100 word prompt: fishing
Thursday, March 6, 2025
The winches at the back of the Jerry’s boat creak and haul the net into the stern, and Jerry’s eyes are pinned on the winch, his hand tight on the throttle lever, his breath tight in his chest. Finally the net’s all reeled in, except for its end coiled up in a layered tube, like a bright orange mermaid. We stare at it, shifting our balance as the boat bobs, listening to the waves slapping on the hull, frozen. The net’s not a mermaid. We both know this, because we both did the wrapping, twenty years ago. It’s Jerry’s brother.