Isn't that what it's all about?

The line in the water began making subtle jerking motions before Corey whipped it tight in an upward motion as he attempted to set his hook. No luck. It was just a nibble and he had let excitement get the best of him. As he reeled his line in he only felt mild disappointment. It was early in the evening after all and he was no professional fisherman. It wasn’t the first or last time he would let a fish get away. All he could do is try to wait until the perfect time next time he felt a curious fish taking jabs at his power bait. 

By the time the hook and sinker reached Corey the bait had either fallen off on the journey or made a delicious dinner for a lucky rainbow trout. With any luck, it would be the trout that was for dinner by the end of the night but first the hook would need re-baiting. Was it time to switch to a lure now that the fish were possibly familiar with his current ruse or would the best tactic be to stick with what got their attention in the first place? He switched to a lure as he contemplated how inane this thought process was. Was there even a right answer?

This action and current conundrum reminded him of fishing with his sister Amanda. Corey was constantly switching tactics, depths, reel speeds, lures and it seemed to no avail. No matter what he did his sister seemed to catch more fish with a simple baiting setup. Last summer when they had fished this very lake together she had more than doubled his bounty for the day. The worst part was she clearly didn’t know as much as he did about fishing. This was evident when she spent the first five minutes with a lure sitting at the bottom of the lake. 

“You reckon those fish will sniff out your hunk of metal in the bottom of all that lake mud?” Corey jeered after he noticed the lack of reeling from his fishing partner. 

“Oh. Is that how it should work? This is the only way I’ve seen people fish.” Amanda retorted. 

“I put a lure on yours. That means you have to reel it in so the fish think something shiny is moving through the water. Then you gotta recast.” he explained. 

“Hmm. I think I want to switch to bait then. That’s how grandpa always did it.” she noted. 

“Reel it in then and I’ll help you switch. I had no idea you actually paid attention when grandpa fished”

“Only when I wasn’t feeding the ducks” 

Corey figured that was his grandpa's fault for using marshmallows as bait. 

“Woah!! I think I got a bite!” Amanda said excitedly, only seconds after beginning to reel. 

“Think?” Corey said while examining the bent pole. “Either that or you hooked onto the back of that F150 that’s driving out”

Corey netted the impressive rainbow trout while glancing back at his own pole to make sure it wasn’t getting any tugs. He had staked it between two rocks and it had felt fairly secure, not that it seemed to matter. 

“We’re eating good tonight!” Corey exclaimed as he held the large trout in his hand. 

“No thanks to you!” Amanda teased as a wry grin spread across her face. 

“Oh you just wait. I’m pulling a state record out of these waters tonight, I can sense it.”

As it turns out, Corey must have never been bitten by a radioactive bass because the biggest of the two fish he caught that night was average at best. One he caught with a lure and the other with bait in an attempt to copy his sister’s setup. She caught three fish just in the time he spent playing copy cat. How could she do so much better when their baits were identical? Regardless, at the end of the day Amanda had caught five trout to his two. He let both of his fish swim free. Five would make a hearty fish fry for the two of them and there was no point in killing more fish than necessary. 

Besides the stories, banter, and nostalgia of fishing with an old childhood friend; Corey especially liked fishing with Amanda because she enjoyed eating them as much as he did. Part of the enjoyment for him was savoring his fresh catch with his fishing buddy and continuing the banter, stories, and nostalgia. He knew plenty of people who liked fishing but didn’t have the taste buds for such a distinguished piece of meat. His friend Blake, who he had originally invited, was one of these sorts of people. So when Corey had called Amanda instead, he knew he wouldn’t be eating fish alone tonight. 

Although, as he reminisced, he admitted to himself he remembered not being so sure that Amanda would be interested in driving down from the city for an afternoon fishing trip. She enjoyed being active in her free time and was usually up for whatever adventure Corey may suggest, but it went without saying that she was no avid fisher woman. In fact, it didn’t quite seem to matter if Corey had called to go skydiving, fishing, or play checkers in the park. She seemed to just be happy enjoying his company and being out in nature. 

‘Afterall, isn’t that what it’s all about?’ Corey thought as he finally wet his line once again. Being with family and friends, enjoying nature and each other’s company. The things that would be remembered for Corey were the fishing methods used, the silly stories like feeding marshmallows to ducks, and just the fact that he spent time with his sister and they both enjoyed it. Didn’t they both spend time thinking about the memories their grandpa had taken time to create with them? And wasn’t he spending time currently thinking about the time he enjoyed on the lake with Amanda?

 The only question left was why did Amanda agree to go fishing with him? As Corey pondered this he could only come up with so many answers. Either she felt bad that his buddy Blake had bailed on him, she really did just want to spend time with him and the activity didn’t matter, or she just wanted to see how long it would take for a fish to find a lure that was stuck in the mud.

Wailing and screaming came from the back seat in protest as Amanda slowed her minivan to a stop a few feet before reaching the stop sign. After a peaceful highway journey to her sleepy hometown the squealing of her freshly awakened six month old boy signaled that the trip was almost over.

“Just a few more blocks. I know, it’s so sad I had to wake you up” she said in a gentle but sarcastic tone. “No more stop signs until grandma’s house okay?”

It was after dark so she wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy the drive through her old neighborhood where she and Corey had played when they were younger. She turned her thoughts to him and wondered if he would be home from fishing yet. Certainly he wouldn’t be fishing in the dark but he might still be driving home from one of his nearby fishing holes. He had invited her to come along but she needed to wait for her husband Jaden to get home from work. With her watching the baby, and him always at work or on business trips it was hard to find much free time at all. Amanda did remember being able to go fishing with Corey before she had given birth. 

Jaden was on a business trip at that time too. Starting new local offices for his insurance company led to a lot of business trips at that point in time. She remembered how she felt that day. Stressed. Scared. Alone. She had just gotten back from the doctor’s office and was trying to find the courage to call Jaden. He had told her to call him after the appointment and let him know how it went. They had just barely started trying to get pregnant and there was a lot of excitement and nerves about such a fragile idea. Failed test after failed test had made it feel like the universe didn’t want them to have kids. That is, until one holy grail of pregnancy test finally gave them a shimmer of hope and a doctor’s visit was immediately scheduled. 

Now the results of that doctor’s visit had left Amanda in tears. For an hour or more she sat on the stairs, crumpled in a ball of distress, trying to find the strength to get up. Finally, after who knows how long, she pushed the matted clump of wispy light brown hair out of her face and wiped the tears from her equally light brown eyes.  After a phone call to Jaden explaining the situation and a few more minutes of deep breathing she would be together again. As together as she would ever be after that doctor’s visit. Jaden would be on the next flight home but still wouldn’t be home until the following evening due to lay overs. 

The next day was just as bad. She felt lonely, discouraged, and overall just frustrated. Why couldn’t she have a baby? Why would the universe hold something like that back from her? What had she done? She wished more than anything that Jaden could be home. The phone call to him earlier wasn’t easy. His soothing, patient voice did help to calm her down but she knew it would be just as hard for him and almost felt as if she had let him down somehow. Just then her phone began to ring. She picked it up quickly, expecting Jaden to be on the caller ID but instead it was Corey. Wow, she began to think. How many times has he even seen me cry? It couldn’t be more than a handful if any. She was his older sibling and had made it a point to not cry in front of him. Not only him though. Really it was the entire world. It wasn’t her style. Would she be able to keep it together now though or just fall apart as soon as she heard his voice?

“Hello” she said after accepting the call.

“What’s up?!” Corey’s voice bursted through the other end of the line.

His gleeful tone was refreshing and relaxed her a little bit. 

“Just sitting at home”

“Great!” he said “because I’m on my way over now. Blake totally bailed on me so I guess you’re stuck being my fishing partner.”

“Oh I see. So I’m just your back up plan?”

“No no no. I would’ve invited you either way. The difference is now that Blake bailed you gotta come. It changes it from an invitation to more of a kidnapping if you get my drift”

She knew it was true that he would have invited her and that it would’ve been on this short notice had Blake not bailed last minute. 

“Oh my, you’re too much sometimes”

“Well I figure Jaden is out of town so you got plenty of time anyhow. I’m just leaving so it would take me about an hour. Think you can be ready by then?”

“Uhmmmm. Yeah. Yeah that should be fine.” She said hesitantly. 

“Alright sounds good!”

Amanda was very hesitant, not because she didn’t like fishing or hanging out with Corey but because she wasn’t so sure she wanted to be around anyone at all right then. This was a difficult time but ultimately a distraction away from home could be a good thing. Amanda would remember how she felt on that fishing trip for a long time. 

She would remember the sound of the gentle waves crashing against the shore and the birds in the trees on the lake side chirping a melancholy afternoon tune. The feeling of the sun rays hitting her back or the tug on the rod when a fish finally decided to take the bait. When she was really fighting mr. trout on the other end of the line or busy tormenting her little brother it was hard to think about anything else. She thought back on that day and the joy she was able to feel. Sure her problems weren’t solved and they were still in the back of her mind but it is still hard to think of the universe as such an awful place when you’re enjoying nature or a freshly grilled lake trout.

Amanda was in a good mood as she pulled into the driveway of her childhood home. She kissed Jaden on the cheek and smiled back at her little cry baby in the back seat. That day fishing with her brother gave her a spark of hope that may have indirectly led to the bundle of joy that was now the center of her life. Sure, she probably would’ve kept trying for a baby with Jaden but that day still got her through a hard time and she had her brother who took the time to think of his sister to thank for it. A simple and ambitionless afternoon on the lakeside made all the difference and after all, isn’t that what it’s all about?