Spirit: Do Fishes Remember?
To my daddy
. . . and he did take me to see how far the lakes goes, that day and since.
It might just as well have been a trip to the moon.
—Better I think; the fishes couldn't have gone with us to the moon.
Do Fishes Remember?
even little fishes
It was a beautiful, cloudless day—the waters were calm
I REMEMBER
What ya doing, Daddy?
Can I fish too?
Do fishes know we're here?
Do they hear? Do they hurt?
How come he got away?
Daddy, is it the same fish taking all your bait?
Is it a boy or a girl?
It's quiet—We must be the only ones on the lake.
How far does the lake go, Daddy?
He did it again! —every line swiped clean!
Hurry back with the bait, Daddy.
I'll watch—I know when it clicks:
I'll pull that mean 'ol fish in for ya.
He won't bite while Daddy's gone.
I'll bet he heard Daddy leave—
he's hiding.
It sure is quiet.
Sure is.
CLICK.
Whoa . . . Stop . . . No!
Oh no you don't
It's all I could do, Daddy. He got all your bait. I didn't want him to get away. Your favorite rod clicked. It was going in the lake, but I grabbed it before it did. I pulled him out on the raft but . . .
You didn't say what to do then.
He's big.
He started flopping—I wasn't worried.
He couldn't really get away. (Could he?)
FLOP. FLOP. — It was two or three
FLOP HERE
FLOP OVER THERE
the hook came loose.
. . . you know, Daddy, he swiped the bait again!
He flopped again—I tried to GRAB him.
That did NOT work.
He flopped again—on the edge.
He was gonna go over—one more flop . . .
I knew you'd never believe me
That's when I sat on him.
He's him.
He won't get any more of OUR bait.
Daddy, can we go see how far the lake goes?
It is a beautiful, cloudless day—the waters are calm. It's oh so quiet.
Daddy, do the fish remember?
Do they miss you too?