Waiting by the Water // Heartwood

Raseri
Career Tribute

552 POSTS
last seen Dec 5, 2023 15:35:48 GMT -5

mayor of bootyville

Waiting by the Water // Heartwood Jun 9, 2012 14:05:36 GMT -5

Post by Raseri on Jun 9, 2012 14:05:36 GMT -5

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

MYUUUUH!

I slam my fist down on what I hope is my alarm clock's OFF button, and I am greeted by a satisfying silence. I love the sound of nothing in the morning. I'm okay with being woken up early, as long as it's done gently. Like a light nudge on the shoulder, or a mild "Alaric, wake up" from one of my parents. Things that I don't like in the morning include: buckets of cold water, loud music, alarm clocks, etc. But my parents had to sleep in today, and they couldn't wake me up, so I had to use my last resort: the dreaded alarm clock of extreme annoyingness.

I put on a pair of cargo shorts and a plain white t-shirt, grabbing my fishing stuff and two cans of soda before heading out the door. I absolutely hate fishing. It's so boring. My father is a fisherman, and I loathe the days when he takes me with him. My mom owns a little bait and tackle shop, and I'm usually helping her out in there instead of helping my dad. Even standing behind a counter for hours is better the sitting still and waiting for hours for one stupid fish to swim by and bite a worm. I swore to myself I'd never be a fisherman for a living. I want to do something a little more exciting. Maybe I'll be a Career coach or something like that.

Why am I going fishing if I hate it so much?

Because Fisher loves it. True to his name, he is a die-hard, 13-year-old, fishing fanatic. I'm one of the more popular, stronger careers, and I kind of took him under my wing, teaching him stuff and sticking up for him. A lot of the other Careers don't like him very much, and I try to help him out, you know, show him the ropes and whatnot. He's kind of like my little brother; I don't have a real one, and he doesn't have any older siblings either.

I'm going fishing with him to appease him, and that is the one and only reason. He's a great guy, and I feel like he deserves a nice fishing session with a friend every once in a while, or the occasional break from Career Training. I mean, a break besides the ones he already gives himself; he likes to skip training every so often.

When I reach the spot where Fisher was supposed to meet me, I sit on my tackle box and wait. It's a big box, stacked with a bunch of fishing stuff from my mom's shop. She insisted on me taking it today, even though I protested. There's way more stuff in there than I need; bits and bobs and doohickeys of various shapes and sizes that I wouldn't even begin to know how to use. I know how to put hooks and sinkers and worms on my line, and that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge when it comes to the items in my tackle box.

I'm sitting next to a clear, calm pool of water. It's mostly circular, and about 18 feet in diameter. The pool is part of the ocean, but there's a thin wall of rock surrounding it on most sides that comes up to a little below the water's surface. The tide isn't very strong here, and the rock provides a lot of protection from predators, so it's teeming with large fish. When the lighting is right, you can see them swimming around in there. The only problem is that they aren't stupid fish, and they don't bite too much. So you have to be patient if you want to catch anything.

Yeah, patience isn't exactly my calling.

Fisher had better get here soon.

Word count: 639

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thoughts
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lyrics

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"i shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
i lift my lids and all is born again.
(i think i made you up inside my head.)"

heartwood

guest

Waiting by the Water // Heartwood Jun 10, 2012 0:28:28 GMT -5

Post by heartwood on Jun 10, 2012 0:28:28 GMT -5

Fisher:

Does, Thinks, Says, Hears

I always wake up really early. It seems like I’m always up ten minutes before the sun, and I really don’t know what to do with myself. It usually results in me taking a number of naps during the day, but today I’m meeting Alaric for fishing. He doesn’t like it very much, but he knows I love it, and I enjoy the company. Fishing gets boring when you do it alone.

He always happens to scare the fish away though, he’s really impatient, but I can’t say that I’m the most patient person in the world either; I guess it’s just when I’m fishing. Alaric is one of the careers I can actually stand, he doesn’t push me when I don’t feel like working extra hard on the drills, and he doesn’t bother me when I decide to skip out.

I don’t know what the big deal is. Most of us won’t even get selected to go into the Hunger Games, and if we did, there’s an extremely high chance that we would end up dead. What good is honor if you’re dead? It’s stupid really, Alaric is good at things that involve strength, and I’m good at everything else, but I let him try to teach me the other stuff. You never know what could come in handy.

I’m excited to go fishing, mostly because his mom always forces her supplies onto him from the shop. I try to explain everything to him, but he’s really disinterested. We’ll probably end up doing something more active afterwards, which is perfectly fine with me. But, before I get to that, I have to complete my morning work out. I don’t work out because I’m a career; it just eliminates the grogginess from waking up so early.

I finish my morning work out quickly, like I always do. I don’t do anything extensive, just typical cardio training, some calisthenics, and a quick swim in the ocean. I run back home to get cleaned up and change into my fishing gear. After my shower, I spray some bug spray on myself; nobody likes being eaten alive by gnats. I throw on some gray cargo shorts, an orange tee, black flip-flops and a gray baseball cap; things I don’t mind getting wet and dirty if I fall into the water.

I grab my fishing pole and bait box before letting my parents know I’m going out. I spot a few people I know on the way there, most of them are giving me the stink-eye; people really take things way too seriously. I spot Alaric sitting by the pool of water near the ocean and wave.

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Raseri
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552 POSTS
last seen Dec 5, 2023 15:35:48 GMT -5

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Waiting by the Water // Heartwood Jun 12, 2012 0:10:42 GMT -5

Post by Raseri on Jun 12, 2012 0:10:42 GMT -5

((OOC: I give Heartwood permission for any minor power playing that may be necessary. Also, sorry for the lateness, I have a lot of stuff going on IRL at the moment so I might not be posting as quickly as I'd like to.))

I hear the padding noise of footsteps in the soft grass and I turn to see Fisher waving at me. I grin and wave back, gesturing for him to come and sit next to me; the tackle box is definitely huge enough for the two of us to sit on. ”Hey, bro,” I say to him, ”How’s it going?”

I see a couple of fish swimming in the water in front of me; they’re huge. Like, 17 inches or something. The thing is, though, fish that big aren’t stupid. You’d probably have to be a smart fish to be able to find enough food and avoid enough predators to grow to that size, and that most likely means they won’t be dumb enough to bite a worm off my line. I doubt I’ll be catching one of those any time soon. Heck, with my sucky luck, I won’t catch much of anything.

I grab my fishing pole and bait the hook that I put on my line yesterday. The earthworm that I got out of the little container flails around frantically when it’s poked with the sharp point, but I guess it loses energy because it eventually stops wriggling about. I’ve known a few girls that have seen me bait a hook and have said, “Eew, Alaric, look, you’re killing the poor thing!” But I’m used to it. It’s hard to feel bad for something so gross-looking, anyway, but I guess some girls can find it in them to feel sorry for just about anything.

I cast my line out into the pool of water, aiming for the side nearest to where the wall of rock opens up into the ocean. I think that’s probably where the fish will go, I mean, I’m no marine animal psychologist or anything but I’m guessing that’s where they’ll expect their food to come in from the ocean. I’m too lazy at the moment to hold my fishing pole, so I find a Y-shaped stick and poke it into the ground, propping the pole up against it. I might as well get this fishing stuff over with.

”Hey, Fisher, heads up!”

I pick up one of the cans of lemon-lime soda and toss it at Fisher before grabbing the other one and popping it open. The tabs makes a popping noise, and I take a swig of the liquid, the cold bubbles tickling my tongue as it flows down my throat. A thundering belch escapes from my mouth before I can stop myself, and I laugh before I realize I’m probably scaring away the fish.

word count: 430

text
thoughts
speech
lyrics

[/color][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

"i shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
i lift my lids and all is born again.
(i think i made you up inside my head.)"

heartwood

guest

Waiting by the Water // Heartwood Jun 12, 2012 22:13:14 GMT -5

Post by heartwood on Jun 12, 2012 22:13:14 GMT -5

Does, Thinks, Says, Hears

I catch the soda in my hand, looking down at the pool of fish that scatter from all the noise Al is making. I chuckle and shake my head; he has never really been one for fishing. I place the fishing rod between my knees as I chug the soda down, fully understanding why some people call drinks like these refreshments.

After a few minutes of failing to catch some fish, even I’m becoming a little impatient. Every now and then Alaric does something that causes them to scatter, and fish as smart as these probably know that they should wait to eat, unless they want a hook in their mouth.

“Alright, I’m bored. Lets do something else.”

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Raseri
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Waiting by the Water // Heartwood Jun 12, 2012 22:52:08 GMT -5

Post by Raseri on Jun 12, 2012 22:52:08 GMT -5

We fish for a while, and I think Fisher might be getting a little annoyed at the noise I’m making and how much I’m moving around. But I can’t help it! I don’t know how he does it, all this ‘sitting still’ and ‘not scaring away the fish’ stuff. It’s not possible for any normal person to accomplish.

“Alright, I’m bored. Let’s do something else.”

It’s only a short, simple sentence, but it brings me so much relief that I sigh audibly right there. Finally, I can breathe normally again. I flail my arms all around and wail, ”MAHALHABLAHBLADABLAH!” just because I can; it’s so nice to not have to worry about scaring away fish anymore. I don’t really care if people are looking at me funny right now; I am free from the confines of quiet and stillness. ”Thank you!” I say to Fisher, wrapping him in a hug that pins his arms down to his sides. I don’t have to fish anymore!

So Fisher wants to do something else, eh? I think it’s my turn to choose the activity. Still hugging Fisher’s arms to his sides, I pick the smaller boy up and throw him into the clear water of the pool, yelling maniacally, ”Let’s go swimming!” Then I throw my t-shirt next to my tackle box and jump in with him, laughing. I’m being a lot louder than necessary, but I guess it’s to make up for all the time I spent being quiet. ”Screw fishing, Fisher! Swimming is better!” I declare, slapping my hand down on the water so it splashes his face.

The water feels good; it’s not freezing, and it’s not too warm. I’m grateful for the icy feel of the water on my skin. Just cold enough to cool us off after all that time sitting in the hot sun, fishing without catching anything. The pool isn’t too deep either; it’s about four and a half feet deep so Fisher and I can both easily touch the bottom.

word count: 332

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