The Story Begins Here!
“Somewhere out there is an enormous fish, and I’m going to catch it” Maddox said with great determination.
His mother smiled, “And that’s what you told me last tine, and the time before”. She carefully placed a widebrimmed sun hat on her head ande picked up a picnic bag.
“Yes I know that, but THIS time, I really really am” Maddox insisted.
“Are you ready?” His mother asked, opening the front door.
“Pretty much” Maddox replied, as he hoisted his rod bag onto his shoulder. His fibreglass rod was a present for his eleventh birthday, and he was hoping it would give him luck.
Maddox caught up with his mother. “Going to try out some new bait this time. I read that shrimps are good for catching sea bass.”
It was a short walk to the sea, and they were soon scrunching down the stony beach towards the shoreline.
“I’m going to sit here.” His mother said, plonking the picnic bag down and spreading a blanket out.
Maddox quickly set up his fishing rod, and put a fat shrimp on the hook. He cast the line far out to sea and perched the rod carefully onto a rod rest, so the rod pointed upwards. He had put a small bell on the tip of the rod to alert him as soon as a fish began tugging on the end of the line.
Putting up his deckchair, he settle down for a long wait.
Time passed at a snail’s pace, and the sun sparkled and shimmered across the flat sea. Maddox glanced over at his mum. She was snoozing on her blanket with a sun hat over her face.
I think it’s time for an ice cream, thought Maddox to himself. And leaving his comfortable deckchair, he scrunched back up the stony beach to the car park, where an ice cream van was patiently waiting for customers.
“Large cornet please.” said Maddox to the bearded man in a white jacket and matching hat, who was leaning out of the van’s serving hatch.
The man didn’t move, but a smile appeared from somewhere under his bushy beard. “You here to fish?” He said with a gravelly voice.
“I want to catch a large sea bass, and I’m baiting up with shrimps.” Maddox said.
“Ha.. you’ll be lucky” the man said cheerfully as he scooped generous dollops of creamy ice cream into a cone, squashing them down with the back of the scoop.
“You want flakes?” He asked, and without waiting for an answer, started poking chocolate flakes down into Maddox’s ice cream.
“There you go.” He held out his handiwork for Maddox to take. “I’ve been fishing around these parts for years.” He went on, frowning and shaking his head. “No one’s court any big fish from this beach. Three pounds is about the largest I’ve caught. You’d need a boat to catch the big ones.”
The man gave a cheery wave as Maddox strode away, slurping on his ice cream.
A shout followed after him, “Well… good luck son. Tight lines!
Maddox was soon back, standing where the water meets the beach. He put some fresh bait on the hook and cast out his line with a mighty swing of his fishing rod. As he settled back into his deckchair, he had a feeling that things would be quiet for a while..
But Maddox could not have been more wrong!
If you’re tearing your hair out because you have a child that is unwilling to read, this article may be just what you need.
I spent many hours in bookshops, leafing through the pages, trying to find a book or two that might spark his interest.