The Catch of a Lifetime

Part 3.1

Lisa's POV

The rest of the school day passed by in a blur, my mind preoccupied with Mrs. Reyes' assignment and how I would possibly manage to complete it successfully. When the final bell rang, I gathered my tattered notebooks and made my way toward our usual meeting spot a couple of blocks away from our school's gate.

Sure enough, my friends were already lounging about in the shelter when I arrived, idly chatting and poking fun at each other as they waited. Chiquita was the first to spot me approaching.

"There she is!" she called out with a bright grin. "We were just debating whether you got held up after class or were just ditching us slowpokes."

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly as I dropped my books and settled onto the indoor bench. "You know I had too much on my mind about this photo project thing to be ditching."

"That's right, you did mention that during lunch!" Jisoo piped up. "Mrs. Reyes made it sound like a huge deal, huh?"

I nodded, worrying my lower lip. "Yeah, like a massive part of our final grade, pretty much. I've been trying to think of ideas for what to focus on, but I'm drawing blanks so far."

"Well whatever you choose, we know it'll be about the most uniquely-terrifying thing this village has to offer," Jungkook quipped with a little snort. BamBam elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Ignore him, Nalalisa," he said, shooting me an encouraging look. "You'll come up with something brilliant, I know it. You've got a real talent for that kinda thing."

I felt a flush of warmth at BamBam's sincere words of confidence, followed by nods from the others. Jungkook simply shrugged unapologetically but remained quiet.

As we began the short path back through town toward our row of seaside homes, I found myself opening up about the other thing weighing on my mind.

"My dad left for the city this morning," I said, keeping my tone carefully nonchalant despite the dull ache in my chest. "He's gonna be working at some big factory there making, I don't know, decent money for a change."

There were a few murmurs of surprise and exclamations. Ever since we were children, it had just been my father and I scratching out an existence as subsistence fishermen, so this development was certainly shocking.

"That's amazing, Lis!" Jisoo gushed, her warm brown eyes shining with genuine happiness for me. "A real opportunity to finally get out of this cycle, you know?"

I shrugged, avoiding her compassionate gaze. "I guess so. But I...I couldn't leave this place. So I'm staying here, at least for now."

An awkward silence fell over the group for a few beats, each of them no doubt thinking of how to respond delicately. Finally, BamBam cleared his throat.

"Hey, that reminds me - since you seem pretty set on doing this project about village life, have you figured out how you'll even get pictures?" He nodded toward the beat-up leather camera case slung over my shoulder. "That old thing your mom gave you is hanging on by a threadbare, sissy."

I glanced down at the battered, well-loved camera, unable to keep a rueful smile from turning up the corners of my mouth. It really was a piece of junk these days, just barely managing to snap hazy, badly-lit photos after all these years. But it was one of the only material connections I had left to my mother after she passed, so I couldn't bear to part with it.

"You know this bucket of bolts and I have been through a lot together," I said, unable to keep the melancholy note from creeping into my voice. "But you're right, Bam. I'm gonna need something a little more...reliable if I want to get decent shots for this project."

I could feel the weight of my friends' concerned looks without even glancing up. We all knew there was no way I could afford a new professional camera, not without some kind of miracle windfall.

"Listen, don't worry about it, okay?" BamBam insisted, catching my eye with a meaningful look. "We'll figure something out, one way or another. You've got a whole squad watching your back on this, remember?"

Warmth bloomed in my chest as Jungkook, Chiquita, and Jisoo all voiced their vigorous agreements. These people, my home, my roots - they were my everything. Despite the continual struggles and hardships, knowing I had my friends' unconditional love and support was what kept me going every single day.

A few hours later, I sat cross-legged on the bare plywood floor of my family's humble shack, staring wistfully out the window as the sun slowly sank over the swaying palms. The pale yellow light filtered in, casting strange shadows throughout the small room that smelled of salt air, woodsmoke, and familiarity.

My fingers idly traced the faded patterning of the ancient sofa cushion, the same one I could remember curling up on a million times as a little girl while my mother sang me lullabies. Closing my eyes, I could almost summon her comforting presence in my mind's eye - the warmth of her gentle embrace, the soothing lilt of her voice, the floral fragrance of her hair.

Those memories were all I had left of Mama these days. But the absence of her is deeply engraved inside my heart, echoed by the growing hollow ache for my father since his departure this morning.

Most nights, I could hear his faint snores rumbling from the cot across the room, providing a peculiar sense of security and peace despite our meager living conditions. But tonight, there was only resounding silence haunting these weathered walls. A loneliness I hadn't experienced in a long time welled up inside me until my eyes burned with unshed tears.

Sniffing hard, I blinked rapidly and grabbed my battered old camera from the stained coffee table. Holding it close for comfort, I drank in the salty breeze fluttering in from the open window and listened to the soothing rhythm of the gently lapping waves in the near distance.