Smoke on the Water

"Well that wasn't pretty."

SH looks down at his reel and shakes his head. In the darkness he had missed his mark resulting in a massive line tangle. He looks over to FishTrick and grins. As he starts to tug at his line, the quiet is shattered by a flurry of geese erupting from the water. SH looks up and freezes. His gaze locked on a beam of light that is slowly scanning across the lake face.

"FishTrick... do you see that?"

FishTrick's eye follow SH's outstretched hand and widen.

"Oh shit."

"What do you think?"

"I think we should bail."

"Okay, let's roll."

Having only one rod, FishTrick is quickly off and turning around the bend. SH takes a few steps after him and, for a second, even considers leaving the rest of his gear behind. He realizes that his fishing license is in his tackle bah, so if they find that it's as good as finding him. He hastily grabs the bag and rods and run to catch up with his friend. They stat to run towards the entrance. As they turn another bend they stumble across another group of ninja fishers, four deep.

"Are you in some sort of hot pursuit?" one of them jokes.

"There's a ranger," SH states.

"What?!"

"There's a ranger shining his light looking for people."

"Is it the ranger or the police?"

"Looks like the ranger. He's in a ca... GET DOWN!

Across the lake, two headlights shine like dragon eyes. A bright spotlight illuminates the bank like a fiery breath. Everyone is hunched over, desperate not to be spotted. Luckily, a thick layer of flora cloaked the anglers, though slivers still cut through the foliage creating a mosaic of light shards upon the ground.

"Stay behind the trees. Can anyone see the car?"

"I can." whispers FishTrick.

"Where is it?"

"It's just on the other side of the bridge."

"Fuck, man."

SH shakes his head. The group is only seventy-five yards from the bridge. Once the ranger crosses the bridge, there is nothing they can do.

"We need to move."

"Do you guys do this a lot?" asks one of the Group.

"We've never been spotted before." SH responds, nonchalantly.

SH kneels to the ground to try to spot the vehicle. The spotlight passes over him. He quickly jumps back behind the trees. Once the light passes, he looks over to FishTrick.

"Come on."

They quickly make a dash away from the bridge back the way they came. They stay low and in the shadows. Behind them the other four hustle after them.

They continue to creep along the shore.

"Stop!" SH barks as one of the Four almost stumbles out into a clearing.

"Stay behind the trees."

One of the Four turns back to his group and tells them to stop, they huddle together. A light once against starts to scan the bank, nerve-rackingly slow. There is a dead silence.

"Let's stay behind the trees and go up the hill." suggest FishTrick.

"Good idea, man!"

They wait for the light to pass.

"Let's go!" whispers SH as he starts to make a mad, hundred yard dash up a hill. He turns to look back. Behind him and to the right is FishTrick, scrambling up through the wet, slippery grass and in the distance he can see the ranger's lights starting to sweep back. He turns his attention forward again and can make out the river bed in the distance.

"LIGHT!" shouts FishTrick and, without hesitation, SH drops to the ground and hugs the dirt. His left cheek is resting on the cold, damp grass and he hears his heart beating through his temple. He can see the light ride over him and he prays that he can't be distinguished from a pile of brush. The light passes. He quickly jumps to his feet and starts forward. He looks back and sees FishTrick is running off in the wrong direction.

"This way, Fish!"

SH is in full spring. He can see the fence that divides the lake from the river bed; danger from safety.

"Light!" FishTrick once again shouts, but SH is too far over the hill. He decides to just keep running. He can see the shadows in front of him cast by the spotlight.

SH runs for another twenty yards before he realizes that, in his excitement, he has forgotten to breath. He takes in a gasp. His lungs burn in agony. He clenches his teeth.

"Fuck, all those bowls I had earlier are not helping me now," SH thinks to himself.

He dips down and spins around to see FishTrick coming over the hill towards him.

"I think they saw me." he pants.

"It's too late, we should just run."

The two make a straight line towards the river bed. After a few more yards, they stop to turn back and see if there was any sign of the ranger. Clear. Neither is there any sign of the Four. They continue to run, but it is clear they are both out of breath. They come up a number of piles of dry brush. They decide to seek cover behind the mounds and catch their breathes.

SH peeks his head over the hay and scans the horizon for some sign of life. Nothing.

"I don't see anything."

"Okay, let's get to the river bed."

SH realized that in his adrenaline-fueled haste to grab his gear, he was holding his tackle in a most awkward manner, contributing to his exhaustion. The line which had resulted from the tangle was being dragged behind him, ensnaring itself onto all sorts of things causing his arm to be constantly jerked back. Also, his tackle bag was thrown over his shoulder allowing it to swing wildly as he ran, reducing his balance. In addition, the way that he grasped his three rods so tightly, but awkwardly, resulting in the line and guides cutting into this hand. Once under a small semblance of security, SH was able to remedy all of his problems and they were quickly off towards the river bed.

Remaining ever vigilant, the two make their way to the fence, but was hampered by the sight of a tent pitched on the other side. Not wanting to add more variables to the situation, they decided to follow the fence down to a gate. Along the way, they stayed low and constantly watched for lights.

Eventually they cross the gates and are almost to the last fence.

"Get down!" warns FishTrick.

The two drop low as several cars pass overhead. They soon disappear without incident. FishTrick and SH jump over the last fence and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Holy shit that was intense, bro!"

"Fuck yeah, Smoke on the Water, bitches!"

They make their way to their cars and turn to each other.

"High-five!"

After reminiscing the night's events, the depart for their cars. FishTrick gets in his and drives off. SH gets into his car and takes off his hat, flinging it onto the passenger seat. He slides the key in and starts the engine. He sits there for a moment, perfectly still. A grin slowly grows. He shakes his head and lets out a chuckle. He shifts into Drive and pulls out onto the street.