Part of Your World

The Fisherman

Alana didn't know why she was drawn to the island, but she was. And she didn't question where the sea took her. It was a full moon, but did that really matter? She swam around until she found an underwater tunnel that led to a cave. She surfaces for the first time in weeks, looking around the area. She looks up as the moon comes into view, shining down on her. The water begins to bubble around her and she lets herself float. Out of all the full moons she'd experienced, none of them had felt like this. She felt more . . . alive. Like the very life of the sea was coursing through her. Like everything was about to change.

~

"Alright girls, I'm off." Don grins at his daughters as he picks up a large cooler.

Cleo stands, "Where are you going?"

"Fishing, where else?"

"With a giant cooler?" Kim questions.

"I'm going to spend all day on the boat out near Mako Island."

"You can't!" Cleo objects quickly before catching herself. "You'll roast if you spend all day out there. Haven't you seen the weather report?"

"I did see it. I'm taking the boat, Cleo, not going out in a dinghy. It's got shade and the cabin has the unit. I'll be fine, girls. But I'll be out late, so I left money on the table for dinner, okay?"

"Dad, since you'll be late, can I stay the night at Phoebe's?" Kim asks.

"Yeah, if it's okay with her mum," he agrees. "See you girls tomorrow." He leaves out the door before Cleo can object again and heads for his car, putting the cooler in the boot and heading for the dock.

He arrives quickly and finishes preparing the boat. Fuel, bait, rods. In less than an hour, he's steering the boat out toward Mako.

A couple of hours later, he drops the anchor and casts his first line. He can't remember the last time he went fishing for himself. He would be releasing everything so as not to harm the ecosystem, but catching fish is what he came for. He casts a second line and secures the rod, sitting down in the shade.

Alana wakes up on the bottom of the moon pool with the sun warming her skin; she doesn't often come close enough to the surface to feel the sun. She stretches out her tail and arms and pokes her head out of the water. After a moment, she dives back down and goes through the tunnel into the open water. After swimming for a while, something catches her tail. She looks back to see a hook stuck in the edge of her fin. She tugs on the string a little, but she has nothing to cut it, and ripping out the sharp metal would damage her tail. Not to mention how much it would hurt.

On the surface, Don catches sight of the line tugging and grabs the rod to reel in his catch, ignorant to the fact that there wasn't a fish at the end of his line. The harder Alana fought, the harder he did. And when he sees the pink/orange shimmer of her tail just feet below the surface, he pulls even harder.

So Alana pokes her head back out of the water, locking eyes with the fisherman whose hook was embedded in her tail. Don freezes for a moment when she surfaces, then lets his eyes trail down to her tail where his hook catches his attention. He lets out some slack and puts down his rod, making his way to the back platform. She slowly swims to meet him.

"I want to help you," he tells her. "I can get that out. And I'll let you go." He holds out his hand.