Swing123: Welcome back, fellow Calvin and Hobbes fan.
Chapter 4
"Here's where we're renting our boat!" Called Dad.
Mom and Calvin looked up at an old shack that had a sign on it that said, Al's boating rentals.
Dad studied Calvin and Mom.
"You two don't look very thrilled." He said.
"Oh, you noticed?" Said Calvin, sarcastically.
Dad heaved a sigh.
"Look," He said. "I know fishing can get boring, sometimes, but..."
"Sometimes!" Snorted Mom. "It's boring all the time! All you do is sit on a boat on stare at a cork bobbing up and down in the water. You call that FUN?"
"What about when you catch a fish?" Said Dad, desperately. "That's good moment of pride, isn't it?"
"Are you crazy!" Yelled Calvin. "You pull the hook up, grab the half dead fish, and throw him in a bucket! Then you go right back to Cork TV!"
Dad decided to ignore Calvin.
"Let's just go get our boat." He sighed.
Calvin turned to Hobbes.
"Fishing is the most boring sport in the universe!" He muttered.
"Not if you're a tiger." Smiled Hobbes. "When in the wild, tigers just wait in the creek, it's cool, refreshing, and then when a fish comes along, you can swipe him up in your paws, and eat him in three bites."
"If you can do that, why didn't we live like pampered kings in those mountains!" Spat Calvin.
Hobbes ignored Calvin's outburst.
A bit later, Dad was in line for renting a boat.
The line wasn't all that long.
There was Tall balding man in front with a red jacket on, and a short woman behind him.
And Dad behind her.
Calvin turned to Hobbes.
"How much does it cost to rent a boat?" He asked.
Hobbes thought for a second.
"Well, I guess that would depend on the boat." He said, finally.
"I wish Dad would put me on my OWN boat."
Mom heard this.
"Don't be silly, Calvin." She said. "If you were on a separate boat, you'd get lost out at sea!"
Calvin's face fell into a pout.
Then, Dad came back.
"Ok!" He said cheerily. "I got us a good boat! Come on, it's outside."
Calvin, Hobbes, Mom and Dad walked outside.
"YOU CALL THIS A BOAT?" Calvin screamed.
The boat was about 30 feet long, It was made of old wood, and there was a 25 feet long cabin in the middle of it, and it was covered in mold and seaweed.
"THIS DUMP CAN'T HOLD A FISHING EXPEDITION! WE'LL PROBABLY BARELY FIT ONTO IT!" Calvin complained. "BESIDES! WHERE'S THE FOOD? I WAS EXPECTING A THREE MASKED SAILING SHIP WITH BUTLERS AND STUFF!"
"I have the food!" Sighed Dad.
He held up two duffle bags.
One was full of TUNA the other was packed with SPAM.
"I'll push him into the water, you hold his head down."
Calvin whispered to Hobbes, who rolled his eyes.
Dad got into the boat.
"Come on, gang, lets have some fun!"
Everyone groaned, and got into the floating shack that HE called a boat.
Dad broke out the paddles, and paddled out to a distance of at least a mile.
There, he dropped the anchor, (no kidding, that piece of junk actually had an anchor) and the boredom began.
That day was so boring I won't even bother to describe it.
I will say only this; They caught absolutely nothing.
On the way back to the motel, Dad wasn't the least bit fazed.
"That was a nice day, wasn't it?" He said.
Nobody answered.
"It is too bad we didn't catch anything, but it was a beautiful day."
"It rained halfway through the day, and you said it would build character!" Mumbled Mom.
"Well, yes, it did do a few sprinkles." Said Dad.
"It poured down by the bucket fulls!" Calvin complained. "It's a wonder we all didn't drown!"
"Well, it did build character."
"We all look and fell like we've just stepped out of the Antarctic waters, and all you can think about is building character!" Calvin whined.
Nobody said anything else for the rest of the trip.
The next day was another boring day.
They caught nothing, and rained again.
"Well, cheer up, gang, the weather says it'll get better." Said Dad, still not discomforted by the failure of his mission.
It went on like this for days... Until Calvin got sick of it.
Swing123: No, the Adventure doesn't start here. I'MSORRY! I assure you, though, chapter five will be the start of the big journey! Stay tuned.