Brittney’s Fishing Trip

        “Penny, do you think Dad will take me fishing with him?” I asked.

        He was going fishing, and I wanted to go.  Penny and Derek were busy, and Donald was too young.

         “I don’t know Brittney, ask him. He’ll probably say yes.”

        Dad loved to go fishing when he had the time and wasn’t working.  I wanted to go this time.  We lived in the country, and there were a lot of 'fishing holes' around. Fishing was good in those places.  But we had to be careful of critters that liked to hang out by the water.

        There were six of us, Mom (Lois Pickle), Dad (Thomas Pickle), Brittney (that’s me, the oldest), Penny (short for Penelope, she liked to be called Penny, is next), Derek (the oldest, younger brother), and Donald (the baby, he didn't like it when I called him a baby!) we all lived in the country.  We loved being outside, and I wanted to fish.

        “Dad, can I go fishing with you today?” 

        Dad was in the kitchen.  He had made a lunch to take with him.  He was tall, and his hair was almost all gray.  He always kept it very short.  I think it was called a 'flat top.'

        “Did you ask your Mom if she needs you today?”

        “No, I wanted to ask you first if Mom says it’s okay with her, is it okay with you.”

        “It’s going to be all day, and it will be hot. Are you sure you want to go?”

        “Yes, Dad, I want to go!”

        “Then go ask your Mom if it is okay with her.”

        “Mom, is it okay if I go fishing with Dad today?” 

        Mom was in the kitchen, too, and heard me ask him.  She just smiled and said it was okay with her.  Mom's hair was light brown and short, but not like Dad'! It was curly too. Mom liked to wear pretty dresses most of the time.

        “What do I need to take with me, Dad?”

        “I’ll make another sandwich for you.  You will have to use a fishing pole. It’s all we have.”

        “That’s okay, Dad. I like the pole.”

        “Let’s put your hair in a ponytail. It’s going to be hot.”

        “Thanks, Mom,” I liked my hair long, but it was hot.

        “Okay, let’s get everything in the truck,” Dad said as he put the last of the lunch in the bag.

      “What can I do?”

         “You take the lunch while I get the cooler.”

         “Okay, Dad.”

         We put everything in the back of the truck.  After Dad put the poles and his rod in, he showed me the minnows and worms we were going to use as bait.

         “Do you think we will catch a lot of fish with these?” I asked him.

         “I think so if they are biting today. Do you think you can bait your own hook?”

         “I’ll try.  You’ll help me, won’t you, Dad?”

         “Yes, I will,” Dad said as we got into the truck.

        We drove down the dusty, bumpy road for a little while before we got there.  Dad parked the truck by the little pond.  A pond is smaller than a lake, and it has a lot of fish.  We parked under a large oak tree, so we would have a little shade and not be in the direct sunlight.

         “We’re here. Let's get all the things out and set up our chairs.”

         “Okay, Dad,” I said.

          I hopped out of, ran around to the back, and climbed up into the bed of the truck to get the poles.  They are long skinny bamboo poles.  Dad tied a line to the thin end of one and attached a hook to it.  You hold it by the thick end.

         “Brittney, hand me the poles.”

        He took them and set them up in holes he had dug the last time he fished.  He set up four poles, put the bait on the hooks, and then put the lines in the water. 

         “Dad, where will we sit?”

         “I’m going to put our chairs in between these poles, so we can watch and see if we get anything on them.  You sit here, take your pole and see if you can put a worm on the hook.”

         I sat down in my chair, took the worm bucket, and got a fat, long, squiggly one to put on the hook.  I looked at it, but I could not poke the hook through the worm.

         “Dad, would you put the worm on the hook?  I can’t do it.”

         “Let me have the worm,” Dad laughed. “I wondered if you would be able to do it, you tried, and that’s what counts.”

         Dad put the worm on the hook, threw the line out into the pond, and gave the pole me to hold.  I sat down and watched him set up his rod.  He put a worm on the hook, then stood and threw the line into the middle of the pond. It landed with a big splash. He sat down beside me, and we watched all the poles to see if there were any nibbles.

         “Dad, thank you for bringing me fishing with you.”

         “I’m glad you came with me.”

         My pole began to wobble while I was holding it.  “Dad, I think a fish is on my line. The bobber just went under!”

         “Pull the pole up as far as you can and let the line come towards you.”

        “Dad, help me before it gets away!”

         I was too short to get the line I'm.  Dad stood behind me and pulled the pole up higher.
      “Look at my fish! It's so big!”

         “Let’s put it on the ground so I can get it off the line.  I’m going to take the hook out of its mouth and put the fish on the stringer.  The stringer is this thick line, and it holds the fish we catch. Then we put them in the water, so they stay alive until we are ready to leave.”

         Dad put the fish in the water by us and rebaited my hook.  I caught the first fish; I was so happy!  We fished for a while.  The stringer line was full.

         “I think I’m going to see if I can get my line to go to the other side of the pond.”

         Dad stood up, pulled his arm with the rod back behind him, and cast the line way out to the other side of the pond.  It had a bobber on it, and I could see it floating on the water.  I could also see something moving in the water, and it wasn’t fish!

         “Dad! What's that in the water?  Those are snakes, and they are coming this way!”

         I jumped up, grabbed my pole, and ran away from the pond.  Dad saw the snakes and ran behind me.

         “Ouch! Ouch!” Dad hollered and ran after me.

         When we made it to the top of the little hill, I turned and looked at him. He laughed and laughed.

         “Dad, why did you holler ‘ouch’?”

         “While you ran, your pole hit me in the head, all the way up here.”

         Dad laughed, he wasn't scared of the snakes, but he rubbed his head where my pole hit him.

         “Dad, we left everything by the pond!”

         “I know. We’ll get them when everything settles down again.”

         “I’m not going back down there!”

         “It’s okay, Brittney. I will get everything loaded in the truck and come back to get you.”

         We waited for a while before he went back down to the pond.  All the snakes were gone, and Dad got all our things loaded into the truck.  He pulled up the stringer of fish, and we had 12 fish on the line.

         “We had a good catch, even with the snakes.  Brittney, are you going to help me clean them when we get home?”

         “I’ll help you, Dad, sorry my pole hit you in the head so many times.”

         “It’s okay. You didn’t mean too.”

         “Let’s get home now, it’s getting late, and we have fish to clean.”

         I was tired as we drove home and drifted off to sleep.  Dad woke me up when we got home, and I helped him unload the truck and clean the fish. 

         Later that night, I heard him tell Mom about our fishing trip and the snakes. He laughed again and again.  He told her that my pole hit him in the head over and over.  We both had a lot of fun and a little excitement.