Crystal Clear Chapter 5 / Gone Fishing

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday. Crystal had waited all week for this day. She and her dad were going fishing. The lake looked like pure glass as they approached it. Crystal took it all in from her perch high atop Dad's shoulders. They reached the end of the pier, and he lifted her easily into the shiny red boat with the black motor; settling her onto the passenger seat. Their rods and tackle box were already on board, along with a big cooler. Dad stepped in quickly, untied the boat, and slid behind the wheel.

He grinned at her and said, "We're goin' fishin' girl!"

With a turn of the key, the engine roared to life. Crystal didn't like the noise. It was loud and scary. Then Dad thrust the throttle into gear and, as the boat leaped forward, she was thrown back into her seat.

"Isn't this fun?" Dad yelled over the engine noise. She was scared because she couldn't swim, and it didn't really feel like fun to her. But, she said, "Yes." anyway.

Crystal turned and asked him, "Don't I need a life jacket? Mom said to be sure to wear one."

He laughed and shouted back at her, "Mom's not here, and life jackets are for sissies. You're not a sissy are you?"

Obediently, she said, "No", but believed that perhaps she was, because she wanted to wear a life jacket like Mom said. Ashes from Dad's cigarette blew into her face and they burned. Crystal brushed them away quickly, and tried not to cry. Dad didn't like cry babies or sissies.

He leaned over and said, "Hey, Buddy, Want to drive?"

She said, "No. That's OK Dad. You drive."

He frowned and said, "Don't be a baby. I want to go in back and adjust the motor. I need you to steer straight ahead while I go do that. You're my co-pilot aren't you? Now don't make any turns. Just keep straight ahead. OK?"

Crystal didn't want to drive the boat. She just wanted to be with dad and go fishing. Her heart raced and her stomach did flip flops, but she slid into the drivers seat and gripped the wheel, because she didn't want to disappoint him.

She said,instead, "Sure, Dad. I'm your co-pilot."

He smiled and went in back to work on the motor. They flew across the water. Crystal steered straight ahead and it seemed like the shore was coming up really, really fast. But Dad had said not to turn the wheel. She was so scared. The tears were coming now, and this time she couldn't stop them. She prayed silently, " Hurry, Dad. Please, hurry."

At last he was there beside her taking the wheel. He patted her on the head and said, "Good job." Crystal looked away and scooted back into the passenger seat. Then dad looked at her, frowning, and barked, "Oh my God! You're not crying are you?"

She said nothing. She simply wiped away the tears and hung her head in shame. Once again she had ruined everything by being a baby. She wondered why she couldn't be brave like he wanted her to be?

Dad tossed an empty brown bottle over the side and grabbed another one from the cooler. He opened it quickly, then turned the boat, cutting back around, bumping over their wake. They bounced off their seats, and he laughed and drank from the brown bottle again and shouted above the wind, "Let's go catch us some fish!"