Chapter-15: Beneath The Full Moon
The osmium staff pressed hard against Diego’s shoulder. He pulled it across his wet upper body and leaned forward. His steps trembled with each slow foot placed. But he made progress, walking under the strong pull of the fishing line. Forty meters later, he heard vigorous splashes on the lake. Still, he dared not to look back.
Another forty meters later and the splashing stopped. In its place, loud thuds pounded and scraped the ground behind Diego. Still, he ignored his curiosity and continued to march forward against the dragging weight.
Chuey flew in front of Diego and said: “Not yet, don’t stop. Keep moving … without water it will die soon.”
Every muscle of Diego’s body flexed and burned with each step. His heart sprinted and pounded in his chest. And, in between gasps of air, he said, “That’s great. But … without more air … I’ll pass out, soon.”
The little bird laughed and flew in sine waves around Diego. The thuds and scrapes trailing him dropped in frequency and strength. A few steps more and they stopped. Feeling only dead weight, he finally turned around to look.
Incredible to behold, there lay an enormous golden fish with its mouth wide open. It looked like a giant tuna hooked on his fishing line.
Diego dropped his staff next to the golden tuna and estimated the fish beast to be four meters in length. He walked the perimeter of the fish multiple times as he worked on catching his breath. He continued to examine the golden tuna closer, and a picture of a golden beluga whale popped into his mind.
Exhausted and covered in sweat, Diego sat against an apricot tree a few meters away from the fish. He stared at the beast and couldn’t believe he had caught this creature out of the lake.
Chuey flew in cosine waves around Diego and called out orders: “Clean your weapons, get some firewood, gut the fish and spear the fish on your staff, silly. You can rest after you eat.”
Diego stood with shaky legs and headed to the lake with his weapons. Afterwards, he returned from his firewood forage and inspected his catch. The golden fish still lay hooked and dead on the ground. For a moment, he thought the fish would have disappeared, just like the eagle had disappeared. It remained.
“Stop staring at the fish,” said Chuey, “get to work, silly.”
Diego grabbed his daggers and gutted the large golden tuna. Intestines, stomach and other innards were flung to the side into the woods. Though, better safe than sorry, he retrieved the heart and ate several bites before tossing it away again. Next, he hacked the scales off from the cooking side of the fish and then checked his staff. Upon closer inspection, the ends of his staff both had coned shaped points. A strong thrust and Diego speared the fish through the mouth and halfway up the tail. Heaving and grunting, he propped the golden tuna at an angle, cooking side down.
Thank you
I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. Next Monday I will upload the next part of Chapter fifteen, Beneath The Full Moon, from my first novel: Guerrero of Passions.
Total Consciousness 