The Jadedvisalian

Welcome to the 2nd season of Stan Prolongo. Story written by Justin Lowmaster from The Space Turtle Blog. Voice of Stan Prolongo provided by DAVe Avila from The Jen and DAVe Show. If you have a podcast and would like to use Stan Prolongo for content in your show. Please drop us a request in a comment and we will contact you.

Stan Prolongo by David Avila is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I rose early from a short night’s sleep. I got dressed for a day on the water. It was the day of my monthly fishing trip with my father in law Barry. I put on my boots and noticed that my shoes were covered in flour. The tortilla factory had not been nice to them. I’d need new ones if I wanted to remain looking credible. I headed towards the docks. On the way I found the card from the false Mothman in my pocket. I’d forgotten about it. I’d have to research about it after my day with Barry. He has the oldest boat on Lake Kaweah. Several patches and bad paint jobs give the boat a texture like no other. His latest engine is older than the boat, but he says he got it at a good deal at the swap meet, and it seems to work just fine. The boat has a command chair, too. It is a latticed deck chair with an old truck seat belt that’s duct taped to the bow of the boat.

Before long we were out in a shady corner of the lake where the water is deep. Not many folks know to fish there, so it is quiet and relaxing. We each had a few bites here and there, but nothing but small fry. I wondered if I could super-size my small fry for just fifty cents more. We talk about Barry’s latest woodworking projects, and he asks about my cases. What we don’t talk about is Jenny. She was dear to both of us and it still hurts when we think about her being gone.

Barry had just started in on a really good joke when he got a bite. He said it felt like a big one. I knew he was right when the next tug from the fish pulled his right into the lake, deck chair still belted around his waist.

I scrambled to the bow of the boat. I looked down into the water, but only saw a few bubbles bursting on the surface of the water. Had I just lost my father in law? What would I tell his wife? I heard water splashing beside me and I turned to see a gigantic carp burst from the water. Its eye glowed red like an angry stop light. It splashed back into the water and swam along the surface. It had to be as big as a pickup truck. Behind him surfaced Barry, still in his chair.

“I’m reeling myself closer!” he says.

I crank on the engine and follow, hoping that the fish doesn’t go back under.

To my amazement, Barry got closer and closer to the fish as he reeled himself in. The boat barely kept up. I felt helpless. Much of the dread faded away when Barry climbed up the back of the fish, waddling because the chair was still strapped to his butt. He used the rod, still hooked, as a balancing pole. The fish slowed and I came alongside me. I yelled for Barry to jump over to the boat. He said no, he saw something on the fishes head and wanted to see what it was. He made his way to the head and I saw him looking closely. I couldn’t make it out, but there did appear to be something there. Then the fish went back under, and Barry held on, going down with it.

I didn’t know what to do. I continued straight for a few moments, then began circling. Barry had to come up soon. A whoop from behind me confirmed this. I moved the boat to Barry. He was floating in the water, bobbing like a rubber ducky, as happy as can be.

“I got it!” he said.

“Got what?” I asked.

He drops a small white object into the boat and I help him in. He tells me he lost the rod and had to lose the chair to swim back up. I ask if he lost the fish too. He smiled and said that he thinks he got the fish, but not in the traditional sense. I picked up the object. It was about hand sized and looked like a spider carved from bone. I’d have to figure out what it was later. I nearly tumbled from the boat when it rocked. Beside us was the fish, rod hanging from it’s mouth. Its eye was black, like a normal fish’s. It looked right at us. Just before it dove in, I could swear that it winked right at Barry.

 

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