Degenerate by Odell Presley

Author:Odell Presley [Presley, Odell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Fishing was not my favorite thing to do. It is time-consuming, tiresome, and difficult. Which are all traits I cannot stand in my activities. I prefer building bombs, a straightforward hobby with set rules and enjoyable steps, not to mention an explosive outcome. Fishing was not so, and as we drudged through the woods and came into the rocky beds and waterway that constituted Stafford creek, I could not help but sigh at the sight of it. The creek was about four miles from our house. It was a spring-fed waterway, with a clear surface in the slow-moving shallows and white foaming rapids in its deeper portions.

Surprisingly, my brother and I had a good fishing pole. We had stolen it. One day, when we desperately needed fish to eat, and our homemade poles proved inadequate, we stumbled upon a family fishing at our spot on the creek. Ben had watched them from a distance like a cat staring at a mouse.

“Mom, dad, look! I caught a fish,” a screaming child, who could have been no older than thirteen, yelled so loudly that his words hurt my ears.

“Oh, look, honey. Martin caught his first fish,” the mother said.

“That’s my boy!” The father bellowed.

I huffed, “That little boy caught a fish in his first ten minutes, and we’ve been out here all day. I thought you said we were skilled fishermen?”

“I’m a skilled fisherman. You’re about as useful as dried bait. And the boy only caught a fish because the pole does his fishing for him. You can’t beat money like that when it comes to fishing,” Ben said.

“I’m starving. If we can’t catch fish to eat, let’s catch that kid and eat him,” I joked.

“It sounds tempting. But alas, we’d have to kill and eat the whole family, and I’m not that hungry. Come, I have a plan,” he said.

He led me over to one of the steeper banks of the creek.

“Now, when you’re down there, make sure to cry out for help loudly. We need them all to come running over here. You must be convincing. Pretend someone just pushed you over the edge.”

“You want me to fall down there?! No. I can’t. You know I’m not a good actor, and I hate pain. Come up with something else. Maybe we can….” Suddenly, I was tumbling down the bank onto the rocks. My loving brother had pushed me.

I cried out, “Ouch. Oh, it hurts. Help me out of here!”

But Ben did not help me. Instead, he darted into the woods at a full sprint. The family did, however, hear me, and the entire clan of four came running.

“John, what happened?”

“Kid fell over the bank. Here, I’m going to crawl down and help him up. Kids, stay right here.”

“Get me out of here!” I yelled.

The man crawled down the bank and helped me to my feet.

“Are you alright?”

“Just a cut on my leg,” I replied.

“My wife will take a look at that in a minute. Can you walk?”

“I think so.”

“Alright, I’ll boost you up onto the bank.

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