A New World

Day 245

“Do you think it hurts them?” F. asks. 

I’ve just hooked a minnow on his line.  Not as much as being eaten by a catfish, I think. 

“I don’t think they love it,” I concede. 

“Then I think we should let the rest go,” he says.  He considers the Chinese takeout box of live bait for a moment.  “After we name them.” 

“If you want to we can do that,” I say. 

F. kneels beside the lake’s edge and tips the box and its contents into the water. 

Be free, little Oreo.  You live to swim another day, Alexander.  You too, Columbus.  Go discover a new world.