Bait and Tackle

(Photo submitted by Emily)

The old man lived by the beach, just about fifteen feet from the water. He felt like the beach belonged to him. He had been there nearly thirty years, so why not? He had been there longer than any of the fishermen, the officers that patrol the docks, and even the statesmen that now own the beach.

Why could he not say that it was his beach? Why could he not say it was his home?

His little shack was a place that nobody dared to go near, unless they had business with the old man. Even then, they were weary. The old man did not want visitors. He would not approach them and he would seem to shoo them from his shack if anyone dared to get close enough.

When the old man died, the shack was left in its place. The police put up a “No Trespassing” sign, but did nothing else about it. No one dared to go near it, to see what the man was hiding, or what was so special that the old man would not leave his home for?

Until one day, when a young man, about twenty years old, decided he wanted to take in the shack. He went about the usual business of purchasing the house, and when he got inside his new fishing shack, he was in awe.

Nothing had been touched. A table with fishing equipment sat spread out in perfect position. A cash register sat in the corner, bait and special reels were displayed on the shelves behind it.

The young man turned and went straight for the beach. He asked the first fisherman he saw about the old man.

 
“What  was wrong with the old man?” he asked.

“Well, son, he would always come out, yelling at us. We didn’t know what he was saying, but it sounded like he wanted us to get away. He had a heavy accent, you see,” the fisherman said.

“Did you know that shack over there was a bait and tackle shop?”

“Was it really? No, I had no idea,” the fisherman seemed surprised.

Was the old man just trying to get business to his shop? The young man didn’t think the old man was trying to keep the others away, but instead bring htem into his shop.

When the young man decided to reopen the shop, he didn’t think he would get any business. Instead, it seemed as though the fisherman who had told him of the old man had talked to his fishing buddies, to see what the young man was talking about.

The fishermen weren’t afraid of the shack anymore. All they saw it as now was “Old Man’s Bait and Tackle.”