THE VANISHING FISHERMAN

openminded · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 1:19 am Post subject: THE VANISHING FISHERMAN

On holiday in Washingto State-Colville back in 1981 I,d decided to take my then eight year old son Darren and seven year old daughter Joanna to meet my side of the family. We took three weeks in May-June and it was wonderful-especially the day my brother Tracy set up "Spiderman" a friend who dressed up to meet Darren. I remember very well the surprised and delighted look on my son,s face (he,s now 39)> One afternoon I decided to try some trout fishing at the tiny Mill Ceek that ran literally within yards of the house my parents then rented on the edge of town. On this stream with all the trees and bushes around it seemed one could imagine oneself in a wilderness and even then one rarely saw another fisherman. I had caught a few fat rainbows for supper when a familiar voice called to me: "Doing any good?" I glanced up the far bank to see my then 34 year old wife Sue dressed in a white blouse and navy shorts, a large bath-towel and suncream held in a bag and wearing sunglasses. "Not bad-got a couple for supper, but this sun is putting them off!" I was referring to the clearing bright blue sky which was bad news on such a clear stream. "Oh well-you can join me in getting a tan then." "So whos, looking after the kids?" "Oh Dad,s taken them to town to do some shopping so they,ll be away for a couple of hours!" she replied. "I,m just going to try for a bit longer"! But I soon had to admit defeat. Meanwhile Sue had removed her blouse then her bra and was laying on her tummy on the towel. "Rub some cream in my back Luv!" she ordered so that,s what I was doing when a fisherman suddenly appeared on the far bank, saw us and waded the shallow stream and walked to where we were. "Any luck?" an older man with a bushy red beard asked in a scots brogue. "Got a few, but the sun put them down. Given up for now and going to work on a tan." Sue had pulled the towel round her to protect her modesty, but the man didn,t seem to notice. "Oh well-think I,ll try further down." With that he stepped back into the water and began to wade the deeper part of a pool when suddenly he just faded away! I got up to see if he could have gone a way we didn,t notice, but there was no sign of him. We did Not stay there after that and Sue gave up on her tan.