Tale of Two Mackerel
They were feeding by the shoal off Redmond's Island when what looked like a shiny smaller fish flashed by. Without hesitation they struck, one after the other, and without hesitation fought with all their might when they were hooked.
The fisherman said to them, one after the other, as they flopped in his pail, "I thank you for giving me your life. Please forgive me for taking it."
The fisherman enjoyed them together, having gutted and stuffed them with lemons and herbs and sprinkled them with condiments and baked them in the oven. With a fork he peeled their skin back and slid the flesh off the bones.
His hunger appeased, the fisherman said to himself, "I wonder if I will undergo the same in return. Will I be hunted, pierced, slit, prepared and enjoyed? Will a picture of my fate be propagated?"
He had an extra drink, as he always did when successful. But it wasn't to celebrate. It never was.
25 July 2022
Texas Jim
Prospect, Nova Scotia
www.granitecoast.ca