A Fish Story
Way back when Olivia was about four years old she came to spend the day with her grandpa. It wasn’t the first day she had come to visit her grandpa. Back then she came on a regular basis because her grandpa was her standby baby sitter when needed. Nor would it be the last. But, it most likely was the most memorable.
Olivia’s regular baby sitter was unavailable on this day so grandpa had her for the day. Nana was working so Olivia had grandpa all to herself. It was a beautiful spring day and it was just a few days after fishing season opened. Grandpa had been promising Olivia that he would take her fishing when it got warm enough.
Grandpa said, “Olivia after we have a little lunch we will get out the fishing gear and go fishing. I bought a special rod and reel for you. It has a short rod that will make casting easier for you. We will practice a little so you get the hang of it before we go down to the creek to fish.”
“OK grandpa I really want to go fishing with my own pole. My dad takes me fishing with him. But, his poles are all too big for me to fish with by myself. This is going to be fun. But, we don’t have any bait. Don’t we need bait to fish.”
“You are absolutely right Olivia. We will go over to the gas station to get some worms before going to the creek. Fish love worms so you will have a great time trying to catch them.” After lunch the two went down in the yard where they had lots of room to practice casting. Grandpa put a good sized lead sinker on the end of the line and demonstrated how to cast properly so the sinker would land near a few objects e had placed in the yard for practice. When it was Olivia’s turn she practiced until she had the hang of casting and was even able to land her sinker near the objects. Then Grandpa said it’s time to go fishing. So the two went to the gas station and bought some worms before heading to the creek to fish.
When they got to the creek Grandpa parked his truck and the two walked down the creek until they reached a nice pool of water with plenty of space for Olivia to cast her fishing line. But, first she had to learn to bait her hook.
“Olivia, to fish you have to learn how to bait your own hook. Do you know how it’s done?” Asked Grandpa.
“I’ve watched my dad bait his hook lots of times. I think I know how to do it Grandpa. Let me have a worm and I’ll bait my hook.”
So grandpa opened the bait box and Olivia reached into the box with her fingers and dug out a big glob of worms which were all balled up together in one slimy bunch. At first she was kind of timid in as she handled the worms but eventually she was able to free one worm from the rest. She laid it on the ground and tried to stab it to get her hook embedded, but her efforts came up empty as the worm wiggled every which way to avoid being put on her hook.
“Can you help me Grandpa. This worm will not hold still!”
“There’s a way you hold them, Olivia, to keep them from wiggling so you can get your hook into them. Here, watch me and I’ll show you.” Said Grandpa
And her grandpa showed her how to pinch the worm gently at one end to insert the hook. Then he slowly threaded the worm into the hook so that it would be secure leaving one end to wiggle so it would attract a fish. Then he handed the rod and reel back to Olivia. Saying, “next time you bait it. That time was free. Next time I will charge you!”
Olivia just smiled knowing that her grandpas “charges” were always a big hug.
Grandpa put a bobber on Olivia’s line so she could tell when fish were biting at her hook. After a few casts she was able to get her bait to a nice pool of water that appeared it might have hungry fish lurking. Soon her bobber was dipping up and down letting her know there were fish trying to gobble up her bait. She was unsuccessful setting the hook when she got a bite. Soon the bait was gone and she had to re-bait her hook. After several attempts she had a worm on her hook properly. Then, she began fishing again. It was great fun trying to catch the elusive fish. But, after awhile she tired.
Grandpa, “I’m tired of fishing can we rest awhile?”
“Yes Olivia, there is a nice shade over there under the bridge. We can sit there to rest. I’ve made a stand from a forked tree limb for your rod so you can place it on that and leave your line in the water. You can watch the bobber, while we rest. Maybe that fish will catch himself,”
After setting up Olivia’s pole so it was secure and could be watched from their resting spot, the two sat down to watch the bobber. They had brought snacks with them so they munched on those. Shortly thereafter, Olivia curled up in her grandpa’s lap and fell asleep.
“Hello, Olivia, I’ve been expecting you.” Said a deep and somewhat squeaky voice.
“Who are you,? where’s my grandpa? Where am I?” Exclaimed Olivia.
“Wait a minute, let’s take one question at a time first, my name is Eisenia Fetida. You can call me “Eis”. In your world I’m called a Red Wiggler worm. Second, your grandpa is right over there fast asleep. And lastly, you are in Vermacompost. This is my home. Welcome! Come on I’ll show you around. Be careful though my relatives are busy eating and it can be a bit messy!” Just stay with me and you will be fine.”
With that introduction “Eis” lead the way through Vermacompost, careful to avoid the eating areas of his relatives. And he was right, it really was messy. But, Olivia was careful and didn’t get too dirty. When they reached a compost area she thought it looked like what her mom put in her flower pots and told “Eis” “That looks like my moms potting soil.”
“it could be what she uses in her flower pots,” said “Eis.” “Good rich potting soil is collected from worm farms and sold in many Garden Centers. And my relatives are sold there to start worm farms by gardeners. My relatives are good workers for gardeners and flower beds. Their work loosens the soil around plants the and the compost they make feeds the plants. Gardners love worms.”
And Olivia thought to herself, your relatives also make good fishing bait for fishermen like me! Then Olivia heard her name being called. It sounded like her name was being called down a tunnel.
“Olivia, Olivia wake up. I think you may have a fish on your line.” Called Grandpa. “ You need to check your fishing rod. The bobber just disappeared under the water.”
“I gotta’ go “Eis, I hear my grandpa calling me. It was nice talking to you. I enjoyed the walk through Vermacompost. I understand a lot more about worms and how good they are for gardeners and farmers. Thanks, gotta’ go.”
“Who were you talking to Olivia?” said Grandpa.
“I’ll tell you later Grandpa. Right now I gotta’ catch that fish on my line.” And she quickly grabbed her rod and reel and started reeling in the fish as it struggled to free itself from the hook.
After she landed her catch and grandpa helped her to free it from the hook the two decided the fish was too small to keep and freed it back into Cayuta Creek.
Suddenly, Olivia said “Grandpa I need to go to the bathroom.”
Grandpa said, “I’ll bet all the excitement of catching that fish made you need to go. Excitement causes a person to need to go number one, you know. There’s no one around, I’ll turn my back and you can go right over there behind that bush.”
“Grandpa, I don’t need to go number one, I need to go number two,” replied Olivia.
“No problem, we aren’t far from the house we’ll just gather up our fishing gear and go home for you to go to the bathroom. We’ve been fishing for awhile so we can call it a day and go home. We need to get you ready to go to your home anyway.”
“You don’t understand, Grandpa, I need to go really bad. “RIGHT NOW!” Exclaimed Olivia.
Grandpa knew what “RIGHT NOW” meant. He had had a few experiences with his other grand children and his own children. RIGHT NOW meant that if she didn’t go immediately there would be a mess to clean up. So he quickly found a little hidden spot and using the heel of his boot hollowed out a spot for Olivia to go number two. Olivia had never gone number two outdoors so she needed a little quick instruction. Grandpa turned his back again and he heard a big grunt and it was over almost before it started.
“Grandpa, I need something to wipe myself.”
There was absolute silence from Grandpa.
“Grandpa, did you hear me? I need something to wipe myself.”
“Hold on, I’m thinking Olivia. We didn’t bring any toilet paper. We don’t even have a rag or wash cloth or anything soft to wipe with. I never thought you would need to use the bath room this soon. Wait a minute, I have an idea.”
Grandpa sat down, took his socks off, found the scissors from his tackle box and cut his socks into wipes for Olivia to use to clean herself. After she was through they used their foot to push the soil over the hole where she went and covered it with some loose rocks.
“I think that about does it for today, Olivia, when we get home you can finish cleaning up in the bathroom.”
“Oh, no we’re not done yet Grandpa, we need to let “Eis” and his relatives go free and I know just the place to set them free.”
“Eis” who’s “Eis?” Replied Grandpa.
“He’s the one I met in that bait box! He needs to be set free so he can find a new home, Grandpa. He needs loose ground so he can build a new home. And the ground near where I went to the bathroom is loose.”
“Oh, alright. We will set him and the other worms free right there,” said Grandpa. All the while thinking where in the world did she come up with that idea!
Much of this little story is true. It’s difficult to get into the minds and imagination of children. The fictional part about “Eis” flowed naturally into the story and also adds a little eduction about those marvelous creatures called worms.
Jerry Marvel
April 2021