What a Whopper!
His fishing rod suddenly started to wobble a bit. And then it began to bend. The little bell at the end of the rod was tinkling furiously.
Dropping the half eaten ice cream onto his bait box lid, Maddox lept out of his deckchair and grabbed his rod before it was yanked off into the waves. It was shaking like an angry horse that was trying to throw off its rider.
Whatever was on the other end of the line, it was no small fish. His reel was screaming as the line ripped off.
No big fish around these parts, the ice cream man had said.
Maddox clung grimly onto the butt of his rod to stop it being wrenched out of his hands – Well if this isn’t a big fish, it must be a submarine, he thought.
His reel was almost empty of line, and Maddox was in a fix. His mind was racing. If he let go of the rod, it would be gone for ever. If the line ran out, then the fish would be lost for ever. What should he do!
He grabbed a small piece of driftwood by his foot, and jammed it in the real to stop it turning, and as he get that, he was pulled into the water.
In a few moments, the water was up to his waist, but he climbed onto his rod like a leech.
In a few moments more, he was off his feet and being towed through the water at speed. He was skimming across the surface of the sea like a speedboat, with sheets of water spouting up behind him. There was no way he was going to let go of his birthday fishing rod.
All that time, his mind was racing. Maybe this was a record breaker. Perhaps he’d be a hero and his name would be splashed in huge letters on the front page of the Fisherman’s Gazette, under a large colour photo of himself smiling as he held up the giant fish.
His picture would probably flash around the world, reaching all corners of the Internet in just a few minutes.
He would almost certainly get a hand written letter of congratulations from the Prime Minister.
Maddox’s arms were starting to ache.
No doubt about it, this fish could pull like a train.
This was his big moment, the one he’d been dreaming about. This would be a fight to the finish alright, and soon, Maddox’s name would be on everyone’s lips.
One of his boots came off, and then the other. There was nothing to be done about that now.
The giant fish gave one long pull on the line and Maddox was towed at great speed out to sea, while still desperately hanging on to his fishing rod. Fountains of water shot up in the air as he tore through the waves, leaving a white line of churned up water behind him. If anybody was watching from the shore, they would probably believe he was a speedboat in a desperate hurry to get somewhere.
He felt himself being pulled down below the waves and was amazed to discover he could breathe perfectly well under the sea.
He was just thinking this was one of the strangest things that had ever happened to him, and wondering at the same time whether he was likely to get back and finish his ice cream before it melted, when he found himself in the middle of a large shoal of silvery fish. The light from above made their scales shimmer and sparkle every time they changed direction.
It was as if they had come to swim along with him, but quite where Maddox was being taken was a mystery.
Somehow, with all the splashing and excitement, his other boot had gone missing. Now Maddox felt himself being firmly pulled down and down until his feet touched the sand at the bottom of the sea. Then the shoal of silvery fish darted quickly away and was soon out of sight.
Maddox was standing in his socks on soft golden sand and whatever had been pulling him let go of his line.
Dropping his fishing rod, Maddox looked around and saw he was in an underwater valley surrounded by mountains of rainbow coloured coral. Fish of all shapes and sizes swam lazily about as if they were just waiting for something to happen.
What exactly they were all waiting for was another mystery. Although Maddox didn’t have to wait long to find out…