The Fisherman

• Charmaine Van Der Vyver, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

In the ancient city of Pompeii, Aelius, the eldest son, assisted his father with setting up his shop for the day, he was a kind man who made his living out of selling fish. Every morning, Aelius’ father would go in his small wooden boat he spent the last month building to bring back the finest fish. Their house was small, but well built and it was clear they were plebeians, just barely fitting all four people of his family in the old home. There was a beautiful water view of the lake outside the wide, sturdy windows and that was one thing the family appreciated.

Aquila and Marcus were out at the markets, buying their daily supply of fresh vegetables and meat, leaving Aelius and his younger sister by themselves. Claudia was crying, having just found out the terrible news. She was so loud, Aelius could hear his sister from the other side of the house, which wasn’t hard if you considered the size of it. He had to find out what bothered Claudia so much to cause her to behave in such a way.
“Claudia! What’s wrong?” Aelius yelled at the door of her room. She opened it and stared at her younger brother.
“They haven’t told you, have they?” Claudia figured, wiping away her tears.
“Told me what?” He was concerned now. What could possibly be wrong? He thought to himself.
“About father...”
“W-what happened to father?” Aelius stuttered, his eyes were wide as he looked at his sister in pure shock.
“He’s sick and... He might die!” She exclaimed and started sobbing again, “What will happen to us? How will mother cope when father is gone?”
Aelius ran back to his room and waited for his parents to arrive so he could question them.

It turned out Claudia was indeed telling the truth. As the months went by, Marcus’ disease worsened up to the point that he couldn’t work anymore, and he had to pay his friend, Cornelius, to fish for him. It was a shame that there wasn’t many affordable doctors around.

Aquila gathered her two children to the living room and asked them to sit down.
“There is no easy way to say this, but... Father is dead.”
“Oh no!” Claudia cried out, “What about his fishing? What will happen to the business?”
“That can not be true! What will happen to us?” Aelius asked, tears streaming down his face.
“Aelius...You might need to think of taking over the business,” Aquila said, “I can get Cornelius to teach you.”
“I understand.” He replied, frowning. I have no idea how to do this! I will never catch any fish, he thought, but he knew it was no use to argue with his parents.

“Get in the boat Aelius! We’re going fishing.” Cornelius called out to the boy. Aelius entered the boat as the man demonstrated the first step.
“First you need bait, redworms are quite common around here, which is what I’m using,” He showed Aelius a bucket full of the foul smelling creatures, “Now listen closely, the key to becoming a great fisherman is to have patience! Patience will take you to great places.”
“It’s important to fish at low tide, the lower water will trap more fish.” Cornelius continued explaining all the instructions and Aelius listened intently.

Every day, Cornelius was more than happy to teach Aelius the ways of a fisherman and Aelius was definitely improving. One day Aelius didn’t need Cornelius. He took over his father’s business and gave his family a thriving future.