Chapter 5.5 — Fishing Story

Molly was grateful for a weekend away with Grandad after her little revelation. The sea had a way of calming her and they practically lived on the beach that entire weekend.

“I like sunrises and sunsets best,” he said.

Molly stood next to him and waited.

“They always turn up,” he went on. “Doesn’t matter who’s watching.”

Molly listened even though she didn’t quite know what he was talking about. He handed her a fishing rod and started sorting out his own. He didn’t tell her how to hold it. It was something she had sort of just gotten used to doing from as early on as she could remember. He just kept moving at the same pace and let her follow.

The sun started changing the colours in the sky and the water changed with it. The ocean just kept going the way it always did.

“You don’t fight the sea,” he said after a while. “You watch it first.”

Molly watched as the water came in and went back out again. Birds flew over them and disappeared. The line sat there without much happening.

“You’ll know when it’s time,” he said.

She waited.

When she felt the pull, it surprised her. It always did.

“There you go,” he said. “Easy.”

They reeled the fish in and took it off the line. Then, he did something that he often did by himself and away from view. He showed her how to kill the fish without hurting it more than they had to.

“That’s enough for now,” he said. “One’s plenty.”

They sat down after that with the rods resting in the sand.

“I kind of see things or find things after you’ve told me about them,” Molly said.

“The funny thing is,” he said, “when you start looking for something, you see it everywhere.”

“Like what?” Molly asked.

“Anything,” he said. “Once you notice it, the world seems to think you’re interested and keeps showing it to you.”

She thought about that and watched the line again. It was like the algorithm on her social media. What was that old joke people make? There’s someone listening in to suggest ads to you. Molly laughed to herself.

“The sea does the same thing,” Grandad went on. “You don’t force it. You line yourself up with it and it meets you halfway.”

They stayed like that for a long time and as was normal for her when she was out there with Grandad, Molly stopped wondering what time it was.

“I won’t always be able to come down here,” he said eventually.

She looked at him.

“That alright?” he asked.

“I think so,” she said.

“Good,” he said. “Everything’s meant to finish somewhere.”

Again, Molly didn’t understand what he meant by it, but she knew it made sense. It would be a matter of time before she came back to it with the ‘aha’ it deserved. They packed up when the light got lower and the beach started to empty out a bit. He moved more slowly then but Molly didn’t make a point of it.

On the walk back, Molly kicked at shells and followed his footprints where they were still visible. At the top of the track, she stopped.

“Can I sleep over at Sosta’s tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’ll be good for you. You still going to watch the sunrise with me, though?”

“Of course!” Molly said with a grin.

“Good.”

Then, they kept walking.