Another peaceful day, or so I thought (rewrite)
Another peaceful day, or so I thought
Just another day, its about five in the morning with the sun just cresting the horizon. I have finally got a day to myself which is really surprising to say since Twilight basically locked down in her castle asking me questions about what my world, culture, and just doing a Q&A thing for almost a week. Now I am a simple man and I like simple things, nothing that is to complex or over complicated, maybe that is why I like fishing so much. Gathering up my gear around my house and getting everything ready for the day, I go through my pre-on the water checklist.
Rod and reel
Tackle for three different types of fishing
Light weight collapsible char
Five gallon bucket
Fishing vest with pliers, filet knife, and measuring tape
Drinks (the alcoholic kind)
Now it's time to get out on the water and relax a little, as I was heading out the door Twilight was already knocking. I just have to laugh a little because these ponies don't give up and I have to give them credit for being adamant about not letting me have a day to myself. Rolling my eyes and chuckling a little. "Twilight this is my day off not to be an ass but what do you need now?"
"Oh, sorry to bother you this early in the morning but I'd like to ask you a few more questions about your home world." The lavender alicorn said her ears splaying back and a blush rolling on her face.
"Well I'd love to stay and play 20 questions again but I have other plans for my day. But if you'd like to join me you're more than welcome too." I say while walking past her and heading across the front lawn.
The sun was showing above the mountains that held the capitol casting a beautiful Bob Ross-esq morning complete with some happy little clouds and trees (Fluttershy not included). The sounds of my boots softly thump on the damp earth while Twilight followed. "Where are we headed off to today?" The alicorn hummed.
"Off to the lake for a little bit of fishing, just a nice day out on the lake enjoying the day and if we don't catch anything then it's still a nice day out on the lake." I tell her, we finally stepped on the dock, I looked back at the alicorn. She had a confused look on her face and was even more confused when I started to set up shop. Setting down the fishing rods, filling up the bucket with water and dropping the drinks into the lake and tying the rope onto the pylon next to me. I sat down picking up my fishing rod, checked the rig on the end of my line making sure it was good I cast it out onto the water and just sat back watching the bobber in the water.
"This is it, this is what you are doing for the day?" Twilight asked with confusion in her voice looking at me. Looking at her with a big grin plastered on my face, a small chuckle surfacing as I pat the space next to me motioning for her to sit. "Well when you put it like that Twilight, it sounds really boring. Just like our game of 20 questions the last few days." I told her while slowly reeling in my line, "have you ever sat down and even tried to fish? Its quite relaxing and just getting out of the house and being in nature, other than walking around town." I jerked my rod up and grunting a little while I reeled in my catch.
Twilight jumped when I grunted, apparently I caught her off guard a little. "Oh yea fish on!" I gave a little shout while looking at the confused alicorn with a face splitting smile on my face. "This is what I am talking about when I told you that fishing is relaxing." I told her while my hand was in the water grabbing the fish, lifting it up and holding it up taking the hook out of its mouth and set it in the bucket after kissing it for good luck. Twilight gave me a look of shock when I set down my rod with shaky hands.
"Are you alright? You're shaking like you have seen a ghost." Twilight exclaimed with a look of worry on her face looking at my hands, wet and slimy from the fish. With a slight panicked look taking a hand in her magic she examined my appendage closely making mental notes for later. "Do I need to take you to see nurse RedHeart?"
"I'm fine Twilight." I said with a small chuckle in my voice, I reached up with my free hand I scratched behind her ears. "I'll teach you how my grandpa taught me." I said "Now, take one of these rods in your magic and do as I do."
"But I don't have hands or anything like that, are you sure that I can do this?" Twilight said looking at me with a worried look.
"Yes." I said bluntly, "now take the rod and hold it like this, reel facing down, and flick the ball up like this." I showed her while keeping a finger on the line coming off the spool so it wouldn't drop into the water below, "now do as I do, release the line as you are throwing the tip forward while still holding the rod in your magic." I flung the line out on the water in one quick motion of my wrist.
"Wow" Twilight said quietly under her breath. "I don't know if I can do that but I'll try."
I looked at her with a small grin on my face, "you can do it, it may take a little bit with magic but I know you can do it." I flicked the ball on the reel back so I could reel in the line.
"Okay, so like this right." Twilight said as she flung the line out, along with the rod. She looked over at me with a sheepish smile, "sorry"
I looked over at her and shook my head smiling. "Much like me when I was taught, and I probably looked like my grandpa just now, get my rod and we'll try this again." I told the embarrassed alicorn.
Twilight pushed magic through her horn and brought up the rod form the water, I was reaching for another one of my rigs when I heard Twilight say something. "I don't think I can do it again."
"Now Twilight, I have something that is a little less complicated." I said while holding up a cane pole, it was a simple fishing pole and line. "Now, this is basically idiot proof, just aim where you want the line to go and toss it out its that simple." I said while handing it to her, the base of the bamboo lit up in a lavender aura as Twilight took my grandpa's pole from my hand.
"Now I just aim and flick the line out just like you said right?" Twilight questioned, while looking over the pole and line with skepticism. I nodded to her and smiled.
By now the sun had come up overhead and was shining down its rays onto the world, looking around from the dock I could see ponies beginning to line the streets of the town. Smiling softly to myself I said under my breath "I wish you were here grandpa." I took my ball cap off my head and looked down at it. The faded red of the cap and the cardinal perched on the baseball bat with the word Cardinals below, trying not to tear up from all the memories of me and my grandpa had while fishing on his property came flooding back to me in one massive smack to the face. Looking over at Twilight I gave a small smile and placed my cap atop her head just like my grandpa did when he taught me how to fish, Twilight looked up at her new head wear then looked at me with a smile on her face. I looked out on the water at our bobbers, "Twilight you got one nibbling."
Shocked by what I said Twilight watched her bobber bouncing in the water, "what do I do now, I haven't done this before. Chase what do I do!" She said with worry in her voice
"Okay, when your bobber goes completely under set the hook by yanking back on the pole like this." I said while jerking back with my rod in my hands.
Watching the bobber submerge completely Twilight jerked back on the pole with her magic and then yelped when the fish came out of the water. "I did it, now what am I going to do." She said with disappointment in her voice.
"Now you have to get the fish out of the water then we can determine if its a keeper or not." I said with a look of amusement on my face, as I said that I could see a lavender aura around the fish in the water, I watched Twilight who had a huge grin on her face and was levitating the fish over to the bucket "I guess that could work too." I told her with a chuckle.
About noonish
"There ya are Twilight been lookin all over for ya." Applejack said while trotting onto the dock. "Howdy Chase, didn't see ya there, what y'all doin out here in the middle of the day?"
"Trying to fish if it didn't go dead a little while ago." I said with a little annoyance in my voice, "what brings you out here."
"I was lookin for Twi, but now I can see where she has been all this time." The farm pony said with a huff "I thought you had somethin to do today Twi, like write a friendship report of some sort."
Twilight just huffed at Applejack and went back to staring out at the water. "I was going to send a letter to Princess Celestia but this one here had to have a day off and when I try and talk to him about his world he ignores me." Twilight said while pointing at me.
"Well if you must know Twilight, talking when fishing scares the fish away as you are well aware of our situation, and I just wanted to have a relaxing day to myself on the water but no, every chance you get we have to play 20 questions about my home world and shit like that." I huffed while looking at the lavender alicorn with a small smile on my face. I reeled in my line and started to pack up without another word being spoken.
"I see you were tryin to get a day to yourself but that didn't happen I take it?" Applejack said with a chuckle.
"It was peaceful until the fishing died down at about 11:30 or so." I huffed.
"Well I don't want ta bother the rest of y'all's day so I'll get out of yer mane." Applejack said looking over us. Twilight said her goodbye's and watched Applejack walk off down the path.
"Chase?" Twilight said with a concerned voice "are you mad at me?" A look of concern on her face.
"No I am not, you did really good today alicorn, you learn fast but just like me when I was learning except you have no patients for sitting in one spot for a long time." I told her while grabbing the bucket and my gear from the dock, "but no I am not mad at you."
"Oh, I thought you would be mad at me because I started to ask you about your old world and trying to get a better analysis into who you are." Twilight said as she looked down at the grass, we were about half way to my home when she asked me again. "Why would you be so patient with me when I was trying to pry into your life a while ago, I mean how can you be after three days of me asking questions about your personal life and home world."
"Because, it doesn't really bother me that much when we talk about my home world and yes I miss it a lot but I feel like I have gotten another chance at something but that is a topic for another day Twilight." I told her when I opened the door for her to walk in.
I set my fishing gear down by the front door and made sure that the rods wouldn't fall over, I ran my free hand through my hair sweeping it back. I looked down at Twilight standing next to me looking in awe at the sight before her. I chuckled slightly at the sight of her, she still had my ball cap on and mouth a gape like a little kid in a big candy store, or a kid who is at their first baseball game. She just stood there looking over my picture covered walls, studying and taking mental notes and pictures in her mind. I walked past her and made my way to the kitchen, I set the bucket down at my feet as I filled the sink up with water. Getting my filet knives out and sharpening stones ready, I saw Twilight walking over with a picture held in her magic.
"Who are these people Chase?" She asked softly while floating the picture in my field of view.
"That is a picture of me, my little sister who was three at the time, my brother who was five I think, and myself which I was either ten or eleven, and that person in the middle is my grandpa who has been gone for almost ten years now." I said while trying not to get choked up about it.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your grandpa." Twilight said as she looked away from me, "Why did you teach me how to fish?"
"I don't know why I did but it was fun, maybe it has something to do with how you reminded me of when my grandpa taught me, being eager to learn and watching with an intent to do what my grandpa did." I told Twilight with some sorrow in my voice. I had brought up a fish from the bucket and set it on the counter, giving it a look in the eye. "There was a time where my family was closer with my mom's side of the family." I said while carefully filleting the fish on the counter, "I was always close with my aunt and grandpa, it was always like they were more than family in a way. I would have to say that my grandpa was like a second dad to me and my aunt is more like a second mom in a way."
I looked over at Twilight who was next to me studying the picture in her magic, I wiped the fish slime off my hands and took the picture out of her magic. "I was closer to my grandpa than any one else in my family, well besides my grandpa and cousins on my father's side of the family. I remember the last thing this great man promised me before he passed." I told Twilight in a soft voice
Twilight looking at me with a sad look a tear in her eye leaned into my right leg. I reached down and scratched behind her ear then it was back to filleting the fish on the counter. Silence filled the air with only the scraping of the knife against the bones of the fish, I was just about to grab another fish when there was a knock at the door. "Come in." I said to the one knocking.
"Twilight?" The voice said
"Yes, in the kitchen Rainbow." Twilight said as she was walking to great her friend.
I just went back to work cleaning the fish that Twilight and I harvested this morning. I could hear the two ponies talking about something serious but nothing that I cared about. When the talking died down and heard the sound of hooves on the hard wood, I looked around and found Rainbow looking at me in horror mouth a gape and shocked.
"What is it now Twilight." I said as I was looking at a mortified Rainbow Dash.
"Nothing, just..." Twilight stopped when she saw Rainbow looking at me holding half a fish and a knife in my hand. "What are you doing Chase?"
I just stood there with a grin on my face, you know the kind when a little kid gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Prepairing my dinner tonight, well more like cleaning the fish for my dinner tonight. You should know this, we went over it when I said I eat meat." I told Twilight, who looked like she could faint at any moment.
The fish are cleaned and in cold water in the fridge.
I had just gotten done with cleaning up the kitchen when there was another knock at the door.
Author's Note
Mostly I just have ideas that never get to this site. One, because I start drafting it out on paper then I loose the spark for the story.
This story is a mixture of two things that happened in my life. My grandpa did pass away and every day I think of him. And the second part is about my friend who finally asked me to take her fishing, after 11 years.
When I was writing this story in maybe late January when the snow was still on the ground I was thinking about my grandpa and how we use to go visit him and he'd take us out on his property and we'd go fishing, and hunt for morel mushrooms then when we had enough of both fish and mushrooms we had a fish fry with the family. How I miss that great man.
