Chapter 8

When we arrived at the park the birds were chirping and the bugs were singing. It was the perfect weather to be outside. I can tell this is going to be a great day. My dad and I walked with all of our fishing gear toward the lake.

"Ready to fish, Son?" My dad asked.

"Oh yeah." I said sounding like a tough guy. Man, is this a long walk or what. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, just a couple more miles."

"MILES?" I practically screamed. My dad laughed. I could tell now that he was kidding. "Hey! That wasn't funny. Look at all of the people staring at us."

"Troy, lemme teach you a valuable lesson." Here we go again. "You shouldn't care so much about what others think of you. As long as your being yourself, everyone will love you. I know it. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you. You're a very nice, beautiful, and caring guy. Don't let anyone, and when I say anyone I mean anyone, tell you different. Got that?"

"Yes, dad." I told him even though I was contemplating about how I haven't exactly been honest with myself lately. As soon as I finished responding to my dad's life lesson we were standing at the dock. Time to fish.

"Here." My dad handed me my pole in exchange for the tackle box. We stood at the end of the dock. I opened the tackle box and took out the bait: live squirming earthworms. Eww. I squeezed the worm in half and baited my hook. With a swift motion I cast my line into the water. Surprisingly, it went pretty far.

"Wow, Troy! You're a natural." My dad beamed. He looked proud to be the father of such a natural fisherman. I just had to laugh at myself.

"Thanks dad. Now what do I do now?"

"Nothing. Just sit and wait until you get a bite." OK. Sounds simple enough. I waited and after about five minutes I felt a tug on the line.

"Uh, Dad? The thing just tugged my line." All of the sudden, the fish gave a surprising jerk that sent me flying into the water. It was only knee deep, but it was freezing. My dad was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight.

"Troy," he laughed even louder, "are you all right?"

"Yeah," I said as he grabbed my still wiggling pole and started wheeling up my prize. I pulled my soaking-wet self out of the water.

"That must have been one huge fish!" My dad said still reeling and laughing too.

"Uh huh!" I agreed. Finally he got the fish. I was SO embarrassed when he showed me the fish. It was about the size of my pinky finger. My face reddened.

"Troy!" My dad resumed his laughing fit. The poor fish was flopping around, hung by the fishing line. I still couldn't believe how strong that little guy was.

"Dad? Can you take the fish off the line now? I think he's struggling." Actually I didn't think, I knew.

"All right. Calm down, Mr. Save-the-wildlife." He said as he began wiggling the hook out of the poor fish. I couldn't stand to look. The little fishy looked so helpless. I cheered when I saw my dad put the fish back into the water and watched him swim off.

"Dad! I'm cold! Can we go home? Pleeaase!" I pleaded. I was shivering. The water was so cold, even on such a nice day.

"OK, Troy. I suppose." He started to gather the fishing stuff.

"Dad?" I began, "I'm sorry that this didn't last very long, and I'm sorry I fell in the lake."

"Oh Troy." He turned around and gave me a hug. "It's OK. I had a great time while we were here. We will be doing lots more fun things like this. Well, maybe more fun things that you would like. Like, you know, the ones that don't include hurting innocent animals." For the last few words he put on a cutesy girls voice. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Sounds good Dad." We began the long walk back to the car. When we got to the truck and began putting the gear back in it my phone rang. Gabriella Montez the caller id read. It still showed the picture that she took of herself on New Years. It's hard to believe that was only like five and a half months ago.

"Hey, Gabi." I said when I answered the phone.

"Troy? Can you come over?"

"Yeah, sure. What's wrong? Is everything all right?" I was frightened.

"Umm, yeah, everything's OK." I could tell she was lying.

"I'll be right over. My dad and I are just leaving the park, so it might be a while."

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about you and your dad's fishing thing. I'm so sorry, Troy. You don't have to come over."

"No, I'm coming. I'll be there in about an hour, because I need to stop at my house for a change of clothes and a shower." I laughed.

"Why? What happened?" She asked, obviously puzzled.

"Long story. I'll be over in a bit."

"OK, Troy. See you in a sec. Love you. Bye."

"Love you too, Gabs. Bye." I hung up the phone and hopped into the car. I told my dad that I had to be at Gabriella's in an hour to hang out. He was fine with that. We were on the way home when a very interesting song came onto the radio.

I woke up today
I strapped my shoes on tight
It's gonna be a long day
I won't be home 'till tonight
I'm going out to the lake
To see what I can bring in
If anybody needs me
Tell them I've gone fishing

It seems like yesterday
Was lost but now I'm found
I've got a great job that pays
To spread God's joy around
Many have been lead astray
I'll tell them what they've been missing
Jesus is the only way
And that's why I've gone fishing

I've gone fishing x3

I've gone fishing x4

"That was an interesting song." My dad said.

"Yeah." I replied, still trying to figure out what the song was about.

"What do you think that song was about?" He just had to ask that question, didn't he.

"Umm, I think that there's this guy whose "gone fishin'" for people that are having trouble finding God. Right? Well, I guess that's his job, teaching His word and helping people find Him, that is. I'm not exactly sure though."

"If that's what you think the song's about then that's great." My dad said.

"Well, is it right?" I asked him.

"Different people have different perceptions of things, son. Your way is just as correct as anyone else." I though about that as we drove back to our house. Well, about how different people have different perceptions about lots of things, wether it's people, songs, politics, or even religion. It's amazing to me so many people think different things, but we still can live together with out too much arguments.

A/N: Hey! Thanks for all of the reviews! See I promised I'd update right after the 33rd review. 39 sounds good this time :). I forgot to give credit to the songs in the last chapters. The one in chapter 6 was "Praise You in This Storm" by Casting Crowns. The song in Chapter 7 was "Live Like You Were Dyin'" by Tim McGraw. This song is "Gone Fishin'" by Stellar Kart. Go Stellar Kart! They are AWESOME!

Ok- I dedicate this chapter to my daddy, who loves fishing. :)