The Dream Lizard

Richard, a plump seventy-year-old white bearded man, sat in his old wooden fishing boat and thrust his pole into the lake patiently waiting for a fish to bite. His father used to take him fishing as a child and the tradition continued after his dad’s death. It was the only decent memory he had of his alcoholic father. Richard never married because he feared he’d follow in his father’s footsteps. Richard’s mother put up with her husband’s drunken outbursts, and Richard had to watch as his father scolded her over trivial matters such as a tepid dinner.

An hour passed and Richard began to doze off, the summer heat beating down his nape. A buzzing fly near his ear jolted him from his relaxation. He swatted it away and grunted. He pulled a can of Budweiser from his cooler and gulped it. He was about to call it a day when something began to tug on his fishing pole. The force swayed the boat and Richard nearly toppled into the water.

“What the hell!” Richard kept pulling, his arms aching.

Richard gave it one last pull, fell back and the fish landed on his lap. It wasn’t any ordinary fish. It had a long tail, its color blue and its face shaped like a lizard. Its mouth had razor sharp teeth. He’d never seen anything like it. When it reached for Richard’s hand, he screamed and jumped up. The lizard fish flopped around the boat uncontrollably. Richard took his sandal off and used it to toss the ugly blue fish lizard back into the lake. He used such force the fish was midair before splashing down into the water. Richard breathed a sigh of relief and rowed himself back to shore. He convinced himself it was all a dream.