Rikki goes fishing off the rocks near some silos by the sea under the moonlight. He sees other men regularly catch fish from the same spot. As he sits fishing, he feels sleepy from the sounds of the water and breeze. According to local rumor, falling asleep could result in seeing fish leaping in the air like a chariot, causing fishermen to fall in the water. Rikki then sees a large grouper fish and manages to catch it, but upon reeling it in realizes the line is wrapped around his hands and the fish are flying in the air as part of a chariot formation, causing him to lose his grip and fall into the water.

1. by ry moore
The moonlight danced playfully with the gentle waves as they lapped the rocks at the edge of the
overhang. The fishing line swayed ever so slightly this way and then that, in a little jig that
matched the music of the water kissing and teasing the large stones that now bear the weight of
huge silos of wheat.
Rikki had seen and heard of other men who toss their lines over the salt rusted wrought iron rails
that guarded the silos; and within seconds would howl and pull in a two to five pound fish from
the water. Good eating fish! like chubbs, jacks, groupers and even some rock hinds. In fact
only last week, he saw a man land a ‘big one’ from the very spot where he was now sitting.
The sea-breeze was coming into the shore. It was a little warmer than the air in his village at this
time of the night, but it was not by any means hot. It did, however, seem to collude with the soft
clapping of the water below his feet to cast a spell of sleepy comfort over his eyes. He fought it
though. Rumour had it that once a rock-fisher is lulled into dreamland, the fish would
congregate and leap into the air in a chariot-like formation.
When the half daze fisherman glimpses this phenomenon, he would step off the rocks in his
attempt to hold onto the reins of the chariot. Unfortunately, it’s only his fishing line that he
would have grasped as he falls headlong into the briny to be swept away by the viscous undertow beneath the water’s placid surface.
For a brief second Rikki thought he had felt a tug at the end of his line. He paused momentarily,
and then he gently reeled back the nylon, expecting it to stiffen. But It didn’t. In disgust, he
reeled it in anyhow wrapping, it fluidly around the old insecticide can.
Three hours and nothing to show for it.
Other men had come and gone with buckets of no less than three fish each.
Time to go home!
Rikki made one more furtive glance at the glistening water which teased him in the blue-green
eerie light of the moon. Something jumped into the air just as he was about to look away. So he
looked back.
There!
RM ACCOUNTS ram©2013

2. A fat shimmering red spotted grouper… could be about eight pounds, skirting just beneath the
surface, shielded by a shoal of tiny silverbacks. Rikki tossed a few pieces of the bread he had
been nibbling into the water. The shoal darted away, but the big fish shot up and gobbled the
bread pieces.
He’s a hungry fella!
Rikki carefully baited his line, tossed it skilfullly into the sea, and then sat back down on the
rocks. Thax! The line flexed outward and he let it rip. The line then tightened. Rikki became
very excited. His heart raced and so did his mind. He braced his feet firmly on the rock, and
slowly started to haul the line. It was very tight but it seemed to be moving in his direction.
He kept on reeling in; his breathing had almost stopped, and he was sweating a nervous sweat.
He kept his eyes squeezed shut so that he could focus on landing this big catch. Nevertheless,
after what seemed like half an hour, the line was still tight and Rikki was still hauling.
Wait a minute! Why is this fish not fighting back?
Rikki opened his eyes to a squint and just in time to see the shoal of silverbacks float in the air in
a chariot formation, the big fish at the lead… and the reins? They were wrapped around his
hands. Either it was shock or fright that caused Rikki to drop the can with the nylon line. Then,
as his foot hit the icy cold water, he gasped; and grasped the salt gouged rock against which he
had painfully landed buttocks first. And as the sharp edges of the grykes tore at his fingers and
the exposed flesh of his skinny chest, Rikki held on until …
RM ACCOUNTS ram©2013