A Trout Tussle

[Espi]

((Henry Spencer continued from Hecate on a Roman Halloween))

Lake Mohave was about 45 miles from Kingman, home to a variety of introduced and native fish, such as channel catfish, rainbow trout and largemouth bass. The last two were the ones Henry was fishing for, though; they were the exciting ones, the ones who jumped from the water and thrashed and put up a good fight. Of course, Henry didn't want to eat them; he preferred shellfish to fish, and would much rather practice catch-and-release than kidnapping and murdering and eating a fellow craniate (though cattle, pork, chicken and whatever hot dogs were made of (meat, of course, just slightly lower quality) were fair game). But the poor trout didn't know that.

Dad was in the small fishing boat with him, patiently watching the water. Technically speaking, Henry was with him rather than the other way around, as his father was the one who got him into fishing. But now Henry was hooked (pun intended, though not intentionally...wait, nevermind, pun not intended) on the pastime, and long weekends when Derek wasn't working and Henry had no homework were the best times to go out at 4 am and drive to the lake for a three-day camping trip.

It'd been about an hour since they'd gone onto the water, plastic grub-shaped lures at the ready (worms seemed like they'd work best, but Dad insisted he was too squeamish and also according to the internet lures were better anyway somehow) and there was yet to be a fish on the line. Bites, but nothing caught yet. Still, it was only the first day, and Henry was optimistic they'd get more stuff later on.

In the meantime, though, Henry was busy sharing his wealth of knowledge with his dad. The past 45 minutes had been spent with Henry summarizing the plot of 'Cabin in the Woods' before segueing into a description of his experiences in the game he'd just gotten into, 'The Secret World'. "...and then you go into the Boogeyman's realm and fight him in a creepy twisted dark version of the park. And it's a really tough fight, it took me like 10 tries!"

Henry stopped, and looked over from the water at his dad. Derek seemed lost in thought. "What's up? Ooh, I'm not being boring, am I?" Henry asked, suddenly feeling guilty. Father-son bonding time shouldn't be so...one-sided. Contrary to popular belief, Henry could on occasion tell when he was talking too much. It took him some time, and people generally either told him directly or started avoiding him by the time he realized, but he was getting there! Kind of. Hopefully.

"No, no. You never bore me, Henry." Derek said, a wistful smile crossing his face.

"Oh, good. Anyway..." Henry moves to speak, but pauses. Maybe he should let Dad do the talking for once. "What's up with you?"

Derek looked down at the water, still smiling. "You know, your mom was a lot like you, Henry. She was so vibrant, so passionate, so full of life. I'm glad you took after her. Always remember, if you love what you do, you'll always be happy. And if other people try to drag you down, what should you do?"

Henry tilted his head, not sure what to say now that Dad was looking back at him expectantly. "Kick them in the shins?" Derek laughed, a deep, joyful sound. Henry smiled.

"Sure. Just make sure they don't see you do it." Henry laughed too, and for a moment it was just the two of them laughing.

"I gotcha, though. Be yourself, do what you love, all that stuff. You're right." Derek smiled gently. "Attaboy. So, tell me about your friends. They don't come to our place, much. Not that I can blame them..." Henry winced imperceptibly; the two lived in a pretty small apartment, and it wasn't always the cleanest or the most comfortable.

"No, no, it's okay. Uh, there's...Cameron, she's great, she's really funny and does crazy music and art stuff. She's in a band with some classmates. There's also Jae..." Henry paused, and thought back to those times the two had messed with makeup, hanging out, listening to music. "He's really cool. He cooks, and does drawings! I think you'd like him." Henry smiled.

"I bet I would. You should introduce me sometime." Derek said.

Henry nodded. "I will, yeah."

Suddenly, Henry felt a sharp jerk at his fishing line. Instinctively, he pulled back, setting the hook. "Got something!" he declared excitedly as the fight began.

"Alright!" Derek exclaimed, rotating to help Henry pull in the fish. "It's a big one!"

It was indeed. And it was the first of five large fish they would reel in that trip. Sadly though, the expedition was destined to be their last.

((Henry Spencer continued in Screamer, Screamer, He's a Dreamer))