Winded, he grabbed the correct rod and hooked the fish with a skilled jerk.

'A big one, nice. Just what I need to blow off some steam.' he thought as he felt the strength of the struggling fish.

After almost ten minutes of fighting, the fish got tired and Jack began to reel it in.

A light sheen of sweat accumulated on his brow as he breathed rapidly, but he could only think about getting that fish. He grabbed a landing net in his left hand, while he held the struggling fish close to the shore with his right. Jack could feel soreness in his hands and his back, but he greeted the pain like an old friend and gave it no mind.

He staggered down the bank to the shore, got his boots into the water, and snatched the feebly struggling fish with the landing net.

With labored breath and step, Jack climbed back up the bank. He looked at the large carp in the net and smiled. He opened his mouth and tried to say something… then his eyes rolled back into his head and he tumbled back down the bank into the shallows of the lake.

The last thing he saw before the darkness took him was that damned flailing fish.

Earl stood on his porch as the sun started to set.

'Old Jack usually takes off after 4-5 PM, what's keeping him this long?' he thought as he looked at Jack's pickup truck. He worried a bit about the look in Jack's eyes that morning so he sighed and started walking towards Jack's usual fishing spot.

When he got close he saw a chair, a bag, a rod, and a landing net with a flopping fish in the spot, but no Jack. Earl looked around the fishing spot and called out for Jack, but no one answered.

As he debated on whether he should call the cops or go looking in the woods near the lake, he saw something in the corner of his eye. A small metallic button from a breast pocket reflected the last of the Sun's dying light from the reeds in the shallows.

There, a curled up old man in army fatigues lay, floating and barely visible. He still had a slightly triumphant smile on his half-submerged face.