She cast her line in the water and set her legs just so to comfortably wait. This was her home, with the water rushing by and the buzz of insects skimming the water around her. And, if luck smiled on her, home would provide a beautiful catch for dinner tonight.
“Hey Dude, I’m outta here. See you next week!” Everyone called her The Dude. It started long enough ago that no one could really recall what started it, but everyone agreed it fit. She was The Dude, and everyone trusted the Dude when it came to picking the right fishing spots. This week had been out in the San Juans, where the dude had setup a little boat-in camp to do some shore fishing in the sound and could hike a little bit in to do some lake fishing. The Dude was usually the first in and the last out whenever she and her fishing buddies got together and this time was no different. She watched as the last of her friends motored away and she smiled as silence poured in to his wake. She loved her friends, but sometimes they got in the way of her spending time with her true love. She adjusted the tension on her line and shifted her weight a bit.
The tug nearly pulled her off her feet. The line yanked and sliced through the water like it was possessed. The Dude braced her feet and gripped her pole, instinct and muscle memory stepping in while her conscious mind was stuck in shock. The pole curved in an alarming way, but the Dude trusted her gear and knew it’s tolerances. Please hold, dammit She thought as she continued to work the line.
The beast broke surface with a guttural roar. It’s head was elongated, like a crocodile or alligator. It’s mouth a long crooked line of teeth. The Dudes line ran straight between those teeth and into it’s gullet. The creatures splashed back down into the water. The Dude grit her teeth and continued to work the line. She nearly fell on her ass as all tension suddenly vanished.
“Fuck!” she screamed at the snapped line.
“FUCK!” she screamed again as the creature lunged out of the water towards her. She threw herself backwards on the shoal, loose rock and flotsam flying as she kicked and clawed her way backwards away from the charging creature. It closed the distance terrifyingly quick.
The long jaw opened and the Dude saw her death in those jaws. She was still gripping her pole in one hand and whipped it at the creature, trying to buy even a second to get further away. The jaws snapped down and took the top half of the shaft with it. The creature shook it head and tossed the unsatisfying morsel away. It lunged at The Dude, but this time it’s jaws closed on the sharp, remaining section of the pole. The Dude crammed it in hard, wedging it between the closing jaws and letting the broken end bite deep. The beast tossed its head in a frenzy and it’s roar echoed across the water.
Pulling her hip knife, the dude set her feet. This one was not going to get away. She leapt.
No comments:
Post a Comment