Fishing with Grandfather
by Linda Thomas
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Fishing With Grandfather
by Linda Thomas

Billy grabbed his fishing pole from the closet and headed for the back door. As he went out the door, he called to his grandmother that he would be back soon.When he reached the river, he put bait on his hook and threw the line into the water.

He sat down on the bank and looked at the familiar surroundings. His grandfather had told him how he loved the river and it's quiet beauty. The banks were lined with willow trees that stood with their branches dipping into the slow moving water. There were a few oak trees that offered shade on hot sunny days. Billy thought about how much he had loved fishing here with his grandfather, but now he had to come alone, because grandfather had died last month. It was here that grandfather had told him about the death of his parents when he was two years old. He had come to live with his grandparents, because they were his dad's parents and he had no other relatives. He had lived here for eight years now. Billy didn't have any friends, even though he tried. He was shy and didn't talk much, so the boys ignored him  most of the time. He didn't really mind because he had made friends with the animals when he helped his grandfather with the chores around the farm.

After the chores were finished, they would take their fishing poles and head for the river. Sometimes grandmother would pack their lunches and they would stay all afternoon. After his grandfather died, he felt lonely and very sad. He had a hard time believing that his best buddy wouldn't be with him anymore.

He had to do a lot of the work that grandfather did.

He tried to spend time with his grandmother so that she wouldn't feel so alone. He could tell that she missed him because she cried a lot and it hurt Billy to see her cry . He kept himself busy so that he wouldn't feel so sad, but a hard as he tired, he couldn't help missing his grandfather. He had never thought that he would leave him. Sometimes he felt angry that grandfather had gone, but grandmother had told him that it had been time for him to go.

Billy didn't understand that part and he still missed grandfather. Billy suddenly saw that his pole was wobbling and he couldn't see his bobber either. He grabbed the pole and pulled up the line up. The fish on the end of the line thrashed wildly in the water, but Billy fought with it until finally he had the fish on the bank. It was a large trout and grandmother would be glad to have it for dinner.

Billy picked up his pole along with the trout and started home. He knew his grandfather would be proud of him. He could see him smiling and feel the pat on the back that he would receive from his catch. He always felt closer to grandfather when he came here, because this was their special place. As he approached the house he shouted to his grandmother. She appeared at the door as he jumped upon the porch.

He showed her the fish and she smiled as she took it into the house to clean it. That night after he had gone to bed, Billy looked through his window at the stars and felt that his grandfather was watching over him. One bright star stood alone and seemed to twinkle brightly. Billy looked at it for a moment before he said.

 "Goodnight Grandfather," and went to sleep.

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