Title: It's Not About the Fish

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

Characters/Pairing: Col. Jack O'Neill

Table: Astrological

Prompt: Pisces.

Word Count:

Rating: T or PG for language

Summary: Jack reflects as he sees a reflection of his past.

Author's Notes: I'm bored.

ooOooOoo

He always seemed watched people at the park's small pond. Anytime he was in the area or if it was a slow day, he stopped by and watched.

There were the health nuts & the 'trying to get back in shape' people walked or ran around the pond, they always seemed to think that spandex was the best to wear for work outs, but they always seemed to pick out the stuff with what reminded him of racing stripes on a car or in loud colors that no man was meant to wear. Not even a gou'ald would wear clothes in floro greens or pinks that showed off that flabby gut or the toneless arms of the joggers.

Then there were the dog walkers, with their canine dragging them over the lawn from tree to tree, the owned person following with plastic baggies in hand to scoop up their doggie's droppings like responsible people. It was always interesting to see the human get exhausted and the dogs get even more energetic and demanding. By the end of the walks the people tended to give up on sticking to the path and let the dog lead them home.

On weekends and in the summer there were picnicking families, which were really just parties held outdoors in the ramadas. There were always all kinds of people at these parties. Screaming newborns and the harried new parents they brought along, old crotchety ladies and gentlemen who poked at the younger generations and made their opinions known, often, and loudly. The suburbanite families with their perfect looking two point five kids, their bubbly moms, their strong yet sensitive dads, their little yippee dog that gets into everything.

But the people he watched for the most were the dads teaching their kid to fish.

He had brought Charlie to this park when he was little, four years old. It was just before he took his son up to the old cabin, and Jack wanted to be sure that Charlie would be okay with the main activity he planned on indulging in. Sara had already put Charlie through swim lessons, taught him about 911, and all the other safety bits that he wished he had been there for. But Sara had saved fishing for him, mostly because she knew that it was just a father-son thing and she thought his ideas on the topic were nuts.

He remembered Charlie's grin as he flung his first cast, his pout as he fidgeted when told that he had to sit. Jack recalled his pleasure as Charlie began asking quiet questions, the why's, the where have you been's, the can you do's. It turned into a perfect day.

It became one of the reasons that fishing was never gonna be about the fish.