My Hunter and I out on the lake.
He’s trying to teach me how to fish, patient as he is.
From the shore, the Thing is watching me again.
I’d like to have a good time with my man but it wants to ruin everything.
Everything goes haywire ; my vision goes hazy.
I look at him ; my Hunter smiles at me.
I look back to the shore ; the intruder’s walks into the water.
Straight toward us, disappears into the small waves.
My Hunter steps behind me and places the fishing rod in my hands.
We cast it together; he knows nothing of the threat, and I breathe in his scent.
I’m in danger ; he doesn’t understand ; doesn’t matter ‘cause it’s better this way.
If something bites the hook,
If anything stirs beneath the water,
I know it’s the Thing trying to climb onto the boat.
A fish tugs at the line.
The hook pierces its lip in a rather gruesome way.
The creature screams and yells like a woman being flayed alive.
My man doesn’t even bat an eye ; it’s just my mind unraveling.
My Hunter removes the trout from the hook and places it in my hands.
It’s slimy ; he kisses my cheek, admiring our catch.
The moment I saw the fish, I loved it — it was my very first kill.
I would have liked to put it back in the water and watch its wound heal right away.
But we’ll eat it tonight, with lemon and rice, just like my mother used to prepare swordfish.
And the Thing in the water’s still watching me as I think about the meal.
Now I’m afraid it will flip the boat over.
I don’t know where it is, except that it’s in the depths.
I preferred to see it on the bank, kept at a distance.
My Hunter sees my distress, squeezes my hand ; but his grip is too faint.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go home, okay ?”
He puts the trout in a plastic box and pushes his cap back onto his forehead,
Then starts rowing, letting me curl up near his knees, lets me rest my head on his thigh.
A head in the distance slowly emerges from the water ; it’s a brief nightmare.
It smiles, knowing it has succeeded in scaring me away.
It doesn’t matter, since I’m no longer alone and I can feel hunger stirring.
Only one of us will eat tonight.