Aedan's Story - 6. Chapter 6: Fishing Trip

July 2 2017

I stood on the edge of the fishing boat, feeling a bit seasick.

"You okay?" Jake asked me. I nodded. Our friendship was still a bit tense after the previous evening's events.

"I'm feeling a little sick."

"Seasick?"

"Seasick," I groaned a little, resisting the gag reflex.

"First time on a boat at sea?"

"Uh huh," I nodded. "I've only been on boats on a calm lake."

The sky was cloudy and drizzle rained down onto the boat. Land was a couple miles behind us. The wind was gusty as well, making the boat rock. The waves weren't violent enough to damage the boat, but it was enough to trigger my nausea. "I guess this wasn't the best weather for your first time."

I shook my head.

"Focus on the horizon. It helps, buddy," Jake patted my back.

"Don't do that, dude," I mumbled, coughing a little bit.

"Sorry," Jake backed off. He wore a green sweatshirt and jeans with blue flip flops on his feet. It was a much cooler day today with the clouds and wind. I wore an orange hoodie and dark grey jeans with some brown sandals. My hood was up over my disheveled black hair. "We'll be at the fishing spot soon. The bay isn't that big."

Jake walked away, likely to another section of the small yacht. His parents were crazy rich, so they could afford stuff like this. I felt the rain fall a bit heavier. It was a shower. A gust of wind caused the boat to rock a bit harder as the waves increased. Oh God... get me through this, I squeezed my eyes shut. Closing my eyes only made things worse, sadly. I opened my eyes and breathed through my nose. Suddenly a larger wave hit the boat and that was what set me over. My stomach lurched up and I puked a little over the side of the boat. "Ughhnn," I groaned. I felt a little better, but the rocking of the boat continued. I leaned over the railing to spit out the foul acidic taste in my mouth.

"Hey, are you alright," I heard Jake say behind me. I nodded, gulping a little. I felt his hand on my arm. "It'll be okay. The wind and waves have died down a bit."

I saw the other side of the Cape appear in the fog a few miles ahead of the boat. Within 10 minutes we anchored in a small cove. There was a narrow gravelly beach and beyond the beach was a forest of pines and shrubs. I eagerly climbed down the ladder to the dock and walked to the beach.

I immediately felt better getting off of that boat. "Aedan what are you doing?" Mr. Grant called to me.

"He wasn't feeling too well. He got seasick a bit comin' over here," Jake answered for me.

"Ah, ok," his dad nodded. "Jacob, hand him this fishing pole." Jake nodded and handed me the pole before he climbed down himself. "I'll be up here fishing."

"This is the best fishing spot on Cape Cod," Jake smiled. "Sorry about the boat, it's quicker getting here on boat. Roads get pretty crazy during the summer." I pulled off my sandals, pulled down my hood, and fixed my black hair that got mussed by me having my hood up.

"It's fine. I feel a lot better now," I laughed, taking a sip of soda before putting some bait on a hook. I sat on a small boulder on the shore, with my bare feet in the cool water. My line went pretty far out past the shore. About fifteen feet. Thankfully we had a lot of line.

"That's good. We can probably catch better fish from the boat since you can get fish from deeper water, but, it's fine. We can chill down here. Also, your face looks a lot less green," he laughed.

"Not as green as your hoodie," I teased. Jake and I laughed.

"Hey, um, Aedan... I'm sorry about last night..." Jake apologized. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's fine, dude..." I fist bumped him.

About 20 minutes after arriving, the clouds began to clear. The wind was still blowing but not as hard. "Sun's comin' out," I said.

"Woo!" Jake pulled off his hoodie and accidentally his t-shirt came off too. I giggled. "Oh gosh that's a little too chilly." Jake laughed, putting his blue t-shirt back on. I also pulled my hoodie off.

"That feels better," I laughed. "Starting to warm up."

"What's fishing like back in Tennessee?" Jake asked.

"It's pretty fun. There was a fishin' lake back on the farm or you could go down to the crick..."

"Crick?" Jake giggled. "You mean 'creek'?"

"I can't help my country accent!" I laughed, playfully punching him in the shoulder. "OH, I got somethin'." I shouted. I reeled in a fish that was about 7 inches long and it weighed 3 or 4 pounds.

"Ooh, nice, dude," Jake pulled it off the line. "DAD!"

"Yes?" Mr. Grant came to the front of the boat to answer his son.

"Can we keep this fish or does he have to go back?" I asked.

"It's a keeper. You have to throw back the ones that are less than 4 inches."

I gave a thumbs up sign before setting the fish on the rocky beach. Most people weren't too fond of fishing, since it does involve quite a bit of waiting, but Jake and I still found it to be fun. Most of the fish here were cod and haddock, which have soft white meat. Jake and I talked for hours while fishing mainly about video games, sports and girls. What can I say, we're teenage boys, we don't really have a huge range of topics.

By late afternoon, we had all caught quite a few fish, and I had gotten a little more sunburnt. The fish that were large enough to not be returned were put in the freezer on the boat to keep fresh. The ride back to town was uneventful. Nobody puked from seasickness. The seas were pretty calm after the storm had passed. I was able to take a nap, as I was tired from waking up at dawn and then spending all day in the sun.