When Dreams Are Cast
By Dave P. Salamone
He watched his first fly
fisherman cast his line high into the air, stared breathlessly as a sparkle
of sun bounced from on its yellow surface.
His heart pounding as the line started its forward
movement and, in one graceful loop, unfolding before his eyes in what to
him seemed a dance on air.
As he watched it gently unroll,
advancing the minute fly toward its destination, the youngster took another
breath as he watched the fly float silently to the surface of the stream.
This, he thought, was one
of the most beautiful sights he has ever witnessed compared to any other
form of fishing.
Now, as the current carried
the line and fly downstream, he felt a void in his excitement.
However, that did not last
very long because, suddenly, without warning, the surface film of the water
exploded into a tremendous upsurge of spray and its droplets tumbled back
to their birthplace.
Then out from that explosion
he saw the head of a trout, and then the rest of its body in an explosion
of colors enhanced by the sunlit stream.
The chest heaved with another deep breath as the
rainbow leaped over the surface and the bright yellow fly line lost its
limpness, tightening and linking the fly fisherman and trout as one.
This, he suddenly realized, was a feeling he desperately
wanted to experience.
Watching as the experienced
angler brought precious prize to net, he saw the gentleness with which
the person handled their catch, and the smile that accompanied the act
of release.
This, he thought to himself,
is what I long to feel, the same excitement as this person in the video,
to smile that same smile.
And as he watched the end of this adventure, he
went back to the blank list he was preparing and at its top wrote the following:
"What I want for Christmas, and nothing more,
is a fly fishing outfit like my dad's. I want to smile as he did in the
video I watched. I want to be able to experience that same feeling, but
not without dad at my side."
~ Dave P. Salamone
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