lost smile. His doctor heard about the fish battle
until could tell the story himself. The hospice
nurse heard bits and pieces of how beautiful the
trees and the water and the sky were that day. But
what touched her heart, and why she wrote, was
Walt never spoke of his guide. Not once. He
told everyone he went fishing with his friend, and
his friend’s name was Mark.
He stepped over to his corkboard full of pictures and found the old man’s leathery face.
Memories of the day returned as he stared at the
picture, absently running his thumb over the cover on the fly wallet, smooth and shiny.
The phone rang and Mark glanced at it for a
moment, knowing it was his neighbor calling to
say that kickoff was only a few minutes away and
the beer was cold. He slipped the fly wallet into
his pocket and shrugged on his fleece jacket as
he crossed the room. He found his rod behind
the door and switched off the light behind him,
stepping into the chill and turning up his collar as
he walked toward the dark, rushing water.
John Solomon is a freelance outdoor writer
and photographer, and his work has appeared
in Sandy River Review, The Meadowlands
Review, The Pines Review, Bugle, The Wire
Harp, and a dozen national magazines. His story
“Rings on the Water” won Honorable Mention
in the 2012 Art Affair Fiction contest and he
studied creative writing at Chatham University
in Pittsburgh, PA. He currently resides in New
Mexico.