I'd almost drifted off when the line pulled tight.

-This is it!

I grabbed the stick from its home in the sand and yanked it hard to close the deal. The plastic string zigged and zagged across the surface of the murky water, and I wrapped it around my hand and reeled it in, foot by foot, until a fish emerged from the dark depths of the bay, flipping left and right and trying desperately to escape the hook I'd hung. The sun pierced through the silt and the algae and glistened off his scales, and I could see that he was beautiful.

"Don't worry, little guy," I spun the line high above me to admire my catch against the clear blue sky, "I ain't gonna hurt you."