Catch and Release

Catch and Release

Old man Bedford sat in his lakeside chair. Any local would tell you that they could not remember a time when he was not there watching the comings and goings on the lake.

A young man motored his boat up near where Bedford was sitting. The man proudly held up a large bass.

'Must have put up quite a fight, fish that size' Bedford mused to himself.

He thought back to a time long ago. He had lived in England back then. His family lived in a small village outside of London. It was just him and his mum and dad in a small house with a thatched roof.

One day he decided to build a small raft and float out to the middle of the local lake. He knew it was deepest out there. After a few minutes, he felt a strong tug on his line.

The struggle lasted for nearly an hour. He finally landed a strange looking fishy thing. It looked to be half lizard and half fish. It was the creature's eyes that he remembered most. There was the look of fear in them. It began to make a sound unlike anything he had ever heard. He could not understand it, but it 'felt' like it was pleading. The 'fish' did not want to die.

Bedford took pity on it and tossed it back into the lake. A moment later, it popped up next to the raft and made more of the same strange sounds before diving under, never to be seen again.

Bedford came ashore to find that his characteristic limp was gone. His club foot had somehow become normal. He returned home never to be sick a day in his life.

Even the scourge of the Black Plague had not touched him.

Word count 298