CATCH OF THE DAY
32. You pull up a beautiful, colorful fish.
Whispers was shaking like a leaf. He knew he shouldn't have come to the Winter Market. There were too many people and too many things going on. It was all so scary! Still, he really wanted to be part of the fun for once. Surely, he could grab a quick snack, maybe see some fun booths, and then go back home where he could be with his school and have a nice, relaxing swim? Right?
Wrong.
There was a strange, empty area with a hole in the center, a closer sniff to investigate, a shove, a fall, frantic splashing, and then climbing up on to this...floating stump??? The little acha felt his heart thundering in his chest as he tried to steady his hooves on the wood. He swallowed down the dozens of questions swirling around in his head about how he was going to get home,
if he was going to get home, and how he got here in the first place. Thankfully, it seemed he was not alone, and another kin sat by the edge of the stump.
Whispers slowly, and with woggly legs, walked over to the other acha, whose long hair trailed in golden streaks beside her. He glanced down at her makeshift fishing rod and tried to focus on her words. Her tone shifted as she spoke, dipping between boredom and something happier. He glanced at the tangled and messy fishing situation beside her. Maybe that was the cause of her troubles? It seemed like this whole situation was trouble.
But, the acha asked Whispers for help in maybe one of the only ways he could give it. Working with fish was what made him happiest, and hopefully would provide him with enough distraction to function while on this floating nightmare. He gently sat beside her and fashioned what he could out of the nearby material. Gently, he lowered the morsel of food tied to a line into the water. He adjusted it every few minutes until the line went taut. A small gasp escaped him before he could stop it, and he quickly pulled the line back. This wasn't his preferred way of making friends or getting food, whichever was at the end of the line (and hopefully not something scary!), but he didn't have many options.
Finally, the fish came into view. It was so colorful! Whispers' eyes gleamed in awe this time, instead of tears, as he looked down at it. It was a nice size, and he couldn't wait to see it up close. Thankfully, the creature didn't appear to be interested in letting to of the morsel at the end of the line. With a heave, Whispers hauled the fish up onto the deck. "
Oh wow, how pretty," he said quietly as he took in all the details. He was so taken aback that most of his shaking subsided.
[Words: 468 | Total: 479]