Page 54 of Nights Without Night
It’s a perfect night to catch squid.
The squid don’t agree.
“I thought this would be easier,” I say, having gone from excited to calm to impatient.
“Stop playing with the line, then. They said to keep it still.”
“I read on Google that you have to move it up and down!”
“Are you seriously going to trust Google more than the locals who literally caught the squid we ate today?”
“All hail Google, for Google knows all,” I chant in a low, monotone voice. Isadoro laughs, shaking his head.
“Kids these days.”
“Okay, Grandpa-Daddy, tone it down there. I don’t want you to slip and break your glass hip.”
“You’re-”
“Oh shit!” I cut him off as I feel a pull of my line.
“Did one bite?”
“I think so!”
“Reel it in!”
Isadoro comes over to stand next to me as I reel the line in. It takes longer than I expect but suddenly, a squid slips out of the water.
“Oh shit!” I shout. I’d half expected it to be a boot or something.
“Wait, don’t-” Isadoro starts, but it’s too late. I’ve already grabbed the squid, forgetting to leave it hanging on the line for a few seconds. The moment my hand clasps around it, it flops towards me and inks me in the chest.
I scream, stumbling backward and falling against one of the benches.
“It’s going to kill me!” I shout. I can see the creature’s evil, gelatinous eyes looking at me.
“Hold still!” Isadoro says, grabbing the thing from me. I let go of it gladly, stunned by the sudden attack. Isadoro holds it away from himself, unhooking it and dropping it quickly into the bucket.
“Are you okay?” Isadoro says, but his concern is undercut by the way he doubles over with laughter.
“I’ve just been shot by a squid and you’re over there laughing your ass off!” I complain. “There’s ink everywhere!”
“Oh my God,” he says between laughs. “The way you screamed…I’ve seen soldiers take bullets with less fuss.”
“That thing had the devil in its eyes! You didn’t see it! That thing is evil!” I defend. Isadoro collapses on the opposite bench, arm over his stomach as he continues laughing. I lift my shirt towards my nose and then rear away. “It smells!” I howl mournfully. This just makes Isadoro laugh harder.
Seeing I’m not getting anything from Sergeant Empathy dying of laughter in the corner, I strip my t-shirt off carefully and then wipe myself with a towel. The ink has stained my skin, however, as well as some of the white plastic on the boat.
“Look at this! He’s left the mark of Sauron on me!” I complain. Isadoro hides his face in his hands, shoulders shaking. “You are the worst,” I tell him as I laugh too, putting a clean shirt on.
When he’s finally calmed down, he moves carefully toward the squid, peering into the bucket.
“It’s still moving,” he says.
“He’s probably got nine lives, like an evil cat.”
“Cats aren’t evil.”
