Alligator Tree Press

by Lisa B. Wilkinson
Copyright ©1999, 2007 by Lisa B. Wilkinson

The screen door slammed behind Jamie as she stomped into the kitchen. "I'm not too little. Am I, Mom?"

Mom shook out a towel and folded it neatly. "No, Jamie. You're not too little. Who said you were?"

"Tina. She won't let me play basketball."

"Tina and her friends play pretty rough."

"But you said I'm not too little."

"For some things."

"Then, may I go to the park by myself?" Jamie asked.

Mom stopped folding and frowned at her.

"You let me go to Kate's house by myself," Jamie said.

"But she lives right around the corner."

"The park is only one more corner and you can call Mr. Jackson at the concession stand to make sure I got there okay."

Mom sat down to consider. "I guess you are getting a little bigger. As soon as you get to the park, tell Mr. Jackson to call me."

"Thanks, Mom," Jamie yelled as she ran out the door.

When she arrived at the park, she skipped to the concession stand. Mr. Jackson was renting a fishing rod to a man in a red shirt. When the man walked away, Jamie said hello to Mr. Jackson and asked him to call her Mom. Then she followed the man in the red shirt to the duck pond.

She watched him cast. In a few minutes, the man reeled in a fish.

That's what I want to do, Jamie thought.

She went back to Mr. Jackson's stand. "I want to fish."

"You're too little," Mr. Jackson said.

"Tina says I'm too little. My mom says I'm too little. You say I'm too little. I'm not too little."

Mr. Jackson grinned. "Maybe you're not." He reached beneath the counter. "This is an old rod and reel I don't use anymore. If you promise to take care of it, I'll let you keep it."

"Really?" Jamie said. "Wow! Thanks, Mr. Jackson."

Jamie ran back to the duck pond and sat on the bank. She watched the man in the red shirt reeling in another fish.

Jamie studied her rod and reel. Fishing line wound around and around on the reel. It wound off the reel and up the rod. At the end of the rod, the line went straight down toward the ground. Tied to the end was a shiny silver lure.

Jamie watched the man raise his rod. She watched him reach behind then whip the rod forward. The fishing line flew out over the water. The lure plopped in the water with a splash.

That isn't hard, Jamie thought. She held her rod in her hand and whipped the end toward the water just as the man in the red shirt had done. But the line didn't fly out over the pond. The lure didn't plop in the water. It just dangled at the end of the line.

She tried again and again. The reel didn't seem to want to work. She turned the crank on the reel. The line went all the way up until the lure was touching the top of the fishing rod. Now Jamie couldn't get the line to go up or down.

She pressed a metal bar on the reel. The lure dropped to the ground. Jamie smiled. She reeled the line in and pressed the bar again. The lure dropped again. She reeled it back up, then raised her arm and whipped the top of the rod behind her. The line went ziiiiing.

"Hey! Watch it," someone yelled. Jamie looked over her shoulder. A boy on a bicycle was unhooking the lure from his cap.

"Sorry," she called. She reeled the lure back in then tried to cast again. This time she caught a tree. She tried again and caught a light pole. She tried again and again. But no matter how hard Jamie tried, she could not cast into the pond.

Jamie tried one more time. This time the reel would not wind up. Oh, no! The fishing line was a tangled mess. "I give up," she said.

She plodded home carrying her tangled fishing rod and reel.

Her mom was watering the flowers. "Where did you get that?" Mom asked.

Jamie told her about Mr. Jackson's gift. She told her about the man in the red shirt and about trying to cast. "I guess I am too little," Jamie said.

"You're not too little to go to Kate's house by yourself," Mom said. "You're not too little to go to the park by yourself."

Jamie carried her fishing pole to the porch. Tina and her friends were still playing basketball. Jamie sat on the steps and put her chin in her hands. She looked at her fishing rod and thought about the man in the red shirt. She thought about all the fish in the pond. She thought about her promise to Mr. Jackson.

Jamie picked up her rod and reel and began untangling the line. While she worked, she watched Tina. Tina bounced the ball and threw it high in the air. The ball hit the backboard and bounced off. Tina caught the ball again. She bounced it then threw it in the air. It hit the rim and bounced off. Tina caught the basketball again and threw it high in the air. The ball went up, up, up and down—right through the basket.

Jamie got an idea. She finished untangling the fishing line then went in the storage shed and found a big, empty paint bucket.

Jamie put the bucket in the middle of the yard. She picked up her rod and looked around. There were no boys on bicycles. There were no trees. There were no lampposts.

Jamie cast toward the bucket. She missed. She tried again and missed again, but she was closer. Jamie cast again and again. She missed again and again. But she didn't stop. Soon she was casting closer and closer to the paint bucket.

Jamie lifted the rod, whipped it behind her and aimed at the bucket. SWOOSH. CLUNK. The silver fishing lure dropped in the paint bucket. "Yes!" Jamie said.

She ran to Mom. "May I go back to the park?" Jamie asked.

"I thought you were too little to fish."

"Not anymore."

"Tell Mr. Jackson to call me when you get there," Mom called as Jamie ran down the sidewalk.

Jamie ran to Mr. Jackson. "I'm taking care of your fishing rod, Mr. Jackson. Call my mom, please."

She ran past the tree and past the lamppost then sat on the bank where the man in the red shirt had been fishing.

Jamie lifted the rod and whipped it behind her head. She cast the line up, up, up and over the water. The bright, silver lure landed with a splash right in the middle of the pond.

Jamie fished and fished and fished.

The sun had moved from the top of the sky to just above the trees when Mr. Jackson called to her. "Jamie. Your mother phoned. You need to go home now. Take good care of my rod and reel."

"I will, Mr. Jackson," she said.

Jamie ran all the way home carrying her rod and reel... and three shiny fish.