Sonia's Fishing Adventure

There was a reason Sonia eagerly waited for the weekend. Fishing! ‘You won’t break your promise, will you?’ she asked her dad every morning at breakfast. ‘Of course not, darling,’ her father said every time. ‘We’ll definitely catch some fish this Sunday.’ And every time Sonia heard it a delicious smile flitted across her face.

When her dad returned home from office on Wednesday, he slumped on the couch, placing his briefcase by his feet. ‘I’m going to Mumbai this weekend to meet a client.’

‘Oh, but you said you were scheduled to go next week?’ his wife asked.

‘Yes. Seems like they changed their plans and coming over this weekend itself.’

Sonia, who was busy decorating her doll in her room, heard it and came rushing into the drawing hall, crying, ‘But you promised.’

‘And I won’t break it, my dear. I’m leaving Friday night and will return by Saturday night.’

Sonia held his arm with both hands, ‘No, I won’t let you go.’

Her parents looked at each other and laughed. ‘Yes, yes, don’t let him go, Sonia,’ her mom said.

‘Et tu, Brute?’ said her dad.

Sonia’s mom shook her head, smiling, and went back in the kitchen. ‘Do you want noodles?’ she called from the kitchen.

If Sonia heard it, she didn’t bother to answer. She held on to her dad’s arm. ‘You can’t go. You promised.’

Ruffling his daughter’s hair, he said: ‘And I promise you again, sweetheart. We will go fishing on Sunday morning.’

***

By Saturday evening Sonia had her fishing equipments ready: Fishing rod, pole, reel, line, guide and the rest. ‘What should I have for bait?’ she asked her mom.

‘Earthworms, grasshoppers, crickets.’

‘Where do I get them?’

‘Ah, don’t you worry about that. Your father will get those.’

‘He is going to come tonight, right?’

‘Of course he will.’

‘OK.’

‘Now come on, be a good girl and have your supper.’

Sonia had finished her supper when the phone rang. Her mom picked it up. ‘Hello?’

A minute later she kept the receiver back in the cradle and turned to Sonia. ‘Time to bed.’

‘Who was it?’

‘Your dad. He is on his way.’

Sonia kept mum for a while and then cried: ‘You are lying. He is not coming, is he?’

‘Oh, he is coming all right. It’s just that he is running a little late, that’s all,’ said her mom.

Sonia shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. Her mom hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Shhh. Don’t cry, darling. He is on his way. You’ll definitely fish tomorrow.’

Sonia didn’t utter a word. Tears rolled down her cheek. ‘Oh, come on,’ her mom said. ‘OK, here’s the deal. Just in case he doesn’t come on time, we’ll go fishing. What do you say?’

‘No, I want to go with dad. He promised.’

It was around ten-thirty in the night when Sonia went to sleep. Needless to say it was a herculean task for her mom to console her and put her to sleep.

***

The morning was cool and wet and without any bright sunlight. The September breeze blew mildly through the windows. Sonia woke up at seven o’clock. Rubbing her face with her hands, she opened her eyes to a surprise. A gift-wrapped box lay on the table beside the cot. Her eyes widened with a glint. She took the box in her hands. ‘Good morning, princess,’ was written on the golden wrapping paper. She knew instantly. ‘Dad,’ she cried in delight as she got off the cot and ran outside.

Her dad was sitting on the couch, sipping his coffee. ‘Here’s my princess,’ he said, placing the coffee mug on the table in front of him.

‘When did you return?’ Sonia asked as she sat on his lap.

He held her tightly in his arms. ‘Early morning.’

‘So did you open your gift?’ he asked.

‘No, but I know what it is,’ said Sonia.

‘Really? Tell me then.’

‘Chocolates, of course,’ said Sonia, giggling.

‘Oh, you know everything, don’t you?’

‘So fishing?’ she asked.

‘You bet. Now go have your bath and breakfast.’

Sonia jumped off his lap and made a dash towards the bathroom. By eight o’clock she was all dolled up in a pair of light blue capris and a white t-shirt.

When Sonia saw her dad still sitting in front of the television, reading newspaper, she tapped her forehead and said, ‘Dad, you are so lazy. Get ready soon.’

‘OK, OK, I’m going. I’ll be ready by the time you finish your breakfast,’ said her father.

Sonia’s mother called her into the kitchen. ‘Have your breakfast.’

After eating a bowl of noodles and drinking a glass of hot chocolate, Sonia ran into her room to get her fishing equipments. She brought them to the drawing hall, arranged them all neatly in a big bag, wore her brown hat and white shoes, and sat on the couch – only to get up a moment later and bounce up and down the hall restively.

Father and daughter were just about to leave home when it started to rain. Sonia’s father had kept his promise, but the nature hadn’t. Sonia looked at her dad. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear,’ he said. Without a word, Sonia dropped her bag and went inside her room.

***

A while later Sonia’s parents entered her room. She was lying the bed, face down. Her mom sat on the cot, patting her back. ‘See what dad’s got you.’

‘I don’t want chocolates,’ said Sonia.

‘It’s not chocolates… Well, what if I said we could fish in the house itself?’ said Sonia’s dad.

‘Where? In the bathtub?’ asked Sonia, not getting up.

Her parents chuckled. ‘No, no. Just get up a while, won’t you?’ said Sonia’s dad.

Sonia didn’t. ‘All right,’ he said and launched an application on his iPad. The more Sonia tried to ignore the more the melodious song attracted her. She slowly turned around and sat up on the bed. Her cheeks had ballooned up with anger. ‘What is it?’ she finally asked.

‘It’s iStoryTree. It tells beautiful stories,’ said her dad.

‘I don’t want to hear any stories,’ she said.

‘Well, let’s see,’ her dad said and played the story. Within a few moments Sonia got immersed in the story of Crab and Crane. The animations, the sound effects, the way the objects came alive upon touching – all fascinated her to no end. She began to enjoy more and more with each passing minute. And when storytelling time was over, her dad asked her: ‘Now, do you want to fish?’

Sonia didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t. She didn’t take her eyes off the iPad either. Without waiting further, her dad tapped on “Games.”  Two options popped up: Catch Them All and Fill Me Up. He chose the first one.

‘Now,’ he said, ‘here’s the thing, Sonia. The fish will come up above the water. You have to catch them before they dive back in. Let’s see how many you can catch in a minute.’

Sonia took the iPad from her dad and looked at him, as if asking, ‘How to do it?’

‘It’s simple,’ he said, hearing her thoughts. ‘All you have to do is tap on them with your finger when they are above water.’

Sonia gave a faint smile and started the game. In the beginning the colorful fish, when flew above the water, only enchanted her. She forgot all about catching them and just looked at the smiling fish. And when the background voice said, ‘You can’t catch us,’ she clapped her hands and laughed.

‘It’s not how you do it,’ said her father.

‘Oh, let her do whatever she wants,’ said her mom, nudging his elbow.

Sonia didn’t hear any of this. She let the fish live for a while. And then she decided to catch them. She got ready with her forefinger, pointing at the screen. As the fish began to fly over the water she started to tap on them. When she missed, she didn’t get disheartened. She kept on as long as the game went on. Her first score was twenty. Once she was done with it, without asking for her father’s help she figured out as to how to restart the game. Nevertheless, her parents were impressed.

She went about the game for the next couple of hours, catching fish and counting them, beating her own score, laughing, giggling, frowning, clapping, talking to herself, talking to fish …

It was noon when she finally decided to rest her fingers. ‘I caught thirty-five fish once, you know,’ she said to her parents.

‘Really? I’m so proud of you,’ said her mom.

‘Enjoyed?’ asked her dad, pinching her cheek.

‘Yes, dad. Very much,’ she said, jumping up and down.

‘All right, now come and eat something,’ called her mom.

‘Later, mom,’ Sonia said and sat on the couch, holding the iPad.

The rain had stopped. ‘Do you want to fish for real now?’ asked Sonia’s dad.

‘Shall we go next week, dad?’ asked Sonia, without looking up. Another game had already begun.

‘Sure, sweetums. Anytime you say,’ said her dad, glad he didn’t have to go out after a tiresome week.

*********