Fishing For Trash

One day, a man named Joe was out fishing, but nothing was biting. The lake was quiet, except for the breeze as well as the water splashing when Joe rowed the boat around. Suddenly, he felt a pull as if something was finally biting. He reeled in his fishing rod, and pulled up - an old plastic bottle. He sighed and put the bottle in the boat. He might as well throw it away in a trash can. He couldn't understand why some people were so careless as throwing trash in a lake.

He hooked on a new worm and tried again, but the next time he reeled in the line he got another piece of plastic trash, and another, and another. He kept trying to catch an actual fish for half an hour but all he got was more trash, every time feeling like there was a living creature nibbling on the bait. He could not understand what was going on. As far as he knew plastic trash didn't normally jump on to hooks or nibble on baits, so he assumed there were fish in the water, but he could not see how in the world the trash got on to the hook after the fish had been there nibbling!

This was just too annoying for Joe. With the boat full of trash he decided to give up and turn back home. He threw in the remaining bait, since he felt kind of sorry for the fish that seemed so hungry. Even though he was annoyed not getting any fish for dinner today, he thought it was just as well that at least the fish got a decent meal. The worms sank slowly through the dark water until he couldn't see them any more. No sign of any fish. He packed up his fishing gear and started to row towards land.

As he got closer to land he could see his fishing spot further and further away, and half way to the shore he heard a big splash, lifted his head and squinted his eyes to see sharper. Far away, out by his fishing spot he saw what looked like a huge fish tail, fitting a fish the size of a full grown person, dissapearing into the water. He stood up and tried to reposition himself in the pile of trash in the boat, trying to get a better look at the huge fish. Suddenly the boat hit a stone. Joe lost his balance, made a not-so-elegant backflip, hit his head on the gunwale and fell helplessly into the dark water. As he sank through the cold water he saw the bottom of his boat fading away above him. Then everything went black.

When Joe woke up again he found himself lying on the beach, with a terrible headache. His boat was firmly tied up to a tree nearby. He looked around and was all alone. He shouted a "Hello" but noone answered. Slowly he made his way the boat and when he looked at the mess inside it he could hardly believe what he saw. In the middle of all the trash there was a big basket, beautifully braided from seaweed, filled to the brim with all sorts of fish.

As he stood there in complete chock he suddenly heard a distant giggling, followed by a big splash. He looked around once again and saw nothing more than nature itself. There was noone else there. He shivered, from his wet and cold clothes and from the weird feeling in his body. He started to pack up all his stuff, wondering how much of this day he would tell his friends, and how much would be better off being unsaid.