Page 20 of Unspoken Words
Five, four …
She growled.
Three ...
A stick snapped.
Two, One—
“I bet you can’t catch one,” she called out.
“I bet I can,” I called back, smiling.
“Well … I’m … I’m gonna watch you fail.”
Bingo.
“Suit yourself.”
*
Early morning sunlightrippled acrossthe surface of the water like liquid glitter. Beautiful. Calm. Tranquil. It was the best time of day to fish.
Normally.
Slowly closing my eyes, I fought a smile that was desperately trying to lift my cheeks, a smile I did not want to smile because, ‘normally’,I would be reeling in a fish because, ‘normally’, I would have the advantage of silence, something I did not have when Ellie was around.
“Nothing yet?” she called out for like thetenthtime.
I shook my head.
Ellie screamed, jolting fear right through my body.
“What? What happened?” I asked, dropping my fishing rod and reaching for her.
“One touched me! Oh my God, it touched meeeee.” She flapped her hands and jumped on the spot.
I glanced down at her feet where my container of earthworms and mud were spread across the ground. “Great! Not only have you undoubtedly scared away every fish in the vicinity, you’ve also ruined my bait.”
“Eeeeew.”
“Stop jumping. You’ll squash the worms.”
Ellie made a gagging sound and shivered as if she were in the middle of a blizzard. “Blergh, yuk. Disgusting. And don’t you blame me for not catching a stupid fish. That’s your fault. You were too cocky in the first place.”
I bent down and started to scoop the worms and mud back into my broken container then stood up and walked away. “Come on, let’s head back.”
“But … you didn’t catch a fish.”
“Obviously.”
“Connor, wait. Teach me. Please!” she called out, her tone urgent.
I stopped walking and slowly turned around. “Teach you what?”
“To fish.”
“What?” I choked out.
