Desperate Fishers

“Desperate Fishers” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Dmytro Vdovyi, Lozova gymnasium, Ukraine.

Desperate Fishers

It was a tiny city where two friends lived, Bill and Mike. They had been friends since their childhood. The guys had almost nothing in common. Bill was engaged in football, and Mike was engaged in swimming. Bill couldn’t swim at all, but Mike was the swimming champion. Bill’s favorite lesson was painting, but Mike adored mathematics. Despite that, they had common interests, such as sports, the same favorite season of the year, were passionate about fishing.

Once, friends went to their favorite place. The boys had already thrown the fishing rods and were waiting for a trophy catch, but they failed. Whatever they did, nothing worked out. The fish seemed to be extinct.

The boys decided to find out what's happening in the lake. They came there at night and wondered if there was anything suspicious about. That night the guys did not find anything but they believed that they would sort out what was going on.

After the dinner, they went to the library and asked the question. They worried because the boys wanted to save the population of fish in the lake where they were fond of spending the late nights and early hours. In the scientific literature, they found an article about the giant of 120 kg, which were first discovered in 1964 in a lake in the east of Australia; this was a new species of catfish that grew by an average of 120 kg and sometimes grown to 450 kg; in 1994, the species of these catfishes emigrated to Ukraine and became quite frequent in the rivers and lakes of that country. The friends thought that they had learned about the problem they were concerned in, and that they only had to find a solution.

The next day, the guys decided to go fishing, and even more, Bill bought a new spinning and wanted to try it out gently. When the guys came to a place where the men were fond of fishing, the boys began to wait for catfishes. 25 minutes passed and the friends realized that a lure does not operate. But guys did not abandon the attempt. On the third reproach something pecked for them, but they were not able to fish it. That is why boys went home to prepare to the next fishing. In the morning friends came to a fishing shop and bought a special fishing line for a sheat-fish. At night youths went on fishing, but they were grasped by a failure again. After many unsuccessful attempts boys decided to change strategy and go on fishing not at night, but during a day.

Bill and Mike went to a place of catching and they saw there are six large fish heads which stuck out from water. It was scary to catch such monsters. Bill noticed that he forgot food at home and offered his friend to decompose spinning and put a lure. Mike answered: “Are you afraid of fishing or do not want to rescue peaceful fish in a lake?!” Bill was offended by the words of Mike and he wanted to refute them, but Mike did not even want to listen.

Bill silently took his spinning and set off to the house. A fellow thought how to get on well with a friend, but he wasn’t able to invent nothing, when suddenly heard some strange sounds. A few seconds later, Mike bespattered bait and expected the sheat-fish. Suddenly, spinning was going slowly and confidently to move under the water. When a boy held spinning in his hands, he felt that there was a big fish on a hook. Then Mike understood that he could not overcome a monster which lived in a lake.

The fish sharply pulled a fellow in the water. Though Mike was engaged in swimming, he panicked and yelled for a help. Exactly these strange sounds were heard by Bill, and he quickly rushed for help. When the friend came, he saw Mike in the water. Without any doubts Bill dived into water. He made attempts to swim, but it was all in vain. Suddenly, he remembered everything good that Mike had done for him. Bill felt a strong power and wish to save his friend. He swam like a dolphin, caught his fainted friend and gave him a necessary medical support. When everything was in past, Mike thanked and hugged Bill. ” Never mind,’’- answered the boy.

Time passed and in ten years the friends became the owners of the fish farm.