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Short Stories
by GW Foote
You never know when you can help someone, even on a fishing pier.
Going to the beach and fishing is the greatest recreation a person participate in. The sun with its warm rays has a way of making a person feel good, add fishing to the equation and you have the making of a great day.
This day in particular, I was extremely happy, no special reason, I was just happy. I stopped by Joes' Bait Shop and bought bloodworms and shrimp for bait.
I was hoping I could find a parking space near the pier where I would not have to lug all my gear too far. There is one, right there! I pulled in and proceeded to get my gear from the car. Walking down the pier, I stopped along the way to talk to people to see how things were going. "Hi! How is fishing today?" I ask a man and women. "You just got here too. Ok have a nice day." I passed a family "How is the fishing?" They said they had been there about four hours, the fishing was good and they showed me what they had caught. "Great!" that is what I wanted to hear. I found a spot near the end of the pier and sat my gear down.
I baited my two rods and cast them out into the water. Sitting down I thought, "What a beautiful day!" I reached into the cooler and pulled out a cold Pepsi, popped the top and settled in for a good relaxing day of fishing.
I had been there a couple of minutes when I felt a tug on the back of my shirt. I turned to look and standing there was the prettiest brown-eyed little girl. "Well hello there young lady, how are you doing?" She said nothing! "What is your name?" Still she said nothing; she just stood there looking up at me. "Does the cat have your tongue?" She said nothing!
I heard a noise, I glanced at my pole, and it was jerking very hard. I had a fish. I grabbed the pole, jerked it to set the hook and started to reel it in. Boy, that must be a whooper, the way it was fighting! When the line got close to the pier, I noticed I had two fish hooked (saltwater gear has two hooks unlike fresh water, which usually has one). I retrieved the fish and placed them in the cooler. Now that was accelerating! Once again, I felt a tug on my shirt, it was the little girl, I had forgotten all about her in the excitement. I looked around and she looked at me and said, "Fish". "Well you can talk sweetheart." She shook her head yes. "Have you ever caught a fish?" I ask her. She shook her head no. "Would you like to try to see if you can catch one?" She responded by shaking her head yes. I removed my gear from off the end of the bench and she climbed up and sat down. I baited her hooks and cast it out for her. I handed her the pole, seeing it was too heavy for her to hold I told her to let it rest on the rail.
I had a fishing friend now! I reached into the cooler, and got another Pepsi and ask her if she wanted it. She said, "Yes please. What a polite little girl, I bet your parents are proud of you." She gave me a strange look. "I better ask your parents if you can have the drink." Once again, she gave me a strange look. I got up and looked around to find her parents; I knew they had to be close by. Behind us sitting on the bench was a woman who was shaking her head yes. I pointed to her and the little girl indicating if they were together, she said "Yes." I handed her the drink and continued fishing. When I took a drink of Pepsi, she took a drink. What a darling girl, I though to myself, and she likes to fish too.
We had been sitting their about ten minutes when a saw her pole bouncing up and down. "You have a fish on your line." I reached over a pulled the pole to set the hook. I did not want this one to get away! I told her to turn the handle on the reel. She was having a hard time reeling it in so I ask her "Do you want me to help you?" "Yes please." was her answer. I placed my hand on hers, she looked up at me and smiled, and then together we reeled the fish in. I yelled, "A big one." When we got it onto the dock, I took a rag and got the hook out of its mouth. "Do you want to hold the fish?" I ask her. She said yes and I handed her the fish. It was wiggling around but she had a firm grip on it.
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Her mother came over and took a picture of her holding the fish. "I would like to have a copy of the picture if I may." "Sure" her mother said. I put the fish in the cooler. When I turned around the little girl ran over and hugged my leg. "Since we are fishing friends now, you think you could tell me your name?" She looked up at me with a sort of bashful smile on her face and said, "Melissa". "Melissa, that is a pretty name and just as pretty as you." A man approached us and Betty, Melissa's mother (that is how she introduced herself) said, "Billy, this is my husband Lionel." "Glad to meet you." "Glad to meet you too, Billy." Betty asks Lionel if he would take Melissa to the bathroom. Come on Melissa let's go to the bathroom. When they got out of site, Betty turned to me and said, "I want to thank you for what you have done for Melissa today."
"Thanks but I did not do anything." "Oh yes you have, you will never know how thankful we are for coming to the pier today and meeting you. You see we are Melissa grandparents." "I just took it for granted that you folks were her parents.' "No." With a tear in her eye, she told me that Melissa's parents met their death in a car accident about four months earlier. In addition, Melissa had not spoken a word since nor had she smiled. Now it was my turn to have a tear in my eyes. "Therefore, you see you have helped her tremendously. Today is the first time she has spoken and to see her smile again is what Lionel and I have been praying for." Lionel and Melissa were on their way back. As Melissa got close to me, she came running and jumped into my arms. I gave her a big hug and told her she was the best fishing friend a person could ask for.
I walked with them to their car and we exchanged phone numbers and addresses. I promised Melissa that I would call and come by to see her. She said "Promise?" with a big smile on her face. "I promise!" As they drove off I blew Melissa a big kiss, she caught it then blew me one back and I caught it. As they drove out of site, I turned to go back to the pier and thought to myself, "Fishing can be so fulfilling."
| Robert Left Behind by GW Foote "I'm cold," said the little boy as he stood by the upstairs window. The day was eerie and the sky was gray as if it would unleash snowflakes at any moment. The little boy whose name was Robert Lee Parnell, named after the great General Robert E. Lee, had been watching out the window for what seemed forever for his parents to return. They had heard the cannons and gun shoots earlier that morning over the ridge. They told young Robert to hide under the bed upstairs until they returned for him. It was cold and dark under the bed. Robert stayed there for a while then decided to look out the window to see if his parent were coming. As he looked out through the fog, he saw no sign of them. This was frighten to young Robert but he said to himself, " I must be brave my parents wouldn't have it any other way!" The day seemed so long Robert thought. Occasionally Young Robert thought he hear voice downstairs. Maybe it was some of the hired hands. Robert was not taking a chance he would run and hide under the bed. If it had been his parents, they would have called out his name. One time some one did come up the stairs and into the room that Young Robert was hiding. He lay under the bed real still. He would hear his heart pound and he hoped whoever it was would not hear his heart and look under the bed. My name is Billy Black I have lived with my wife Steffanie in this house for 7 years. The old farm house dates back to the civil war era. They call the old homestead, "aunt sallies place." Aunt Sallie was the last person to live here. She was 107 years old when she died. Some folk around these parts say the place is haunted. They said on a cold winter morning you could hear what sounds like a little boy calling for his mom and dad. I really do not believe in ghost. I will have to admit I have heard some strange noises but I contribute that to the age of the house. One day something happened that changed my way of thinking forever. My wife was visiting a sick friend in West Virginia and I was home along. I heard a strange noise coming from the upstairs bedroom. I decided once and for all I was going to find out exactly what the noise was. I had socks on so I very quietly creped up the winding staircase. The noise seemed to be coming from the bedroom on the left. The closer I got to the door the louder the noise was. I stood there for just a moment listening. Then it dawned on me. Its that blasted squirrel again. We had a squirrel living in our attic. No! It sounds more like a child crying. I quickly flung the door open. I thought I got a glimpse of something going under the bed. I retrieved an iron from the fireplace, got down on my knees, and slowly made my way to the skirt on the bed. I raised the iron over my head and with one motion raised the skirt. I let out a scream and what ever was under the bed did like wise. To say I was startled would be a under statement. I slow repeated my actions again, as I raised the skirt this time I was prepared. I slowly brought it up and there were two blue eyes starring back at me. I immediately jumped up and demanded that they come from out under the bed. It was a child! "Please don't hurt me Mr." Who are you and why are you under my bed? The little boy began to cry. Do not cry son I just want to know why you are in my house? "Your house, this is my house, we moved here from Virginia when the war got to close and poppa said we needed to get as far away as we could! What war I asked. The War Between the States, the child answered. Oh! My God! Surely, I was dreaming, I just knew I would wake up on the couch and this would just be a bad dream. Soon I came to realize that this was not a dream I truly had a child from the civil war era. However, how could this be? In a few moments, I ask the child what his name was. Robert Lee Parnell sir, I was named after General Robert E. Lee. What year is the Robert? Everybody knows that sir, it January of the year 1865. I had to sit down and take all this in. How is it you are here? My parents heard the cannon and gunfire over the ridge early this morning and they told me to hide under the bed until they came for me and I have been waiting ever since. Robert, come over here and sit down there is something I have to tell you. Young Robert came over, sat down in front of me, looked up with his ocean blue eyes, and said, yes sir. Robert this is not the year of 1865, this is 2008. He just looked at me and said, "How can that be?" I do not know! He sat there a few minutes then jumped up and being screaming, "This is one of those Yankee tricks." You are not fooling me! Robert look around you, do these things belong to you. I picked up the telephone and ask him, "Do you know what this is?" Page 2 of 2 | «Prev12 Next Well, no sir I do not. He began to look around and he realized he did not recognize any thing in the room. A blank look came on his face and he sat back down and began to cry. Do not cry Robert we will figure this out some way. What exactly did your parents say when they left. They said, " hid under the bed and we will come for you." Is that all they said? Well they said for me to try to keep the fireplace going. Why did they say that Robert? I forget said Robert. Think very hard there must have been a reason for them telling you that! Oh! I remember now they said. "That if they saw the smoke coming from the chimneys they would know it was safe to come and get me." Did you do that Robert? I was until the Yankees came into the house. One of them came up to the bedroom and I was hiding under the bed. He found me there, pointed a gun at me, and wanted to know where the family jewels were. I told him I did not know and so he knocked me out. When I came to, they were gone. I tried to start the fire again but the matches must have gotten wet they would not fire. I see! (Ghost cannot start a fire). Robert I believe I can help you be reunited with your parents. Oh sir! Do you really think you can? I know they must be sick about not being able to find me! In the morning, we will see. Get a good nights rest and I will see you then. Early the next morning I got one of my history books on the Civil War down. I looked up the state of North Carolina section and began to read. It seemed as the war was ending the Union army was pushing south. To my surprise, I read that John and Carolyn Parnell were the last two civilians killed before the word got to the troops that the war had ended. It also stated that the couple had a son named Robert and his demise was never known. I hurried up stairs where a anxious Robert was waiting. Robert I know you are ready to see your parents I am going to try something and let pray it works. Here take this wood and put it in the fireplace. Robert eagerly placed the wood in the fireplace and I started a fire. In two hours, nothing had happened! Robert asks, "When are my parents coming sir?" I do not know Robert we will just have to wait. I could not stand to look him in the face; maybe it was not going to work. I tuned to stare into the burning ambers, Will just have to wait I repeated, OK! Robert did you hear me? I turned and Robert was nowhere to be found. I called out his name, "Robert." Silence, then it dawned on me and I ran to the window and looked out. There on the ridge was Robert and his parents waving at me. In a second, they disappeared into the fog and were gone! Steffanie came home the next day. "How was your weekend?" she asked. How it was fine I said. "Did anything exciting happen while I was gone" Oh, No same old humdrum! I smiled as I looked toward the ridge. |
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| My Burning Desire by GW Foote Not everything appears to be what it is. They say that the first murder is the hardest to commit. Standing in the snow watching the flakes come down, I thought to myself as each snowflake is different, each murder is different. The thought of how murder has a strange affect on you. Taking another life has to be the ultimate rush. I remember the first deer I shot man the rush was unbelievable! The power you have with a gun in your hand, one little squeeze of the trigger, life or death. Do they live or do they die? Will she ever come out of the opera house? How much longer will she be? The snow was falling harder and the temperature was dropping. I had been standing there for an hour and a half waiting, waiting. I was getting the jitters. I never was a patient person anyway. I suppose if I stay in this line of work, I will have to work on the "patient" thing. I went over and over my plan; to be sure I remembered every detail. There is no time to mess up now! My face was getting numb from the cold. The wind was cutting right through me. I could hardly feel my fingers. I finally saw her exit the theater and head my way. With each step she took, my heartbeat faster. The palms of my hands began to sweat inside my gloves. She got closer and closer. She was so close; I could now hear her breathing. I was waiting until she was directly across from me. Two more steps, now one more step. I raised my hand and said "Surprise". Steffanie almost jumped out of her skin. When she did land, I dropped to my knees, handed her a ring and ask her if she would marry me. She slapped me on the shoulder said "Yes". Putting the murder mystery paperback into my pocket, I gave her a big hug. As we walked hand in hand the two blocks to her apartment, the night air seemed warmer. |
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| Granddad and the 57 Chevy by GW Foote The adventure of a young man in 2095, visiting his granddad who still lives in the past.Learning lessons in life. Billy , standing on the loading platform waiting for his dad, who was always late. He was excited and for a good reason. His mom had just told him he was going to spend the summer with his granddad that lived in Granite Falls, North Carolina. He was an unusual man. He still lived in the past, and liked it that way. He always said, "All this new stuff makes a man lazy." Therefore, Billy knew he would have to do a lot work because granddad lived on a farm, cows, and pigs the whole nine yards. It was hay cutting and baling time as well. He also had a machine shop and a painting shop. It sounded as if I was in for a summer full of hard work. You wonder why he was excited about going away to a summer filled with work. Well if the truth be known, he and his granddad had a special project they were going to do that would make all the hard work worth it. They were going to restore a 1957 Chevrolet. It took his grandfather a couple of years to even find one. It is rare to find a 57 Chevy in the year 2095 It was hard for Billy to wait. He counted the days until finally the day arrived. The night before he was not able to sleep, thinking about going to granddads. He was up early that morning to pack his bags. When his parents got up, he was sitting there waiting. "Good gracious, it is 8 o'clock in the morning," his dad said. "I know but I wanted to be sure I had everything packed and ready to go." He had never seen a 57 Chevy except in magazines. Billy's dad did not care for old antique cars. He said they were too noisy and you had to get your hands dirty to work on them. "Dad that is the fun of the whole experience, you are building a machine with your own hands." Dad said, "It's as though you were going back to the horse and buggy." "No thanks; I enjoy my 2095 Yuban." (In case you are wondering, all cars in America are imported from China) "Dad you can actually drive the 57 on the ground! Granddad said when we were through I can drive it." "Wait a minute, your 14 and you've got four more years before you get your license" Mom chimed in. "Mom, granddad said that when he was coming up they were driving at 16." "Yes, that is why they changed the age to get a license; too many young people were being killed. Anyway, that was when he was growing up and this is now! Case closed young man!" "Ok mom." "Well folks we had better get going if we are going to make it back before dark." "Son, do you have everything?" mom ask. "I think he does, he's got about everything he owns. It's a good thing we have a large car." At last, we were in the air (cars do not drive on roads they fly). It was a 600-mile trip but it only took 2 1/2 hours to get there, figuring the car traveled about 295 miles per hour. The time dragged on but at last, we were in Lenoir, North Carolina. We did not have but 10 more miles to granddads. Boy! I was getting excited. People in North Carolina did not go at a fast pace as folks at home. It was as though we were stepping back in time and I loved it! "There is the road that leads to granddads house, I shouted!" "Yes son I see it, be patient we will get there soon enough." Granddad was standing in the yard. I believe I got out of the car before it even landed. I ran up to granddad and threw my arms around him. "Man, it is good to see you granddad! I have missed you." "Good to see you to grandson and your folks too." My parents visited for a while and it was time for them to go. We stood out in the yard and said our goodbyes. I kissed mom and told her everything would be all right. I hugged dad and told him I would call every once in a while. Off they went flying as though they were a bird. It was going to take some getting use to being in the country. You actually hear birds, crickets and frogs. What a life I thought to myself and what a beautiful sunset. I do not think I had ever seen a sunset look like that. Granddad was ready for bed at 8:30 and was up at dawn that is the way country folk lived. He would say, "You don't want to sleep your life away, you will miss something." Therefore, about 8 o'clock he was ready for bed. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. "You will need all the rest you can get. Goodnight son, I will see you at the break of day." "What are we going to do tomorrow granddad?" "We need to finish getting the hay up on the back 40 before it rains." "OK, goodnight." life Related Articles Testimony tossed and turned all night long. One of the reasons was because no noise except the sounds of the night. At the home noise was being made all night. Here you heard yourself think. The other reason was I was still excited about working on the 57. Somewhere around 3 o'clock, I started to doze off. Before I knew it, the day light started shining through my windows. I smelled the aroma of breakfast being cooked. Boy, did it smell good! Granddad did all of his own cooking. When grandmother died granddad had a woman to come in and do the cooking. After 3 weeks, he fired her. "She didn't cook the way I liked or the stuff I wanted to eat", granddad said. I rolled out of bed and put my clothes on. I walked into the kitchen and granddad was putting the food on the table. "Good morning sleepy head" granddad said. "Good morning" I replied. "It sure smells good. What are we having?" "Oh, fried eggs, grits and country gravy, with home made biscuits." "That's enough to feed an army." "If a man works hard, he needs to eat hearty to keep up his strength." We sat at the table and granddad bowed his head and said," Let's pray." It was a long time since I saw someone say grace. Back home that was considered old fashion. I am glad granddad still did it, for some reason it made you feel better? With eating taken care of, we were off to the field. I ask Granddad if I could see the 57 and he said, "Not now, there will be plenty of that after work." Granddad hooked the tractor to the wagon; the reaper was at the field. When we arrived at the field, the hired hands were there. My job was on the wagon. When the bales were thrown on the wagon, I stacked them. It sure did not take long to get hot! Granddad said that if we could go until 2 o'clock we would be finished at this field and we would stop for the day. "That sounds great to me." I was not used to this kind of work I was tired! "All right boys let's stop for the day. Tomorrow we will start on the south field. We will meet there at the same time tomorrow." Granddad said it was time to eat. "But may we look at it first (the 57)."We'll have plenty of time after we eat." Supper seemed a long time away. It was good though. We had fried chicken, gravy and corn on the cob, fresh from the garden. With supper finished and the dishes washed, we went on the front porch and rocked in the rocking chairs. Granddad said, "This is living, sitting on the porch and smelling the roses." After we rocked a spell granddad got up and said," I guess we had better go see the 57 before you have a nervous breakdown!" I ran to the shop, opened the doors and switched on the lights. There she was, to some people it might have looked like a pile of junk but to me it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen. Wait until I call home and tell the gang that I actually saw a 1957 Chevy with my own eyes. Boy, will they be jealous! We walked around the car and granddad showed me what all was needed on the body. "May we get started right now?" I asked. "No son, we need to work on the engine first. We only have the block sitting here now. I bought all the items we need to rebuild her. New pistons, rock arms, everything to make her purr like a kitten." "Granddad, I've never heard a motor sound that way, ours are so quite. What size is it? What is a carburetor?" (Laughter) "I can see now you have a lot to learn" granddad said. The motor is a 327 cubic inch, which will, produces 350-horse power. The carburetor is a Holly 4 barrel. That allows the right amount of gas that goes to your pistons. "We had better get started if we want to accomplish anything tonight." Before we knew it, the time had slipped up on us and it was 11 o'clock. "It's about time for us to go to bed. We will be dragging tomorrow as it is. I am glad we got the engine ready. Tomorrow evening we will drop her in. You did a wonderful job helping me" Granddad put his arm around me, and we walked toward the house. The bed felt good as I drifted off to sleep thinking about the 57 and what it would look like when got we finished. The alarm went off and I didn't want to get up. The thought of the 57 came to mind; I jumped up and got my clothes on. Granddad had another great breakfast prepared for us and off to work we went! We had put the carburetor on and put the radiator into place. In about an hour, we put water in the radiator and oil in the motor. Granddad had rewired the whole car and the last thing to do was crank it up. "You want me to crank it?" said Billy. Man, how excited could a fellow be? I got into the car. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I turned the key. It growled a few times and fired up. I have never, heard anything that sounded so sweet. I looked at granddad and he was smiling from ear to ear. He motioned for me to cut it off. "Well son, we're half way there. Now we need to get her into the paint shop, start sanding and prepping to paint. What color you want to paint it?" granddad asked. "I'm not sure." I looked at the color chart he had. "I think Candy Apple Red." Granddad nodded and said, "I like that color." Through for the night we went to the house. The next night we pushed the car into the paint shop and began sanding. The car was in real good shape for its age. We figured it would take a week to sand and tape it. The day seem to go slow and the night fast. The day came we were finished. We knocked off early and went to the shop. "Pull her out son" granddad said. I got behind the wheel and I realized that I was one of one of the few guys in the world to experience a moment such as this. I could not help from thinking how far our world had come, some things are better but some things we have lost in our quest to be the biggest and the best. Granddad knew how to live. He worked hard but worked smart. He always left time in a day to enjoy life, unlike us who run to and fro always seeking more knowledge. I turned the key on and the 57 roared into action. I pulled her out and when the sun reflected on her you could see, your reflection dancing and sparkling like the stars in heaven on a clear night. I got out, my granddad and I stood there in the afternoon sun and listened to the motor purr. What an unforgettable moment! Granddad is long gone and now I live on the farm. Occasionally I go to the shop, open the doors and pull the 57 out. In my mind, I still see granddad standing there with a smile on his face. Thank you granddad for teaching me to stop and smell the roses in life. I love you! Page 3 of 3 | «Prev123 Next 8 Liked |
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| Works in the Making: I am presently working on a murder/ mystery triolgy. The first two books are completed. Update: Finished and the publisher will look at it when "A Child Convict " has been out 6 months. Printing of "A Child Convict" should go to print this week. Update:" A Child Convict" was published. To purchase call (336) 853-3376 or order it at Barnes and Noble |
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