Billy was excited. School was out and his father had promised to take him to a favorite fishing spot, deep in the woods. Billy remembered being there catching his first fish at seven. Oh, it was so exciting! Only a sucker, but he was still over the top about it. So, he had been pleading, "Dad, school's out. When can we go fishing? Can we… Can we?

"Okay, Billy I can squeeze in time on Tuesday. I'll take you then. We will have to leave early right after breakfast. Is that okay with you?"

"Okey-dokey, Dad. I can't wait.

And Billy couldn't. He got out the fishing gear over the weekend and checked it out. Had all that he needed with Dad's second spin cast rod, sinkers, hooks and bobbers. Perfect for the kind of bank fishing that he was going to do. Couldn't wait.

Tuesday morning came quickly. While Mom was making breakfast and their lunch, Billy followed Dad out to the garden where they had been dumping coffee grounds. When Dad would dig in and turn over a spade full of dirt, it was full of wiggling angle worms, and sometimes, big white grubs. Billy's job was to grab as many as he could as quickly as he could and put them in a can they used for carrying their bait. It wasn't long before Dad said, "That's enough Billy, let's go have breakfast."

After a hearty breakfast, Billy and his dad put the gear and the bait in the trunk of their car for the long drive to that special fishing spot they had that nobody else ever came to. It was deep in the woods at the end of a fire trail that was already grown over even though it was barely summer. Billy had to keep his window rolled up so that the branches rubbing along the side of the car wouldn't hit him in the face. Finally, they arrived at a little clearing and the sunny bank where they would be fishing.

It wasn't long before fish were biting. "Look, Dad! My bobber! It's going away fast!"

"It looks like a big one, Billy! Go ahead, set the hook!"

Billy pulled his rod tip. He got on the crank and started reeling while the drag was slipping, telling him that he had a keeper. They hadn't brought a net, so, as the fish came close, Billy yelled, "What do I do Dad! He's too big!"

"Calm down son. When he gets close, just pull him fast up on the bank and I'll grab him… Okay?"

"Okay, Dad." Billy kept the rod low, and pulled hard with the fish trailing right up on the bank where it started flopping around until his dad grabbed it.

"Good job, Billy! It's a nice bass. A 12 incher. We'll just put it on the stringer and back in the water to keep it alive until we go home, okay?

Billy took a good look at his catch, admiring the lines on that bass and its shiny scales. Much better looking than that old sucker he caught the year before. It was going to be a good year for fishing, he thought.

And then, the familiar ring tone of his Dad's cell phone rang. Dad answered it. "Okay. Okay. I'll take care of it. You know I'm with my son fishing. I understand…. Bye."

Dad turned to Billy with a sad look on his face… "That was the office, Billy. They want me to take care of something. I think I can go do it and get back here a little after lunch. Can you hold off eating lunch until I get back? You can stay here fishing until I do. You’re a big guy now--9. You can handle yourself, right? Catch some fish while I'm gone and I'll be back before you know it."

"Okay, Dad. I know how to do it now and we've got plenty of bait. I'll have several fish by the time you get back." He bragged and showed that he wasn't afraid.

Billy's dad got in the car and drove off. He was all alone in the beautiful morning with the birds singing, butterflies flying around along with dragonflies as he watched intently his bobber to see if he was getting a nibble. Before long he did. A few of minutes later, had another nice bass, a 10 incher, that he added to the bigger one that was quite lively on the stringer. Life was good, he was having fun.

But as the sun reached for the zenith and the nibbles stopped coming, the boredom of just waiting for the fish to bite started to get to him. He thought about eating some of the lunch in the plastic grocery bag with each sandwich and even the apples wrapped tightly in Saran wrap by his mother to, "keep the bugs out." But then, he didn't want to disappoint his father, so he didn't.

They had gotten up so early that morning and the sun and the boredom of waiting all started to get to him. Billy was dozing off… But then, he felt it! The strong hot breath of some very large animal breathing on his neck. So scared, he didn't dare turn around to look. But that breath was foul as if by the devil himself. Billy passed out.

15,000 years before…

The great bear was old. He had been eating grass since he came out of hibernation, but his hunger was for protein. He was getting some by tearing apart rotten logs for grubs and worms but he wasn't finding much to fill his need. He couldn't hunt animals anymore because he wasn't fast enough. He was mortally skinny after the long winter. But he smelled something…. He didn't know what it was, but it smelled like protein, so he followed his nose all the way to the riverbank. There was a strange looking white plant there where the good smells were coming from. There was ham, cheese, peanut butter, jelly, candy and even fruit, his favorite, something that wouldn't be ready to eat for at least two months.

The bear came out of the brush into the clearing and saw the bag. He didn't know what to do with this strange smelling stuff that was surrounding the good food. But it was in the way, so he ate it. The stuff caught in his teeth and in his gullet as he tried to chew it and swallow, but he got it all down and moved on. A bear's appetite much greater than a lunch for two.…

When Billy awoke, everything was the same. His fishing pole was still in his hand with the rod across his leg. His bobber was still out there, but it wasn't moving. He reached for the lunch, hungry. It must've been past noon by the look of the sun. The lunch wasn't there! Billy didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he would tell his father. Dejected, he changed the bait on his hook and began casting about. The movement stirred up another fish, this time a 14 inch lunker, that made up for him losing his lunch and not catching any other fish.

Billy just got the big fish on the stringer when he heard his dad's car coming. He didn't know what to do about the lunch, but when his dad came out of the car, Billy just held up the stringer proudly to keep his father's attention away from the lost lunch.

Billy's dad came running when he saw what Billy had caught, admiring the fish. But soon, he looked around and asked Billy, "Where's our lunch?"

Billy put his head down and looked at the ground, muttering lowly. "I don't know. I didn't eat it, Dad. I just woke up on the bank and it was gone. Maybe, some animal took it, I don't know." He shook his head.

"Well, maybe you're right. Some raccoon or possum dragged it off while you were sleeping. We've got a good catch here, enough for dinner tonight if we get it cleaned and home to Mom in time. It's getting on the 2 o'clock. What say we stop at McDonald's or Burger King for a late lunch on the way home?

"That sounds great to me Dad!"

Billy ended up having a great day. He never lost sight of his lunch again every time he went back to that fishing spot.

The great bear died a painful death within a week when his colon stopped working. The first known death of wildlife by plastics. Archaeologists were amazed finding the plastics among his bones.  Dating the plastic proved inconclusive.

Copyright 2018 © Ronald W. Hull

9/19/18