image [https://i.imgur.com/OEm4FTH.png]

Picaro was at the dock by dawn. Oyster was already there, ready and waiting. He wasted no time putting Picaro to work. The old man was to the point and took no dawdling. Picaro received a swift but light smack to the back of the head for any slowness. Yet Oyster was kind and honest. He never cheated the boy, and that day Picaro learned how to bait a hook. He even cast a line once, though unsuccessfully.

When Oyster caught the first bite of the day, Picaro helped him haul up the catch. The boy was left panting from the fight the fish gave them. To the boy, it looked like the biggest fish he had ever seen. The idea of so much food made him salivate. They caught two more that day.

“Big one’s for selling. Small one’s dinner.” Oyster chuckled as he tossed one of the smaller fish to Picaro. The boy looked at it as if it were gold. “Good work today. You listen well. Come back anytime you’re hungry. Long as you work, you’ll eat, even if we don’t catch anything.”

Picaro went back every day for a month. An unspoken understanding grew between them. It was hard, but peaceful work. Oyster was one of the few people Picaro enjoyed being around. Oyster mostly sat there, and when he did speak it was matter of factly. He bluntly corrected Picaro when he did something wrong, but that was all. He was never harsh, and didn’t pry into the boy’s past, which Picaro appreciated. He expected the boy to work, but he always kept him fed. When the fish didn’t bite, Oyster would bring the skip in early and Picaro would dig for oysters along the beach.

Though he never said it, Picaro thought of the fisherman as his old uncle Oyster, and when no one was around it made him smile. One morning, they sat in the slow current. There were no clouds, but a brisk breeze picked up around them. Oyster raised his head to the sky as if conversing secretly with it.

“Think a squal’s coming,” said the fisherman.

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Picaro looked up. All seemed clear and bright. “How can you tell?”

“Wind will always let you know. Feel that bite? Cold pressure coming in. When it meets the warmth from the south, clouds will brew. We may need to ship in early today. It’s good to know these things in case you ever find yourself at sea,” said Oyster.

Picaro nodded. “I’ll be sure to remember that,” he said. They sat there a while in silence.

“My father taught me all this before he passed,” said Oyster at length, and then trailed off.

Picaro glanced at the old fisherman. The man’s eyes looked like they were looking far off, in some distant memory. The boy was unsure what to do, until finally, Oyster spoke again.

“He was a fisherman, too. Taught me everything I know, for true. I lost my mother when I was small,” Oyster met Picaro’s eyes, and the old man offered a small and knowing smile. “He kept the food on the table. I used to go out and help him, else I wouldn’t have anyplace else to go. Besides, what else is there to do in the squal, anyway?” Oyster rasped his characteristic chuckle.

“Yeah, not much,” said Picaro, and he shifted awkwardly in his seat.

“Get out of here if ye can, lad. Or else you’ll be just like me, stuck on this seat for the rest of yer life. I used to dream of the high seas, oh yes. Adventures in far off lands. But then me father passed and I couldn’t think of any other way to honor him but to continue his work. Fishing’s in me blood, ye see. His father was a fisherman, and his father before him. But fishing isn’t all there is. There’s a whole world out there, waiting to be known. Go see it, if ye can. That’s my advice to you. See it and live it, ‘cause no matter where ye come from, you can end up anywhere you wish if you take the chance.” Oyster was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, I’m just an old man talking.” He chuckled again, then coughed.

“No, don’t worry,” said Picaro. “I know what you mean.”

“Do ya? Well, that’s good, ‘cause I’m not sure I do meself sometimes.” That made Picaro smile.

When the squal came, as surely it did, Oyster bade them take the boat back to port. He gave Picaro a hunk of bread for his trouble. All the while, the boy turned over what Oyster had said in his mind. The old man was like him in many ways, the boy realized, and it was a comforting thought.