The Fishing "episode"

• Gemma Shipley , Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2009

“Hey, do you guys want to go fishing today?” Ella said as she walked into our room, still in her navy blue silk pyjamas.

We are on holidays in Sussex Inlet, Remi, Ella (they’re twins) and me, Gracie. We’re staying at their grandmother’s house for a week or so.

“Sure, why not,” I said. “Remi, You up for it?”
“Yea, definitely!” she almost shouted back. We’ve been talking about going fishing for a few days now, but we never got around to it.

We are walking down the asphalt road to the inlet; we are going to fish of the pontoon down there. We’ve got some prawns as bait and three dodgy hand reels, all stuffed in a yellow bucket.
Ella’s glasses keep slipping down her nose, she’s had them for a while now they match her face really well but they’ve got heaps of scratches on the lenses. Remi is skipping down the street singing like a five year old. Although her choice of song is a bit advanced for someone five years old. Ella and I join in.
“It’s taking ages to get down to the pontoon!” complained Ella.
“Ells, we’ve only been walking five minutes.” I said back. Ella has a reputation for complaining. It gets on my nerves sometimes. Remi is still singing to her self.

Before we went away we’d promised our friends, Cassandra and Callum, and that if we caught any fish that we would name the fish after them, so hopefully we’ll catch so I decided that if I caught another fish after that, then I’d call it rove.

We’ve arrived now, this town is pretty small, but there are a fair few families out having picnics or whatever they’re doing. Now to start baiting the hooks. Eww. Gross. The prawns are getting all of they’re juices on us; they’re really hard to put on the hooks. Remi is trying to cast her reel; it went like, two metres. I couldn’t stop laughing; she didn’t think it was funny at all. I wonder why… Anyways, after trying another 4 times (and failing) she settled for just letting it drop into the water underneath her. There are heaps of fish swimming around our bait. Its fun to watch them biting at our bait. It’s not so fun when they eat it all and then we have to re-bait the hooks and go through the motions of getting prawn juices all over us again. Yummy. Not. (!)

“Yeeeeeew!” Remi shouted.
“What?!” Ella and I said in unison, spinning around to face Remi.
“I caught one! Hehee, it’s gonna be called Cassandra now!”
“Yay!” I said. Rather enthusiastically, not.
“Yea... AARRGH! I can’t get it off the hook!”
“Here let me,” I sighed. I placed my foot over the top of ‘Cassandra’ and eased the hook out of ‘her’ (if fishes really have genders) mouth. “Put some water in the bucket for us, will you?” I said to no one in particular, just whoever wanted to get water I suppose. ‘She’ seemed to be a bit tired but, oh well.

“You know what’s dumb?” Ella said. That’s was a bit randomly said but anyways…
“What?” I asked arrg my skirt keeps flying up in the wind. Stop it skirt!
“Well we didn’t even wear our swimmers down here.”
“Oh yea…dang” I said. So much stupidiosity.
“But don’t you guys think the water’s a bit cold to swim?” Remi asked,
“Nah not at all,” Ella replied, skimming her foot across the top of the water.
“Oh yea, it’s heaps nice,” I said and went to sit down on the edge of the pontoon, letting my feet float around in the water. “It’s naaaaaice.”
“You’re scaring the fish away!” remi told me.
“Too bad. And anyway, I'm shooing them over to you.” Duh.
“Oh ok” she immediately brightened up.
“ohhh yess! Sweet! I caught one!” Ella exclaimed, again pushing her classes up her face as she crinkled her nose up against the fishy smell.
“ohhh, cool! You gonna call it Callum?’ Remi asked.
“’course.”
“Great. Now I’m the only one who hasn’t caught a fishy.” I said sadly.
‘you know what you need Gracie?”
“What?” I asked.
“A net.”
“Huh. Good idea. Why didn’t we bring a net?!?”
“Because we don’t own a net, that’s why.” Ella said.
“Oh,” I breathed.
In my sadness I walked over to have a look at the newly dubbed Callum in the bucket, Cassandra still hadn’t moved much since we put her in. hmm. Ten minutes later, we were down to our last five prawns and still, Cassandra was swimming sadly.
“Do you think we should let them go?” I asked the others.
“s’pose so. It’s not like were going to keep them anyway.” Said Ella.
“OK, C’mon then” I said, picking up the bucket and carrying it to the edge of the pontoon, far out this thing is heavy (!). “You guys gonna kiss ‘em goodbye?” I asked.
“EEEWWW! No way! Gross, that’s gross, Gracie.” Exclaimed Ella in a really high pitched voice; it was funny.
“Remi?”
“Yea, as if you wouldn’t! Geez Ella you’re such a girl.
“Hmmm funny that.” Ella said sarcastically. Well she is a girl so…
“Ok then, Ella seeing as you’re such a wuss” I shot Remi a knowing look, “I’ll kiss Callum for you then, so he doesn’t feel lots of un-lovednosity”
Remi picked up her fish (I have no idea how she could tell them apart; probably because Cassandra was looking so miserable) and gave her a huge sloppy kiss and then gently placed her in the water. Cassandra was obviously stoked to be back in the open water because she swam off like a lightening bolt.
“Bye, bye, Cassie,” Remi said.
“Yea, bye Callum,” I copied Remi except I didn’t put as much emotion into the kiss as she did. “Mmm, salty”
“Eww.”
“Ok I have an idea.” I said after I watched Callum swim away, “Ella, you stand here” I dragged her to where I wanted, “and hold this in the water,”
I gave her a baited fishing reel.
“Ok… why?” she questioned, a question that I ignored.
“Now, I get the bucket, and I will use it as a net, and Ella you will now entice the fishies into my bucket of bucketnosity. Ok?”
“Ok, yea.”
“What can I do?” Remi asked.
“watch.” Said Ella; a bit harsh but it is kind of a 2-man job.
“fine.” She grumbled back. She soon got over her disappointment because she was lying down on the pontoon looking underneath it to see what was there. Mostly reeds. And water.

After about 10 minutes of ‘attracting’ fish, Ella decided to give up. “This is hopeless,” she said.
“Uh, No it’s not actually, just keep going.”
“Ok, ok” she sighed and leaned back over the edge to get a better look at what she was doing.
“arrrgh! My glasses! Gracie! Quick get them!”
“Hey look, Ella’s glasses. Hehee. Lol.” Ella and I said at the same time.
“Get them, Gracie!” Remi yelled.
“Oh crap” I finally registered what was going on. Ella’s glasses had fallen of and into the water. And I had laughed. Stupid brain. I tried to reach for them but it was useless. They were sinking fast, like a fast-sinking thing.
“GRACIE!” Ella screeched. “NOW THEY’RE GONE!!” she was pissed. I could tell. Oops.
“Wow.” The remark came from somewhere over to the right, probably Remi.
Ella was fuming, I started to get up, but then I was falling, into the water. In all of her anger, Ella had pushed me, fully clothed into the water!
“Oi! What the frik was that for?!?” I yelled as soon as I’d resurfaced.
“harsh.” Remi concluded
“You think!? Ok Remi, help me out.”
I put my hands in Remi’s and pushed myself up from a little platform, jutting out the side of the huge pole that keeps the pontoon from drifting around everywhere.
I’m sure Ella would have helped too, except she was distracted by a gang of cute guys riding past with surfboards, but no shirts.
“Ooh la laa” I said when I was halfway out of the water.
“I know,” breathed Ella.
Remi was still pulling me out of the water but was interrupted by a thick ripping noise.
“What was that?” Ella said half-heartedly, but she still turned around, and laughed. One of the surfie guys wolf-wistled and laughed to his mates and pointed in my general direction. Huh? What was going on? And then I realised, I was no longer wearing a skirt! Great! NOT. And to top that off, I was wearing my most unflattering pair of hello kitty undies!
“FRIK!” I gasped. Was it just me or is there no longer any oxygen on the earth? Remi started laughing so hard that she let go of my hands and I went crashing back into the water. Good. Maybe I’ll die down here, that’s the level of embarassnosity that I felt – I wanted to die. Even from underneath the surface of the water I could here them laughing hysterically at me. Ugh.