Xpilar Writing Competition (109) : A quiet evening on the Lake.

It was a beautiful evening on the Lake so I decided I would do a little fishing from the end of the dock. I had gathered some bait through the week and heard that the Perch were biting around sunset.

I packed up my tackle box and headed down to the shore. A warm summer wind was blowing from the South and the sun was just setting out beyond the point on Old Bluff island. The sky was turning pink. Picture perfect.

As I walked down the old dock I remembered how much work I needed to do to get everything ready for the coming camping season. Soon we would be flooded with guests, family and friends and I needed to replace a lot of old wood. It was an accident waiting to happen.

I decided to fish from the boat rather than risk my life standing on these rotting boards. The boat was still in pretty good shape. I had patched all the holes last fall and I was pretty sure it was sea worthy once again. I untied the rope and pushed off and lit my old pear wood pipe as I glided out towards the fishing hole.

I dropped the anchor about 10’ out from the dock. Ahhh.... nothing like a good smoke, a fishing rod, and a cold beer on the open water. I fished for a good hour, it was getting dark now. The last glimmer of the sun had faded and I could see the stars above me. So far not even a nibble. This is usually how it goes. Everyone seems to be catching fish but me. Maybe I needed a different lure ?

I figured I better head back to shore since I had drifted pretty far out, the anchor was too light and the rope was too short .... I could see the camp lights now and someone had a bonfire going. Ah... this is the life I thought to myself as I sat down to set the oars into the water. I could hear music now ... it was quite loud. That was when I realized that I had forgotten the oars .... I was in trouble. The off shore wind was picking up, and I drifted further out ..

I tried to paddle with my hands but I couldn’t get very far, and the boat was turning as I went. Yep, I was in trouble. I lit a few matches trying to get the attention of the revellers on the beach. Nobody seemed to notice. I was getting frantic now, soon I would enter the channel where the currents would push me out into open waters ... I would drift until I reached Duluth. Now I was worried. I started to panic... I gathered a few bits of paper and tried to light a small fire on the seat. There must have been some gasoline there since the whole boat caught fire ... I had to jump into the lake to save myself ....

That was when the kids on shore noticed something strange out on the water ... a massive fireball was drifting across the Bay. They watched as it headed out to the middle of the lake never once guessing it was me. It took a good 15 minutes to swim back to shore. I was exhausted.

I trudged up to the bonfire to warm myself and looked out at the flaming spectacle in the Bay... and said ... “wow, look at that, what do you think that might be” ?

They had all decided it must be that rocket from China... crash landed in our Lake.

Original Digital Art by @xpilar with edits on PicsArt

Original story by me. @offgridlife

Original @xpilar Contest post : https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@xpilar/digital-image-for-the-day-is-made-according-to-my-own-imagination-and-thoughts-your-writing-story-competition-109