Fisherman

Sitting in a dilapidated bus Zi Xiang opened his eyes he must have fallen asleep. A whistling noise could be heard the seat ahead had its window broken, it was just coved up in duck tape. Though part of it had come loose flapping around in the wind. It was quite cold with the wind blowing right in front of Zi Xiang. Putting his jacket on he looked out the window the skies were black through the coloration was right in between dark and light. The part where you weren't quite sure if it was almost morning or dead in the night.

Though it was mostly an inky darkness The landscape outside was vaguely recognizable just an empty desert with a few shrubs here and there. A weird pressure started to weigh down on Zi Xiang a sudden melancholy watching the darkness pass by grew in Zi Xiang the feeling of being on a ship out at sea cruising through the lonely waters. A strange fantasy where he was just a passenger on an empty cruise ship cutting through the dark waters to get home. Zi Xiang felt lonely even if the entire bus was full he would probably still feel lonely.

Watching the sky slowly turn from black to a slight bluish hue Zi Xiang felt some relief crossing from the abyss into a shallower sea. The sea could be even deeper than the sky if you knew where you were looking. But its nature was far more restaining than the sky at its bottom swam creatures that could never rise and at its top swam creatures that could never descend.

The skies were shattered cracked and shifted in some places the sky looked crudely refracted. Some parts empty sone parts overlapped. The desolate landscape was now clear though it was just sandy hills and the occasional yellowed bramble. Not much to see Zi Xiang just continued to look out and watch. Eventually, the bus neared a small town the skies were still blue and the sun was just starting to wean. The town was small and rural some of the houses had chipped paint and windows covered in some crude wooden boards. The yards were just sand and little patches of yellowed Bermuda grass. The surroundings and the town itself weren't in the best of shape, the roads were covered in potholes, and tiles of concrete were missing in some places.

Driving through the city the bus continued on into a mountainous area parts of the roads went right through some hills nets coved the sides and a few faded warning signs could be seen. Crossing through. They reached a few other areas a large hilly area covered in Joshua trees and cacti, a flat white sandy area, and some small towns. Through the day the bus just trailed across the landscape yet to reach its destination.

Soon the sun had risen crawled to its peak and rolled down the sky again it was late afternoon and the air in the bus was scalding the metal frame just absorbed more heat turning the bus into an oven Zi Xiang opened his window but it wasn't much better, it was still incredibly hot, after some more time on the road the sun was already starting to sink beneath the sky a beautiful sunset illuminated the skies before descending into darkness.

The bus pulled into a branching road at first it was just dirt but it smoothed out into plain concrete the wheels smoothly glided over it and the moon illuminated the path it was a beautiful night and the wind hadn't yet picked up into an irritant is was still young and calm. The temperatures were cool, not freezing. Driving onward a lake could be seen in the distance to the left the waters were clear and smoothed letting out a gentle glow from the moon. The bus was driving to the lake approaching closer the lake was damned off and driving right to the edge of the dam the bus stopped. Its door creaked open Zi Xiang got off and walked over to the door he thanked the bus driver before getting off. The door let out a groan and creaked closed, the bus drove off with the sound of rattling.

Looking around he spotted someone but before approaching them Zi Xiang took a look over the edge the water below was clear the bottom could be seen as well as the silver glimmer of fish swimming below. Even the rocks and the sandy bed could be seen below the water it was beautiful.

After appreciating the water he walked over to the person he was sitting on the edge of the damn fishing, though he was on the wrong side.

"Oh hello, how've you been how's life treating you."

A sort of vaguely happy look blossomed over the person's face, it was a nice face it was quite ordinary on the surface but below a bit of handsomeness stained it. He was quite ordinary, it was just an adolescent youth around fourteen or fifteen years in age. Overall he was a bit taller than average though he was really quite thin to the point of being slightly off putting.

"Nevermind I already know don't worry about it have a look down there for me I wonder if there are any good catches down there."

Looking down below was just pure darkness no water, not even any visible ground just a dark void. Completely empty, completely still.

"Oh I think I've got something." The youth began to desperately struggle straining his arms and violently pulling back and forth. He even started to wobble on the edge of damn shaking back and forth. His face was contorted with effort "EERRrrGHh I think I've really got something big." Pulling up the line a small sardine was attached on the end it didn't even flail around it seemed to be just as confused as anyone being pulled out from nothing. Its dead fish eyes looked right into the youth's eyes, expressionless.

"What is this thing that shouldn't be there?" the youth carefully inspected the fish from side to side top to bottom. "Well, I suppose I put on a show for nothing" another mildly irritating smile crossed his face he gave a shrug "How was I supposed to know a sardine was going to pop up I say it's your fault for making the fool of me it's saltwater, not even freshwater doesn't make any sense. Look next time come up with something better, it's not your fault okay..." The youth gave a helpless sigh. " Just try better next time alright?" The youth complained in a half-angry half-mocking manner. Taking the fish by the tail he flung it behind him it made multiple flips in the before falling into the water on the other side. "Well, I suppose we should just try again second times the charm they say" He put on an expectant face seemingly waiting for a response. Not getting one he turned his face back to the void giving an annoying laugh.

Waiting for some time the youth suddenly focused he started to loosen his arm turning the fishing rod down letting the line drift he suddenly pulled the rod up with one arm it seemed a smooth and seamless motion with little effort put it. The sudden movement was just like the light tugging of a string. The line fully relaxed and was pulled up effortlessly. This time nothing was on the line.

"Oh what a nice catch just what we need right now here you take it I'll probably wait a bit longer to leave I'm not quite ready yet." "I suppose neither are you but we really should take care here you know what I'll give you this."

Handing Zi Xiang whatever was on the line it had a very slight warmth to it although he couldn't tell what it was Zi Xiang knew there was something.

"Let me tell you the most important part"

o l s g ar