Like a Rock

Then, feeling a fish striking hard at my bait, I pulled the rod sharply like the spring of a trap.

I used to fish, but I have not in decades. Some days, I remember sitting for hours watching the river's flowing rhythm while I waited contentedly.

Then, often without warning or hope, the rod would flick gently up and down over the salty green-blue water. A fish would tease me from a few feet below, obscured. I would pause, breathless, slowly pulling the rod. Then, feeling a fish striking hard at my bait, I pulled the rod sharply like the spring of a trap.

I was never a good fisherman, but I was sometimes lucky and would land a fish. My favorite part was watching the water, liquid, mobile, and the clouds scud across the sky, unhurried and oblivious to me. But there was a thrill when, out of the translucent water, I saw the silver form of a rockfish catch the light near the surface like a broken mirror and splash the water white as it thrashed to get off my line.

I created this phone wallpaper to remember.

This is a free iPhone 14 wallpaper download for paid and free subscribers to Stories Surround Us.