Gone Fishing

• Gian Cornale, Grade 7, Marcellin College
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'The Text Generation 2014' competition

It was a glorious day for Joey and his dad, Richard. They were out in the ocean, fishing for today’s dinner. Joey had no doubt he would catch a monster fish, despite the fact he had caught nothing yet. Just then, Joey spotted something in the water… a whale! It made huge waves in the water as it breached and was only about ten metres away. “Dad, dad, have a look at this!” Joey squealed. “It’s amazing!” Richard replied, mesmerised.

The waves the whale had caused were high, higher than the boat. They crashed towards the boat but Richard and Joey didn't notice because they were marvelling the whale. It was only when the boat rocked violently that Richard and Joey noticed the waves. “The waves are too big, we’re going to capsize!” Richard yelled. After the boat was pounded by another five waves, it was too much and it capsized. Richard and Joey were flung from the boat as it rolled and they quickly scrambled up onto the hull of the overturned boat. They were stranded and soaked.

“What do we do now?” Joey asked his dad. The whale surfaced, looking directly at the boat and the two frightened people who were on it. It was as if it was mocking them because it had tipped over their boat and left them isolated. Richard fished out his phone and tested it. Miraculously, it still worked! He dialled triple zero. He smiled and stated, “Help is on the way, but it may be a while because they have to find us.”

The whale was still lying motionlessly. It went under the water and started breaching again. The boat began to wobble dangerously and Joey and Richard scrambled to keep themselves on the hull of the boat. Joey thought of all the things that could happen if he fell in. He could slowly drown or be claimed by the creatures that lived under the sea. “Joey!” Richard screamed as Joey began to slowly slip off. Richard yelled for Joey to grab his hand. He did so, holding on for dear life as Richard pulled him up again, straining as he did so. The shaking of the boat became more vigorous, and all seemed lost. How long would it be before their doomed boat sank? How long would they last in the water when it did sink? Joey began to say his last goodbyes to the world.

The whirring of helicopter blades snapped Joey back to his senses. He looked up. A rescue helicopter hovered above him! They were saved! He saw someone being winched down to get them. Richard signalled for them to pick up Joey first and he was winched to safety. Richard himself soon followed and they were finally safe on the helicopter.

“Next time we go fishing, Joey,” Richard stated, “Let’s stick to the bays, shall we?”