The Fisherman?

The line in Walmart was long and moving at the pace of a snail. Frank was in line with his arms filled to the brim with fishing gear. The smile on his face was so large that anyone near him couldn’t miss it. In his arms he has a fishing rod, some bait, hooks, hooks, and material he knew would need to catch as many fish as he possibly could. He even replaced his baseball cap with one of those classic fishing caps. He was all in and he wanted everyone in the store to know that he was going fishing. As people passed him in line, they would look him up and down and pass judgement. Some good looks and some bad looks. Either way, Frank would give them all the same enthusiastic response. “A great day to go fishing, huh!” he would shout with glee. Most people would nod and carry on with their day. Frank’s excitement grew more and more every time either the line got shorter or he could say his new favorite line. 

Finally, Frank was next in line at the check out. The person in front of him was an older lady. She only had a few items, but she was taking longer than he wanted. To help try and stop himself from saying something, Frank would sway back and forth whilst whistling different songs to test which one felt best so he could use it while he was on the boat. With every song he would whistle, he would get lost in his imagination, there he was on the lake, a nice cold beer in hand as he threw his line out, and let the water do its job. 

“Frank!” someone screamed but he could not see where it was coming from. “Frank!” there it was again! But all Frank could see was the lake, who was yelling his name? Suddenly, Frank felt something tap him on the shoulder and he snapped back to reality and was in line at the Walmart.

“Hey, buddy, you’re up!” said the man in line behind him. He did not look happy at all with Frank. 

Not realizing the facial expression the man was giving him, Frank replied with his go to line, “Thanks, great day to go fishing, huh!” 

As he pulled up to the cashier, he dumped everything on the belt and noticed that the cashier was none other than Luke. Luke was an older gentleman, someone who took this job because it got him out of the house and not because he needed the money. Luke enjoyed interacting with people and hearing their stories. There is nothing Luke loved more than making someone smile after a long day shopping. 

“Frank, how are ya?” Luke says with the utmost excitement when recognizes him. “What brings you in today?”

“Hey Luke, I’m just getting a few things for my fishing trip!” Franks says with excitement.

“Fishing? I didn’t know you fished.” Luke asks as he begins to scan Frank’s fishing items one by one. 

“I do now!”, Frank shouts with glee. “You see, my friend is a fisher, and asked if I wanted to go. I’ve always wanted to fish, and I can’t just show up with terrible equipment.”

Luke looks up from his scanning. He notices how happy Frank is when talking about fishing but cannot help himself but notice that same glee the last few times he has been checking out as well. “And how did your painting go? I know last week you bought a ton of material. How many did you end up getting done?”

Frank looks down at his phone and anywhere else besides Luke’s eyes. “Oh painting? Yeah, I got like a few done. They turned out okay.”

“Okay?”, Luke responds in shock. “Just last week you were telling me how you were going to do painting classes and try and sell your art! Is that not happening anymore? I told you to bring me in a piece and I would buy it off you.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Painting is not all that anyways. Got pretty boring, pretty quickly.” Frank responded with a sense of annoyance. 

Luke starts to sense Frank’s tone shift and tries to change the subject off of painting. “Great day for fishing, huh?”

Luke looks directly at Frank and gives him a warm smile and a kind nod. Frank looks up with glee, smiles, and nods back at Luke.

“I’m hoping to catch the biggest fish in the pond today!”, Frank extends his arms to show just how big he wants the fish to be. “From everything I hear, all I need is a fishing rod, a boat, and some beer and I will have the time of my life!”

Luke just smiles as he watches Frank go on about the large fish he is going to catch. He finishes scanning all of the items and starts to put them in bags. As he begins, Frank grabs the gear out of his hand and puts them in the cart himself.

“Don’t worry about the bags Luke!”, Frank says, “I am heading right over to meet my friend at the pond, so let’s get this train moving! How much is the damage?”

Luke turns and starts clicking the buttons on the cash register, the receipt gets longer and longer. The number on the screen gets bigger, then doubles. All of the sudden, Frank starts to feel hot, his hands are getting clammy, he can feel the sweat drip from his hat, and he is at a loss for words. Finally, the receipt stops and Luke’s fingers stop clicking any more buttons. He rips the receipt out, looks it over and hands it to Frank.

“The total is $182.89! Cash or Credit?”, Luke waits for a response but is getting nothing from Frank. “Frank? You there?”

Frank snaps out of his funk and nervously reaches for his wallet. “Uh, yeah, card.” Frank reaches in his wallet, pulls out a card and begrudgingly hands it over to Luke. Luke takes the card and starts to run it through the system. As his bill is being paid, Frank still has a blank stare on his face. Luke notices and tries to make him feel better.

“Hey Frank”, Luke says “Look at the bright side, at least you’re not spending this amount again on boring art material!”

“Yeah”, Frank nervously laughs, “I guess you’re right.” Frank turns and starts pushing his cart towards the exit.

“Have a good time?” Shouts Luke as the next person starts to place their items on the belt. 

Frank hears him but does not answer. As he continues to walk to his car all he can think about is the amount of money he is totaling up. He is so out of it that he almost gets hit by a car as he is walking in the parking lot. Finally, he gets to his car, opens his trunk, and starts placing all his fishing gear in it. Seeing all this gear has Frank feeling good and excited again about his investment. 

“What does Luke know?”, he chuckles to himself, “I haven’t wasted money on anything! It’s not my fault painting is boring! How was I supposed to know?”

As he places his last item in his trunk, he slams it closed with authority. He walks over to the driver’s door with a pep in his step, gets in, and starts placing the address of where the pond is where he will meet his friend. Suddenly, his phone vibrates. He pulls it out and it is a text from his friend Michael. 

The text reads “Hey bud. Stuck at a job. Not gonna make fishing today. We will have to reschedule for next week”

Frank puts his phone down, takes a second to gather himself. At first the disappointment is too severe to not be seen on his face, but he quickly throws on a mask of happiness, turns on his car and starts his drive home. As the trees and cars went by, so did Frank’s disappointment. He knew his friend was good on his word. He would be fishing in no time, living out his dream. He even made a few positives out of the situation, now he had time to get the exact beer he wanted as well. 

Frank pulls in his driveway and parks his car. He empties his fishing gear and heads into the house. He walks down the hall and opens his closet door.

“I have to put these away until next weekend!”, he says ecastically, “Just need to find some room.”

Frank turns on his closet light and starts moving around his painting supplies, skis, bowling gear, guitar, camera, weights, and so much more. He grows frustrated as he has to continuously remove item after item from his closet. 

“Where did all this stuff come from?”, he yells “I don’t even know anyone who plays the guitar!”

Frank finally takes the last item out of the closet and a sense of release washes over him.

“Ah, finally. Right where it belongs. Next week will be a great time for fishing! I sure will be doing that a lot.”

Frank turns off the light, and starts to place each item back into the closet.

“Can’t get rid of these! Who knows when I’m gonna need them again!”

Frank places the last item in the closet, shuts the door, and heads over to the couch. It’s been a long day. Now it is time for him to unwind and mentally prepare for his fishing trip. He grabs the remote and turns on the tv. A program plays, an older woman appears on screen, and he describes how gardening has helped her get her through tough times while giving her something to do. Frank’s ears perk up like a dog hearing the doorbell ring. 

“Gardening”, Frank thinks about it, “Now that could be interesting! I wonder what I’ll need from Walmart!”