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The Costly Anniversary |
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Authored By Michael M. Michaelson © May 2002 |
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The big day came, morning arrived and every fisherman for a thousand miles went forth onto the lake and into the marshes and along the rivers that fed into the great basin. This was the big seasonal tournament, and I mean the big one. Not only were there a variety of great gifts for the first ten big fish but a monster of a prize, $25,000 for the single marked fish which had been release the night before in great secrecy. Every major fishing entrepreneur, dealer and so called expert was there, trying their best to catch that prized fish, just swimming free in the vast lake. For two days from sunrise to sun down the contest was on and so hundreds of fishermen went looking for their fortune. Hour by hour the catches went on, big ones, little ones and strange ones, but so far, the first day moved on by, without the tagged fish taking the bait or the lure of that line that sought its strike. Here now we will insert our character and for the sake of anonymity we will call this fellow Andy the Australian. No he was not a commercial fisherman, nor was he a seller of fine equipment but only a single fisherman who dearly wanted that big prize to pay off his debts and get one step up on life. But with every fisherman there always comes another story and so it was with Andy. For behind the scenes there was a choice he had to make; for it was his first wedding anniversary and there had been some strong disagreement between Andy and his wife, about him taking this special day and squandering it out on some lake trying to catch an impossible dream. "After all," Andy's wife declared, "Andy has already caught the "true Dream" of his life; he should be spending his anniversary with her!" Well, just as all good fishermen do, beyond all disagreements Andy's hope on the winning fish took precedence and his choice was made. The call to win was greater than the celebration of the day marking his first year of a successful marriage! (Oh Andy, poor man, but your in for some big troubles…just you wait!) Dawn came and Andy was gone, his boat slowly moved across the lake while the sun rose higher in the sky and Andy dreamed where his fish might lay waiting. Toward the end of the day, Andy had a bad streak of luck come onto his rather shabby motor. It up and died for no good reason other than it was tired and worn out like Andy. So the afternoon breezes blew his little boat across the lake and into a shallow outlet. There the sun slowly sank in the west and with the passing of the day Andy let his pole lay aside while he tried to get the motor running But no such luck for this dreary fisherman. But then near dark, a strange movement took hold of his pole, it was a good something but what it was, he did not know. It continued to shake a little, tremble and bounce, then Setting the engine cover aside Andy thought to have some fun with his fish. Now, the time for fun was over when Andy saw unusual flickers of reflecting light catching the last rays of the sun. Andy's hopes rose as he began to think that this fish might possibly be the tournament tagged fish! Because he was now in shallow waters Andy slid overboard to better work the fish into shore for a sure catch but he really had a fight with this one! There alone near to sunset he slowly reeled the fish in and sure enough, there hung THE TAG, THE SWEETEST MOST WONDERFUL TAG EVER! After netting the prized fish, Andy excitedly shook his fist at the darkening sky, yelling out his joy, "Yeah-ah!!" The day was over, the first day was done but Andy was concerned, were there any officials to notify? No big deal, I am the winner no matter how you look at it and O well, one more day left and he could take his prize in tomorrow. But for now he just wanted to get home and show his dream fish to his lovely wife and tell her it was all going to work out fine. After his initial excitement had left him it was nearly dark and he finally got the motor started. The dock was deserted by the time he tied up his boat and set off for home in his truck. He couldn't wait to get home and show their dream come true! "What's this," Andy wondered, the house stood dark. After calling out, Andy realized his wife was not at home but a note laid waiting for him…"Went to Moms for a few days, see you later, hope you really enjoyed your BIG FISHING DAY, Huh!" No matter, his prize was to great to allow his wife's sarcasm and abandonment to ruin his day and tarnish his dream. He carefully laid his prized fish in crushed ice inside the refrigerator and there it waited for its redemption of 25,000 big dollars. Morning finally came and Andy was excitedly gone again, hurrying off to see the tournament judges with the single winning tag and carried it into the official office. After a long while, all the judges had been collected and Great excitement went through the entire camp like wild fire. Then and there, the announcement was made that the tagged fish had been caught and the BIG PRIZE had been won. The judges told Andy to go collect the fish at home and bring it back for the officials to examine; for without the fish, the tag was not valid. "Sure thing Mates," Andy agreed and nearly ran out the door to get home and retrieve his WINNING FISH! Well now, this is where things turned interesting, for when Andy got home, he entered the house and found that his lovely wife had showed up shortly after his morning departure. She immediately rushed to Andy and through her arms around him crying out that she was so sorry for not understanding his fishing needs and began to thank him for loving her so much and that she had prepared his favorite baked fish meal! After Andy screamed out, "WHAT FISH," she lovingly replied, "You know dear, that wonderful fish which was just waiting so nicely in the packed ice for me in the refrigerator! " And while Andy stood before his loving wife speechless, his knees grew weak, his heart was caught in his throat, his stomach was churning, his eyes were dimming, he felt his life changing, and his dream began shattering into millions of pieces…but his wife went on speaking something about her Andy…being pleased, "Oh what a wonderful husband you are to bring home such a nice fish for our late anniversary dinner!" Low and behold out of remorse for not being there for him the night before, she now wanted to make up for her selfish tantrum, she was lovingly preparing her wonderful husband his most favorite dinner. That one special meal that would certainly turn out to be their most memorable and for sure their most expensive meal ever! You guessed it by now… yes she had completely gutted, trimmed, chopped, prepared, baked and was putting the final touches on what use to be Andy's 25,000 DOLLAR dream FISH! Do you think they had a second anniversary? Do you think she ever complained again about his fishing? Did he even tell her what she had done? Did Andy eat any of that fish? How long was it before Andy could fish again? Do you think that Andy wore that Tag around his neck? What would you have done? Contact Author at: We're looking for those Special Fishing and Outdoor Stories! |
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