by Iorhael
“Remember: no going out, no hanging around with friends. Stay at home. Read anything you want. And oh, homework. Finish it. Mom wants to help your pa out at the store. ‘Kay?”
Barney’s eyes narrowed. His mother always chanted this litany every time she wanted to leave him alone. The boy sighed. Whoever said that being a youngest child was bliss must either be out of his mind or has never experienced it himself. Once his ma’s form had disappeared, Barney hung his shoulders and turned back to the house.
He passed his fingers lightly over a collection of books on the wooden shelf. Famous Five, Secret Seven, Asterix. Barney groaned. He had read them all! His mother had better renew the collection if she insisted on having her child stay at home.
Agatha Christie, Sydney Sheldon. This time Barney grinned. He was not supposed to read those books, being an elementary schooler!
Finally, he gave up the idea of reading and moved on to the VCD’s in the drawer next to the wooden TV cabinet. Yeah, well.
Everything here was made of wood. Wooden table, wooden chairs, wooden cupboards, even wooden walls and floor. That was true. The floor in his house was assembled from pieces of wood, complete with the narrow gaps in between. You could easily drop a coin through them, letting it plummet into the marshes beneath the house.
“Barney! Barney!”
A knot formed in Barney’s brow. His friends! They were coming to his house! They knew Barney was never allowed to play outside so now they decided to come here. Barney stood and advanced to the door. He opened it a little, peeping out.
“Hey,” he answered weakly. “Wassup?”
One of the children strode forward and gave a light push to the door.
“Come on out, Barney. Let’s play hide and seek.”
From the slit of the slightly opened door, Barney pouted.
“That’s a girl’s game.”
All the other children laughed merrily.
“Isn’t that what you are, Barney? You’re a girl so your ma never lets you out.”
Flushing with irritation and embarrassment, Barney retreated and was about to slam the door closed when one of the annoying children stepped forward and placed a hand on the door.
“Peace, Barn. Excuse us. We didn’t mean to make fun of you. We actually came to ask you out, you know, to play with us.”
Barney gave up, sighing heavily. He opened the door wider this time.
“- You know I can’t, Will. Why don’t you all come inside. We can play here. I have nothing to do.”
The children looked at each other, fully unsure that they could actually do anything inside. Naughty boys!
So there they were. Three sat on the long couch, two by the dining table, one scrutinizing Barney’s books, while Barney himself remained standing next to the fridge – okay, this time it was not made of wood – watching at his friends and biting his fingernails nervously. He had to do something about it. He was the host and his guests were getting more and more restless. He must be able to entertain his friends, otherwise they would call him a girl again.
An idea flashed in his mind.
“Guys, do you like fishing?” His voice was small and full of doubts. Will turned to him.
“What do you mean? I thought you couldn’t go anywhere. What do you have in mind?” he inquired.
“Well,” Barney fidgeted with his answer. “I think we can do it here. I mean, at the terrace.”
The six gazed at him as if he was insane. Barney smiled a little.
“I’m serious. We don't need rods or long poles. All we need is a length of thread, a needle, and a piece of meat as the bait. Then we slip the thread between the gap in the floor and… voila! All we have to do next is wait for a fish to come.”
If Will had reservations, he did not show it. Instead, he asked, “so, why should we do it outside? Why not here?”
“It’s dark here, Will. Even with the lamp on. And it’s too crowded with all you six gathering around the thread.”
Suddenly a wide grin spread across Will’s face. “I agree! Let’s do it.” He made all the decisions, being the leader of the pack.
Barney was right. It was so easy to make their fishing equipment. And in a short time, all the boys lay on their stomachs on the terrace floor, looking hopefully at… the floor – as they were actually not able to see the thread hanging from Barney’s clutches into the depth of the marshes. Funny, though. They had never been this silent before.
All of a sudden…
“Wow!” cried Barney, surprising everyone around him. All the heads turned to him in unison.
“What?!”
“Look! Those fish are so smart! Very, very smart!”
All the other children felt silly as they, could not see anything but the floor. Except for Barney. All this time, he was peeking through the narrow slit.
“How’d you know? What did they do?” shouted Will.
Barney looked up at him.
“Those fish are swimming around the bait and nibbling at the meat little by little until they finish it!”
“Hah!” Barney pulled the thread up impatiently. He looked around. “Wanna give it another try?”
Will shrugged.
“Up to you. It’s all your idea, isn’t it?”
And so Barney started it again, hooking a small piece of meat at the tip of the needle, being careful to keep it still hanging there. Then he slid the thread again through the crack in the wood.
This time, Barney felt the thread in his hand tighten.
“I got it! I got it! A fish grabbed my bait!” And he started to yank it up. But that was it. That was the most that Barney could do. The thread was out of the swampy water now, with a big fish hanging from the bait, but Barney could not bring it up to show it to his friends. The fish was too big to go past the gap. Will gave a small chuckle as Barney’s face blushed yet again.
“I can help you,” smiled Will. “I can help you get your fish.” Barney looked at him pleadingly.
“How?”
“I’ll hold the thread while you go down into the bog to catch the fish.”
What? Barney could not believe it. Will expected him to drop into the murky water just to get the worthless fish? The water was somewhere around waist-deep! Barney would not get into it for all his worth. “No way!” Barney screamed angrily. Meanwhile, smiles started to infect everyone.
“Up to you, Barney girlie…” sang Will.
He did not have to say it twice. In a moment Barney was already in the water below his own house, realizing for the first time how hard it was to walk in a sticky swamp. He snatched the cursed fish off its hook and tried hard to ignore the unremitting laughter as he climb back up to his house, moving as fast as he could before he froze in the chilling water. Barney was also trying to block his ears as another chant in the day filled the air.
“Nice fish… So juicy and sweet…!”
The End
October 29, 2003