This story started out as a bedtime story told by walkingeagle to me. The original idea comes from walkingeagle, and as per his suggestion I added a little here and there to round it out and submit it. We both hope that you will enjoy The Mermaid and the Fisherman -- A love story.
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The fisherman sat in his boat in the middle of the lake. It was a Saturday morning, very early on a Saturday morning in fact, as the fisherman was an early riser. The early bird catches the worm, as they say, and the first fisherman on the lake catches the biggest fish.
He loved this time of the day. So quiet, no other fishermen, nobody walking their dog, no traffic noise from the road. Even the animals seemed to still be asleep! The fisherman had been looking forward to this all week. He didn't need to set an alarm clock, his body knew when it was time to wake up, and he almost leapt out of bed just before the sun came up. He brewed a pot of coffee which he poured into a thermos to take along, threw on some old jeans and his favorite flannel shirt, put on his boots, started up his truck and drove down to the lake.
Now, in his boat, his thermos beside him, surrounded by quiet, he thought about how really good life was. He did some of his best thinking out here. Sometimes he would simply sit there and let his mind wander not thinking of anything in particular. That's what he was doing on this particular Saturday. He just sat there, one person alone on this big lake, relaxed, inhaling the clear air, exhaling with a contented sigh, and waiting for the fish to bite.
As he sat there absent mindedly watching his bobber he suddenly thought he caught a glimpse of something unusual. Startled, he straightened up and blinked, doing a double take and trying to focus on what was happening. There was something swimming very fast and very close to the surface of the lake. What the heck was it, though? Some kind of fish, surely, but the shape wasn't quite right and anyway, it looked like it had hair.