Reeling by the Wind

      “Pass me the line.” Shouted Josh, tinkering with the rod. I knew nothing about fishing. The term “line” held no significance to me, aside from it referring to a rope-thing. His backpack contained all sorts of trinkets, tiny toys, metal balls, worms, all neatly organized in separate canisters with transparent lids. Their purpose and use unclear to me, I brought him the entire bag.

           “Thanks man. Finally, I got you out of that hole.”

           “I’m an introvert Josh. The only reason I’m here is you.”

           “That’s why I didn’t invite you to a drink.” He turned his attention to the line, passing it and twisting it around the hook.

           “How long has it been?”

           “Too long. We used to come here often remember?”

           “A long time ago, yeah. You had that stupid red bike…”

           “Stupid? That’s the salt talking. You were always trailing behind.” I sure was.

           The fair sunlight scattered around us, sneaking between the trees and twirling around the branches as we stared at it and its reflection, engulfed in the moment and fascinated by the view. I took a couple of books with me for entertainment and a flashlight to help me read a while longer. We were close, comfortable with our silence. It had been three years since he went to work. And I remained busy with my studies, a story as old as time.

A day, maybe two was all we had. Unlike the days before, a wall erected by life obscured our connection, stood tall between us, giving way to the cascading rivers pouring down in a parallel fashion. Fate twisted and whirled people all around, made them accustomed to each other, made them intertwined. For a while, until the rampaging currents paved a new path.

           Josh prepared two rods, both with fluorescent sticks attached, and offered one to me, which I aptly refused. Messing up and tangling the fishing line to branches was the reason I didn’t fish. That and the fact that I lacked the patience required. He threw the lines, laid the rods to some makeshift sticks to hold them and retreated closer to me. We found comfort on some logs, left by other fisherman, and watched the sunset.

           “So, how has life treated you so far?” I enquired with a whisper, afraid to scare the fish away. He looked pleased with my efforts but answered with no such tone; maybe the distance between us and the lake was enough.

           “Life has its ways, good, bad. I dunno. Like an elevator, sometimes I got my highs and sometimes my lows. How about you?”

           “My life turned into a bore, larger than it already was. All these books and studies, I work half shifts and really, I haven’t lived much. In sense, I got nothing to talk about. I rather listen to you.”

           “Me? Well… I have been all around, hunting jobs…”

           “I thought you moved out for a secure one. Hunting?”

           “Yeah…hunting. I found the best way is to hop from one to another. Faster way to increase my pay really, by the time I am eligible for a meager promotion, I am getting paid better in another place.”

           “So, you are forced to move around? Constantly checking rents and living rates must be a chore on its own, is it worth it?”

           “It is man, the difference is real. I toiled in a shabby factory first, my back ached and my lungs were filled with some poisonous substance. Changed like five jobs since then. Now I’m driving a delivery truck, from one city to another. It’s like 200 kilometers per day, inside a new vehicle with AC and radio to boot, a lot of systems in place to ease my job and on top of that my salary doubled compared to the factory days. I am not complaining, that’s for sure.”

           “All this moving around must have affected your relationship with Amy. How is she, by the way?”

           “We broke up. I know, I know what you gonna say, don’t. She went to study abroad, nothing I could do. We were in a relationship of sorts; she called it a long-distance one. I called it an imaginary one. Chats and Facetime, that was our “relationship”, like I was dating an AI. It became so bad; I was with other people as we dated and hadn’t even noticed. For her, it was cheating, for me, our thing was over the minute she moved out.” He stood up and checked on one of the rods. The bait was gone, he impaled another worm on to the hook and threw the line, this time a bit to the left.

           “You cheated? Josh, you leave me speechless…”

           “I know! I didn’t even realize it; it was like opening an annoying diary that belittled anything I did, a program to yap. The love spiraled into a habit. A tolerable one at first, someone who listened and connected. Eventually degraded into a voice, vile and insulting.”

           “Unfortunate. I was unaware of that. Vile comments imply that she was emotional. Maybe still had a flicker of love. Void people, they are the loveless ones. The moment they cease to care they cease to love.”

           “Maybe… If anything, I was the hollow one, not her. Anyways, now I feel free, the wind guides and I go wherever it needs me to go. I never shared this with anyone, but even when we were together, she wasn’t enough, you know. I was bored. Lost. Not that it’s any different now, but at least I’m not tied down and forced to a single voice.”

           “You, the gust that shook us even back then. It’s all fun and games Josh but remember, once you separate the body and the soul there is no coming back. I am not judging you, not anyone needs to settle down. Those forced to when not meant to, cause suffering to their offspring. You can’t cage the wind.”

           “And that’s precisely why I am confessing to you. You don’t judge. I like to live, that’s all.”

           “You do you, my friend.”

           The night went on silent and uneventful. We were both tired by nine and by ten we had packed our things and left the peaceful lake.