One-off Stories

Fishin'

The salty water rubbed up against the wood of the boat, it tilting just the slightest to the side, before riding up against the wave.
She gave a bit of a groan, as she stared at her father. This little tugboat, or whatever they called it, was not for her to be using. She felt sick.
"Dad! When're we gonna goo?" Her response, was a groan mimicking hers. "You wanted to go fishing, so we're at least going to try it. Okay? Now, sweetie, be patient while I get us prepared."
She looked out the side of the small boat, staring into the water. 'Why were they here, I mean, it's obvious there aren't any fish.' kept looping through her mind. Her dumb father made her keep her phone in the car, so she couldn't at least text her friends about this. Her eyes split from the water, to look at her father, finally pulling out a fishing rod, and sliding the worm onto the hook.
"Y'know how to fish?" She nodded, as he handed her the rod. She drew her arm back, and threw it forward, the bait only flailing in the air, and staying by the fishing rod. The father gave a slow laugh, the daughters face flushing with embarrassment. Maybe she didn't actually know how to fish.
"Here, lemme help you... Let the reel go out before you draw back." The daughter did just that, and spun the small crank, making the bait dip lower. She drew back her arm, and threw them out again, allowing the bait to go even further out. The bait landed a good meter or two away from the boat, as the father gave a happy smile to his daughter. "See? Not that hard." She just rolled her eyes at him. She knew he wanted to do something enjoyable, but maybe this wasn't her strong suit.
After a solid minute or two of waiting, the only noise being the water occasionally rubbing up against the boat, the rod gave a slight tug. The daughter flinched, as she almost had a panic attack. What did she do? What did she do? The father glanced at her panicking face, as he smiled again. "Lemme help you-- Again. Slowly draw the reel back in." She glanced at him, to the rod, to him again, and then to the water. She gave a slight nod, her hand spinning the crank yet again, the fishing rod starting to bend. "Don't worry about it bending, just keep pulling it in."
She kept spinning the reel, the string sliding closer and closer to the boat. Whatever this fish was, it was heavy. She almost had the fish come up into the boat, as the fishing rod began to bend even more. "You're doing great! Now, draw the fishing rod back again, to pull it up."
And yet again, she followed his rules. Her mind went fuzzy with excitement at what she had caught, knowing it was going to be her first, and maybe largest, fish she will ever get.
She suddenly deadpanned, staring at the "Fish." A large wooden log was hooked on her fishing hook, it being pulled into the boat. "I want to go home, Dad."