Page 103 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“I don’t think the fish are going to come willingly, do you?’
Callie laughed.
“What?”Talia waved her skinny arms.“Do I look like someone who’s ever gone fishing?”
“While you were looking up pictures ofnot tents, I looked up how to fish.”Callie held up a plastic box.
“You’re going to hit them with that?I’m pretty sure knives would work better.”
Callie sighed and shoved the box toward Talia.“Help me put this together.You’re good at that sort of thing.”
“Feeling bossy this morning.We’ll see about that.”Talia muttered, laying out all the pieces.
“Later.”Callie left to find a good spot to stand.
When she returned, the fishing rod was assembled.“How does it work?”Talia asked.“There were no instructions.”
“How did you put it together then?”
Talia shrugged.“Basic geometry.I just put the pieces where they fit.”
“Well, itlooksright.You’re supposed to move like this.”Callie waved the fishing rod.
“It looks like an old-fashioned antenna, but I’m pretty sure fish don’t respond to radio frequencies.”Talia cocked her hip.“I’m new at this, but evenIknow that’s probably not right.”
“That’s where this comes in.”Callie pulled a spool of fishing line from the rucksack.Talia watched her try to thread it through the cartridge for several minutes before she got frustrated and thrust it at Talia.Talia obliged with a smirk.A few moments later, a length of line dangled from the hoop at the top.
“Thanks.”Callie took the rod back.“So, this line goes in the water, the fish eat it, and then when I turn this crank, it reels them in.”
“Why would they eat it?”
“There’s supposed to be a bug on it.Did it come with a bug?”
Talia shook her head.
“Well, there’s plenty of bugs around here.”Callie moved her arms in a circle.
“So, we have to catch a bug first.”Talia waved her hands, trying to catch a particularly large dragonfly before it flew off toward the river.She chased after it.
“Wait,” Callie yelled, “I have a better idea.”But it was too late, Talia had already run off.Callie caught up to her standing on the shore, crouched like a tiger about to pounce.
“Why are your knives out?”Callie yelled.
“It helps me balance,” Talia hissed.“Not so loud, it’ll hear you!”
“Dragonflies don’t have ears!”Callie hissed back.“You’d know that if you looked at…”
“I know, I know.No more pictures, got it,” Talia shooed Callie away.The dragonfly perched on a rock in the middle of the river, drying its wings.Talia tiptoed toward it, the river swirling around her feet.The sensation was odd, but Talia would deal with that later.She steadied herself and crouched lower.
She pounced.
The dragonfly flew off.Talia fell in the water and Callie shrieked.
Talia flailed her arms, gripping her knives, whirling like a drowning chainsaw.Callie ran to the shore, holding out the fishing rod for Talia to grab.She lunged for the rod, wrapping her body around it, hugging like a bear.
“What on earth were you thinking!”Callie screamed, pulling Talia ashore.She lay coughing, one arm underneath her, the other still holding onto her knife.Her mask bobbed lazily in the river.The other insects had momentarily scattered in the commotion.
“You’re lucky it wasn’t that deep!Sesi would kill me if I lost you!”
