PART 5

PART 5

Monica, Tess and Andrew were sitting sat at the edge of the old wooden dock, with their feet barely touching the water, splashing each other once in a while, and with little Joy quietly resting beside her daddy. The blond angel was patiently explaining Monica how to prepare the fishing rod:

“… Now you put the hook through the bait like this… Then you throw it behind you and, finally, with all your strength, you throw it in the water.”

Monica nodded her head and followed his instructions and finally the hook and the jelly bait stuck in it touched the water.

“Is it correct?”, she asked, sitting between the two angels.

“Yes! That’s exactly this!”

“I’m glad someone thought about inventing artificial baits, you know. I can’t stop thinking about wee Bob and his little brothers and sisters. I wouldn’t have courage to go fishing if we had to use those tiny cute creatures!”

“… and only now she says that…”, Tess mumbled under her breath, without letting the 2 angels hearing her. Andrew couldn’t help but chuckle at the Irish angel’s words:

“You see? There are good people in this world, who worry about all those ones in the same situation as wee Bob!”, he said, with a serious tone in his voice, and turned to look to the water, “Now we just have to wait.”

“Ok. Aren’t you going to throw yours too?”

Tess and Andrew looked at each other and after, at her:

“Yes, of course we will, Angel Girl!”

“Do you think you’re gonna catch all those fishes alone?”, they respectively said.

“Tess, give me your fishing rod. And Monica, don’t take our eyes from yours; as soon as you feel it’s moving, you have to pull it outside the water.”

“Oh, yes!”

And due to the fact that she was so concentrated on what she was doing, Monica didn’t notice that, when her two beloved friends threw their hooks in the water, there was no bait attached to them.

*

30 minutes later, Monica’s hook started to move, as if there was something pulling it:

“Oh my! I think I got something!”, she cried, excitedly.

“Very good job, baby!”

“Yeah, now pull it out of the water, Monica!”, her friends anxiously said. Even little Joy stood up, her long ears raised and her tiny black eyes wide open to see what her mommy had just fished.

The Irish angel did as Andrew said, but, despite her efforts, the only thing she got out of the water was an empty hook:

“… it escaped… and stole my bait!”, Monica spoke, and a little shocked. But Andrew and Tess were there to encourage her:

“Well, it happens sometimes.”, the blond angel said.

“Yes. That’s why fishing is an exercise of patience!”, Tess agreed. The blond angel placed another bait in the hook:

“Try it again, honey. I bet this time you’ll get a big fish!”

“Ok!”

*

One hour and a half later:

“Oh! There goes another one!”, Monica said, she and her friends, noticing that another bait had been stolen. Tess looked at the pot containing the remaining baits with a worried expression on her face:

“Well, one thing is sure: these fishes are really hungry; cause they’ve already eaten half of our baits!”

“You’re right, Tess. And they’ve eaten yours and Andrew’s too!”, the Irish angel innocently replied. The supervisor and the blond angel looked at each other with rather guilty faces and Tess decided to change the subject:

“You know, I just had an idea!…”, she said, and stood up, “I guess there are almost no fishes around this dock, they probably must be further from us, in the middle of the lake…”

“Do you think so?”, Monica asked.

“Yes! And I’ll tell you what to do: let’s take that boat and row up to the middle and I’m sure we’ll catch lots of fishes!”

A content smile appeared on Monica’s face:

“That’s such a wonderful idea, Tess!”, and she stood up, following the supervisor. Andrew, on the other hand, ran his fingers through his blond hair rather worried:

“Humm… Are… Are you sure this is absolutely necessary, Tess?… I mean, we could stay here and wait a bit longer…”

“Yes, that’s absolutely necessary, Mr, cause my stomach is not in the mood for waiting! Now move on! You’re gonna row this boat!”

Without any other option, the blond angel stood up and headed to the small wooden boat that was tied nearby the dock with a rope and undid the knot. Monica and Tess came on board and the youngest angel turned to Joy, who was watching the angels with questioning tiny black eyes:

“Come here with your mommy, wee one!”, she said. But, after surveying the boat where her parents and her grandma were, the little chubby dog gave a low bark and a step back, away from them, as if she was refusing to join them in that ‘adventure’:

“What’s the matter, sweetie?… I guess she doesn’t want to come with us…”

“I wonder why…”, Andrew said, still frowning with concern.

“Well, I think it’s ok to leave her here. She’s a very well behaved girl and will be here waiting for us, won’t you baby?”

A (relieved) puppy bark was the answer to Tess’ question:

“And we’ll be watching her from the boat.”, she completed. Monica smiled:

“Alright then, you stay here and watch us, ok wee one? Daddy, grandma and I will come back soon with lots of fishes!”

Joy gave another bark and watched as the small boat moved away from the dock.

Some minutes later:

“I guess we can stay here…”, the supervisor commanded, “You can stop the boat, Angel boy.”

Still rather worried, Andrew stopped rowing and looked around:

“Alright. Here are your fishing rods…”, he said, handing the objects to his angelic friends. At that moment, Monica moved to the middle of the small boat and it shook a little, causing him to frown with concern for the third time:

“Ok… Let’s try to move the least we can, so that the fishes won’t notice our presence here…”

“That’s a very good idea, Andrew!”, Monica agreed, “Can you help me out here, please?”

“Sure.”

The blond angel placed the jelly bait on the hook and she threw it into the water. Then, after reminding her to keep her eyes firmly focused on it, he and Tess threw the other 2 hooks, with no bait attached to them, and praying that, at least this time, their beloved friend could finally catch something.

*

Another half hour went by and not a single fish seemed to fall on that trap. The baits, on the other hand, went on disappearing one by one:

“I wonder what’s happening with all those fishes!”, the Irish angel exclaimed, with an impatient tone in her voice.

“And so does my stomach!”, Tess said, with an expression of despair on her face, and looking at the pot containing just a few baits, “In fact, I’m starting to imagine what those baits taste like…”

Although he was also starving, Andrew decided to make one last try:

“Since we’re already here, in the middle of this lake and there are some baits left, let’s try it again…”

“Do you think we still could catch something?”, Monica asked, as she herself wasn’t as enthusiastic as she was a couple of hours before. But a kind smile appeared on his handsome face:

“Sure! Besides, someone I love very much taught me to never quit before all the possibilities are over…”, seeing her smiling broadly , he kept on talking, “That’s one of the reasons why I love her so much. But of course there are many others!”

Monica moved to the right to place a tiny kiss on his cheek and that movement caused the boat to shake once again:

“Oh, please, not in front of the fishes!”, Tess mumbled, with a mock upset tone in her voice.

“I’ll tell you what, Tess: this time, I bet one of us will manage to catch a big fish! And I’m sure it’ll be you, Angel Girl!”

This time, he took Monica’s fishing rod and threw the hook in the water. And the blond angel’s prediction was confirmed on the following minute: the line of the fishing rod started to move:

“Oh my goodness! I got it, Andrew! I think I finally caught something, Tess!”, she exclaimed excitedly.

“Don’t let it go, Monica! Pull it out of the water!”, Andrew said.

“I’m trying! But it must be big!”, she spoke, and, in fact, the animal was pulling the line with all its strength, causing it to be very difficult for Monica to pull it out of the water.

“Use all the strength you can, baby!”

“I’m trying, Tess!…”

At the dock, Joy, who had been lazily lying and observing the angels’ unsuccessful fishing attempts, stood up as soon as she saw all that movement and, with ears raised and eyes wide open, she started to bark, as if encouraging her mom.

Both desperate to eat something and fearing that Monica could let the fish escape again, Tess grabbed the fishing rod:

“I’ll help you, Angel Girl!”, she said. But the 2 angels’ movement trying to pull the fish out of the water caused the small wooden boat to shake violently and, this time, the inevitable happened: the boat turned and the 3 angels fell into the placid waters of the lake.

Seeing that rather funny scene, Joy gave a low bark and covered her eyes with her small paw.

*

Later:

“…Tess these cheese sandwiches are delicious!”, Andrew said, eagerly devouring a pile of sandwiches together with his two angelic friends, back in the campsite.

“At 3 o’clock in the afternoon anything can taste delicious!”, the supervisor replied, not all too pleased with her unscheduled swimming.

“I agree with Andrew, Tess. You cook so well that it doesn’t matter what food it is; it’s always delicious!”, Monica spoke, causing the oldest angel’s bad mood to diminish.

“Well… I know that, but thank you, Miss Wings. I’m glad you like it.”, she replied, in a rather self assured way. Monica and Andrew didn’t miss her slight contentment with that compliment.

“And don’t be upset about the fishing, Tess.”, the Irish angel went on talking, “It was a beautiful sunny and warm day and we had the opportunity to swim in the lake, after all. Besides, if the Father wanted us to catch any fish, we would have. I think it was better to leave those poor animals swimming in the lake in peace. To be honest, I’m glad we’ve managed to feed them, as we bought so many baits and it would be a pity to throw them all away!”

Andrew was trying his best not to laugh both at his dearest friend’s words and at the perplex look on Tess’ face.

“Besides, it’s not only the sandwiches you prepare that are delicious, Tess. The coffee is wonderful too!”, Monica said, sipping the fourth of fifth cup f her favourite drink:

“… And I almost regret I made it, cause I think you’ve already drunk too much…”, the supervisor replied, still not believing in what she was listening. Monica ignored that comment and continued to talk:

“You know, I have to confess something: if you two had managed to catch many fishes and I hadn’t caught anything, I wouldn’t have courage to cook them, as much as I would like to. You’re much better cooks than I am, that’s the truth. And here, in this campsite, only someone with great cooking ability would be able to prepare a good lunch and dinner! Though I‘ve improved a lot, I’m still learning and my abilities are considerably diminished here.”

Hearing that, Tess and Andrew stared at each other: a look of astonishment and surprise evident on their faces:

“You mean you wouldn’t cook?”

“No, I wouldn’t. I’m sorry, Tess. I know how you and Andrew like to encourage me, but I wouldn’t cook here. I could do something wrong, you know.”

“I need to rest!…”, the oldest angel stood up and headed to the tent. Monica looked at Andrew with a questioning face:

“What’s the matter with her, Andrew?”

“Well… I think she’s just tired, that’s all. Don’t worry, Angel Girl, a nap will do wonders for her.”, he handed her the bottle of coffee, “Here, have some more coffee…”

Extremely pleased, she grabbed the bottle with a broad smile on her face and placed a loving kiss on his cheek:

“Thank you!”