The Peaceful Heart

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“We’ll try that again,” James said to his young partners. “And we’ll try it again.”

James and John, both in their early twenties, stood in the tall grasses in the shade of an oak tree. The sun was bright, and the heat of summer had returned. The brothers had been casting the nets for fish for more than an hour, and neither had caught a thing. The fish were hiding in the murky water.

“I don’t know what else to do,” John said. “I think we should go home.”

“We’ve only been out here a couple of days,” James said. “We’ll give it another day. We’ve got to make some money — just once.”

“You think you can do it?” John asked James. “I think you’re going to fail.”

“I don’t know,” James said. “I’m trying my best. But sometimes I feel like I’m wasting my time.”

The brothers had been casting their nets for nearly a week, and neither had caught a thing. Not a single fish in all that time. The brothers had thrown nets and cast lines for hours and hours, and neither had caught a single fish. They were both beginning to feel depressed about it, and James’ words did little to ease their concerns.

“You’ve only been out here a few days,” John said. “Maybe we’re not going to catch any fish at all.”

“I think we should go home,” James said again. “It’s not worth it.”

“It’s worth it to me,” John said. “I’m not going to fail out here. I’m not going to let you or anyone else make me feel like I’m a failure.”

“If you’re not going to give up,” James said, “then I’m not going to give up either.”

“Yes, you are,” John said. “I know you well enough to know you’re not going to give up. We’re both going to fail out here.”

James turned away from his brother and stared at the water. He thought of his family — his wife, his children, his relatives, his friends — and he thought about how they would feel if he failed at this task. He pictured everyone’s disappointment and confusion as they listened to his story about his failed fishing trip.

He pictured being laughed at, being mocked, being pointed at. He thought of the contempt he would feel hearing his wife accuse him of failure and disappointment, and the shame he would feel hearing his children laugh at him or whisper behind his back about how he had failed at something. Most of all, James felt helpless as he thought about how he would feel if he failed out here.

When James turned around, John was watching him closely, waiting for his reaction. No doubt John was thinking the same thing as James: he wanted to prove everyone wrong and make them proud of him.

“We’ll be right back,” James said to John. He stood up from his spot in the grass and walked toward their gear. He walked past the canvas bags that held their fishing gear and reached for a bucket that held their bait. By the time he reached the bucket, John was right behind him.

“You’re not going to give up,” John said, right before James picked up the bucket and headed toward the water.

James thought about telling his brother he was wrong, but John was right. He was not going to give up, even if it seemed like he was going to fail again and again.

The brothers moved their gear and cast their nets in the murky water for several more hours before they took notice of a pair of men watching them from the bank. The men were older than James and John but still younger than their father who owned the fishing shack on the riverbank where they worked so hard at their fishing tasks each day.

The men moved closer to James and John as they cast their nets again and again without a single catch. They were watching with keen interest as James continued to cast his nets without even a fish jumping out of the water to bite at his bait. They seemed amused at how long it was taking for James to catch a fish as if they expected him to throw down his equipment and walk away from fishing forever.

James raised his head from casting his net for the hundredth time and looked at the men on the bank who were watching him with amused expressions on their faces. He couldn’t believe they were wasting time watching him when they could have easily caught a fish themselves if they had just tried just a bit harder.

First James’ father, now these two men who had nothing better to do but watch him work? It was infuriating!

James turned away from them and continued casting his net for another hour before he heard a splash in the water near where he stood with his brother’s net in hand. James’ eyes widened with surprise when he saw a fish jump out of the water and grab at the bait on his brother’s hook before disappearing back into the murky water once more.

James pulled in his net and tossed it aside as he watched the fish swim away with his brother’s bait dangling from its mouth. Suddenly James felt like laughing out loud as he watched the fish swim away with the bait in its mouth instead of biting at it like any other fish would have done. He could not believe that after all that work and disappointment, his brother had finally caught a fish!

John watched as his brother bent down, grabbed their gear, and walked toward them with a broad grin on his face. “You caught a fish!” John said.

“Yes,” James said. “I did.”

“The fish jumped out of the water and grabbed your bait!” John exclaimed.

“That’s exactly what happened!” James said. “I can’t believe it.”

John was watching as James made another cast in the water while James laughed loudly with joy over his brother’s success. Then John decided to try fishing himself.

He fished for another hour before he felt a tug on his line but instead of pulling back on the line like he normally would have done if it were a fish trying to bite at his hook, John simply held on to it, thinking it was a bird that wanted to eat one of his bait pieces.

James laughed again when John finally realized what had happened and pulled back on the line to see if he had caught anything else.

John was startled when something grabbed onto his line and tried to pull it from his hand. He finally realized what he had caught on his hook was a fish and he let out a yell of surprise before starting to reel in his catch.

Both brothers laughed at how surprised John was as he tried to pull in the fish that had grabbed onto his hook without biting down on it like any other fish would have done.

“I’ll get this one,” James said when John finally managed to pull in his catch. He held up his brother’s fish for everyone in the shack to see as they watched with smiles on their faces, including their father who came running out of their shack when he heard John’s yell of surprise from where he stood in front of their shack with their father’s knife in hand.

“What did you catch?” their father asked, looking at the two huge fish hanging from his son’s line, one after another, each bigger than the last one.

“We caught three!” James said when their father finally reached them with an excited look on his face. “And we caught them all on our own.”

“Three big ones! Here!” Their father laughed as he held up a fish for everyone to see before turning to John and pulling off its head so he could prepare it for cooking that night.

James watched as their father cleaned each fish before placing it on a spit over the flames of their fire pit outside so they could cook it for dinner later that night. James could not believe how good it smelled when their father finally turned the spit over to cook their catch for dinner that night.

He had never tasted fish like this in all of his life! Having hardly ever eaten any fish while growing up, he had forgotten how delicious it could be when prepared properly by someone who knew how to cook it just right.

James was watching all of this happen in front of him as he leaned against the side of the shack with his fishing gear beside him when suddenly he noticed someone watching him from the shadows of the trees by the riverbank and thought she must be a stranger who didn’t know where they lived or where they were going. He was about to turn away from her when she spoke softly into his ear, “I’ve been watching you work.”

“What are you doing here?” James asked. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“I’m not here,” she said, “but I can help you.”

James felt his heart race when she whispered those words into his ear before she disappeared into the shadows of the trees. He looked up at John who was watching him with a puzzled look on his face while James wondered if he should tell him about what had happened. Then John saw what was written on her bandana and was shocked to hear her say, “I’ve been watching you work.”

John could hardly believe what he was hearing as he looked up at James with a confused look on his face. “What do you mean?”

“She was watching us from the shadows of the trees,” James said, trying to explain what had happened when suddenly a hand grabbed his arm from behind and startled them both at the same time.

John turned around to see who had grabbed him and then wondered why he had not heard anyone come up behind him like they were supposed to do if someone was coming up from behind them or approaching them from the front to attack them. He also wondered why there wasn’t any smoke coming from their campfire because someone was supposed to be watching over them while they slept.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” a harsh voice whispered in his ear, startling him again as he turned around and stared into the face of a woman wearing a bandana over her face so only her eyes were visible. James had never seen anyone dressed like this before in all of his life!

“Who are you?” John asked, staring into her eyes with an angry look on his face as he pulled away from her hand that was still firmly gripping his arm.

“I’m here because I need your help,” she said before turning to walk away with two other women following behind her who looked like they might have been sisters.

“I’m going fishing tomorrow,” James said as soon as they were out of hearing distance so no one would hear what she had just told them. “Are you coming with me?”

He knew she would not have told them about their fishing trip if she didn’t need them or wanted them to know about it before they went there tomorrow and caught their own fish for dinner that night. James wanted to know what she wanted or needed so badly that she had to come up here and tell them about their fishing trip before they even left their camp that morning.

And he also wanted to know how she knew they were going there.

He turned to John before letting go of her hand, “John, she said you’re not supposed to be here.” He turned back to ask, “Do either one of you know who she is?”

“I don’t know anyone who would be wearing a bandana over her face,” John said as he pulled his arm away from her grasp and stared in front of him at the trees where she had just stepped out from. “I’ve never seen anyone wear one of those before.”

“Neither have I,” James said, “but she was watching us from the shadows of the trees and followed us here.”

“Maybe she’s an Indian,” John said, trying to make sense of what had happened that day. “Maybe we should take her along with us tomorrow and ask her who she is.”

“She might be an Indian,” James agreed as he looked back at the darkness of the trees where she had disappeared into before adding, “but I don’t think so.”

***

When they awoke in the morning James felt like it was Christmas day, since he had never been fishing before in his life he was anxious to try it for the first time. They were just about to leave their camp when John stopped them both when he asked, “Where did she go? I don’t see her.”

James looked around, wondering where John was talking about when suddenly he remembered the woman who had been watching them through the shadows of the trees. He remembered that she had told them both that her name was Annabelle and that they were not supposed to be there.

He wondered if she had told anyone else what they had told her. He also wondered if she had told any other people who might have come up to their camp to see if they knew where they were going or where they would be fishing tomorrow.

James stepped out from behind the tree where he had been hiding when he heard John ask if Annabelle had gone somewhere when he heard another voice answer him. Annabelle! He quickly stepped out from behind the tree and found Annabelle standing there with two other women by her side and all of them were staring at him with confused looks on their faces as if they were surprised to see him there.

“James!” Annabelle called out and then noticed that James was standing in front of her with a frown on his face. Annabelle stood there staring at James for some time before turning back to John and asking, “Who are they?”

“They’re my friends,” John said, trying to explain what they were all doing here before turning back to Annabelle and asking, “Why did you tell us we weren’t supposed to be here? What are you doing here?”

Annabelle took a deep breath before answering John, “They’re your friends? I hoped you would be my friends.” She looked back at James who was still standing there looking at her as if he wanted to say something but could not find the words to say anything. Finally, James turned back to John to ask his question. “Who are you?”

“I’m John,” John said, “and I’m your friend because you’re my friend.” He turned back to Annabelle, “We’re going fishing tomorrow.”

The other two women looked at Annabelle as if she was crazy when she told them, “You must be very confused right now.” She stared at them with a little smile on her face as if she knew what they were all thinking. “John is my friend,” Annabelle said again before turning back to James and asking, “Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset,” James said, “but John is mad because you have just told him that we must not be here because we’re not supposed to be here.”

“Why is he mad?” Annabelle asked as she looked between John and James trying to figure out what was going on.

“He believes you have come up here to tell him what we’re doing up here,” James said as he tried to explain why his friend was so mad.

“No,” Annabelle said, shaking her head, “he believes I’m an Indian.” She turned and looked at her companions, “They believe I’m an Indian.” She laughed at the look on their faces when she finished saying that.

“That’s why I came here this morning to warn them about you.” She turned back to James and said, “I’m sorry.” She looked up at the sky and added, “I’m sorry for hitting you with my stick.”

“That’s okay,” James said, blinking in surprise at how strange the night had been that evening when he suddenly remembered that he had hit her with his gun when she first attacked him.

“It’s not okay,” Annabelle said with a frown on her face as she looked down at his hand. “You should have told me that you would shoot me instead of hitting me with your gun.” She looked back up at him and added, “You could have saved me from getting shot too if you had only warned me about it.” Her eyes widened as if she were surprised by what she had just said and added, “I’m sorry.”

“No,” James said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t your fault. I shot you and I’m sorry about that too.”

“You’re not sorry,” Annabelle said with a little laugh as she looked down at his hand and asked, “Are you hurt?”

“No,” James said as he pulled his hand away from her and looked back up at the sky wondering how much time had passed since he had last looked at the sun. It suddenly occurred to him that if he was going to fish tomorrow it would be a good idea to fish today.

Annabelle looked up at him as if she were wondering what he was thinking about when suddenly John shouted out, “He’s hurt!”

James spun around and his eyes widened when he saw John pointing his rifle at Annabelle’s companions and asked, “What are you doing?”

John fired a shot from his gun when Annabelle didn’t move fast enough for him to get the gun away from her before she could get it away from him before she fired it. The bullet hit the woman closest to her in the leg, causing her to cry out in pain as Annabelle looked back at John with a frown on her face without saying a word.

In an instant, Annabelle turned back to her companion and aimed the gun at her chest. John fired another shot and the woman stumbled away from Annabelle so quickly that she stumbled over the log in front of her and fell down before getting to her feet again.

The woman limped back toward Annabelle with her eyes fixed on the gun in Annabelle’s hand while John fired another shot and hit the woman in the leg again. The woman screamed out in pain as Annabelle looked down at her gun in disgust and then shook her head as she ordered James to fire his gun. “Kill them,” Annabelle said over her shoulder before turning back to James.

“You can’t kill them!” James shouted back at her as he moved toward her, “They’re innocent!” He grabbed his gun but stopped short of pulling it out of its holster when he saw how upset Annabelle was. He opened the chamber of his gun and pulled out the bullet without using his finger in an effort to calm himself down so that he could shoot them cleanly without hurting them.

Annabelle grabbed the gun from James’ hand and pointed it at John and shouted, “Kill them!”

“Annabelle,” John shouted as he fired another shot from his gun when Annabelle didn’t move quickly enough for him to get it away from her before she fired it. The bullet hit the woman in the leg again, forcing her to cry out in pain once more before seeing how upset Annabelle was over what John was doing.

The woman limped back toward Annabelle with her eyes fixed on the gun in Annabelle’s hand while John fired another shot and hit the woman in the shoulder. The woman screamed out in pain as she stumbled away from Annabelle so quickly that she stumbled over the log in front of her and fell down before getting to her feet again.

Annabelle grabbed her gun from John’s hand and pointed it at him with a glare on her face, ordering him to fire his gun when he tried to stop her from shooting one of the women.

“No!” John shouted as he shook his head and backed away from her while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. He picked up a rock and threw it at Annabelle but the rock almost hit James as it landed on the ground next to him.

“Stop!” Annabelle shouted as she pointed the gun at John, “Don’t kill them!” She shook her head and muttered, “I’m so sorry.” Annabelle hesitated and then said, “I should have let them go right after I shot you.” She shook her head as if she were trying to clear it of an unwanted thought and added, “I should have let them go before I let you shoot me too.”

James saw how upset Annabelle was over what John was doing and tried to calm her down but she just ignored him as she aimed the gun at John and ordered him to fire his gun when he tried to stop her from killing them.

He opened the chamber of his gun and pulled out the bullet without using his finger in an effort to calm himself down so that he could shoot them cleanly without hurting them. “Please stop,” James pleaded with her.

Annabelle looked up at James with sorrowful eyes as she shook her head as if she were trying to clear it of an unwanted thought before adding, “I should have let them go right after I shot you.” She hesitated and then said, “I should have let them go before I let you shoot me too.”

James saw how upset Annabelle was over what John was doing so he moved toward Annabelle, picked up his gun from where it had fallen on the ground next to him, and pointed it at John while shouting, “You’re going to kill someone if you don’t stop!”

“Annabelle,” John shouted as he shook his head and backed away from her while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. He picked up a rock and threw it at Annabelle but the rock almost hit James as it landed on the ground next to him.

“Stop!” Annabelle shouted as she aimed the gun at John while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. John threw another rock at Annabelle but missed and hit James instead.

“Stop!” Annabelle shouted as she aimed the gun at John while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. The woman limped up to Annabelle with a rock in her hand and limped toward Annabelle while shouting for Annabelle to stop killing John when Annabelle pointed the gun at John with a glare on her face.

The woman limped closer to Annabelle until she was standing right next to Annabelle’s feet.

“Stop!” Annabelle shouted as she shook her head and told him to fire his gun when he tried to stop her from killing them. John picked up a rock and threw it at Annabelle but the rock almost hit James as it landed on the ground next to him.

“Stop!” Annabelle shouted again as she aimed the gun at John while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. The woman limped up to Annabelle with a rock in her hand and limped toward Annabelle while shouting for Annabelle to stop killing John when Annabelle pointed the gun at John with a glare on her face.

“What are you doing?” James demanded as he stepped toward the woman with his gun pointed at John. He had never missed a shot before; his aim was so perfect it was almost eerie. But now he wasn’t sure if he could pull off a clean shot without hurting one of them. And now that he was so close to Annabelle, he didn’t think he could pull off a shot without hitting her in addition to John.

The woman limped closer to Annabelle until she was standing right next to Annabelle’s feet.

“Stop!” Annabelle shouted as she shook her head and told him to fire his gun when he tried to stop her from killing them. The woman limped closer to Annabelle with a rock in her hand and limped toward Annabelle while shouting for Annabelle to stop killing John when Annabelle pointed the gun at John with a glare on her face.

“Annabelle, please,” James pleaded with her, “Don’t kill them.” He wrapped his hand around the grip of his gun and pulled it out of its holster; he knew he had to do something quickly before she pulled the trigger or she would kill one or both of them.

“Please don’t kill them!” He pleaded again with her but she just ignored him and continued to stare down at John as he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them.

“Annabelle,” James shouted as he stepped toward the woman with his gun pointed at John while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. “Please,” James pleaded again with her but she just ignored him and continued to stare down at John as he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them.

“Annabelle, please,” James shouted as he stepped toward the woman with his gun pointed at John while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. The woman limped closer to Annabelle with a rock in her hand and limped toward Annabelle while shouting for Annabelle to stop killing John when Annabelle pointed the gun at John with a glare on her face.

Annabelle’s eyes widened when James snarled, “If you don’t stop killing people, I’m going to shoot you!” She was surprised by James’ words and his tone of voice so she stopped looking down at John and turned around to face James, who was pointing his gun at the woman with an angry look on his face.

“Annabelle,” James shouted again as he stepped toward the woman with his gun pointed at John while he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. The woman limped closer to Annabelle with a rock in her hand and limped toward Annabelle while shouting for Annabelle to stop killing John when Annabelle pointed the gun at John with a glare on her face.

He wrapped his hand around the grip of his gun and pulled it out of its holster; he knew he had to do something quickly before she pulled the trigger or she would kill one or both of them. But now that he was so close to Annabelle, he didn’t think he could pull off a shot without hurting one of them.

And now that he was so close to Annabelle, he didn’t think he could pull off a shot without hitting her in addition to John.

The woman limped closer to Annabelle until she was standing right next to Annabelle’s feet.

“Annabelle, please,” James pleaded again with her but she just ignored him and continued to stare down at John as he searched for something that would help him stop her from killing them. “Please don’t kill them!” He wrapped his hand around the grip of his gun and pulled it out of its holster; he knew he had to do something quickly before she pulled the trigger or she would kill one or both of them. “Please don’t kill them!” He wrapped his hand around the grip of his gun and pulled it out of its holster; he knew he had to do something quickly before she pulled the trigger or she would kill one or both of them.

The End

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