“JARED, YOU HAVE A GUY BEHIND YOU.” I yelled to make sure he could hear me. The ball was slowly making its way down the field towards the corner flag to my right. The player on the other team put his head down and made perfect contact, with the ball swinging it from the corner flag towards the net with only moments to go before the ref blows his whistle to call the game. I had a split second to decide if I was going to go for the ball or wait for the player to head the ball, I waited.  The player Jared was guarding got around him and headed the ball, it was hurling towards the net. I squatted down and loaded my legs like springs to leap for the ball getting my left hand on the ball and caught it in between my hand and the ground, the ball was trapped and didn’t go in. TWEEET, TWEEET, TWET. The ref blew his whistle three times signaling the end of the game as we beat our rival once more only one nil. The players on the field get rushed by the other teammates standing on their toes watching to see if we squeeze out a win or a tie, the home fans were cheering in pride as rival parents put their heads down and made the walk of shame towards their car. After both teams exchange “good games” to each other, my team walks over to the bench as if we won the world cup. Coach was standing in front of the silver bench with a huge smile on his face, his smile covered his whole face. Coach started to talk about how we played bad in the beginning of the game and started to wake up as the game went on. I slowly started to pay less and less attention on coaches speech, and more on tomorrow morning, until everyone started to clap and smile right at me for my award winning save with a few seconds left. I look up and smile back at everyone.
After coach’s talk, I scurry off to get in my car to start the long drive to “Heaven”. “Heaven” was only a two-hour drive from my game. It was a cabin on the lake, with an extraordinary view and fantastic for family bonding. My whole family was already at the cabin waiting for me to arrive. After a LONGGGG drive there, I finally arrived at dusk, just in time for the perfect sunset where the sky was pink and the sun was being engulfed by Lake Huron. The sun only left a small strip of beautiful orange on the lake as you counted down until you couldn’t see the sun anymore and on the other side of the lake the moon started to rise, the moon was as white as snow. My brother and I dug a pit in the cold soft sand for a toasty fire. We made the firewood stack like a game of Jenga putting pieces of daily news in between each level. The fire stayed lit the whole night and was a perfect outdoor oven for marshmallows to be roasted and then smashed in between two crackers and a piece of chocolate to make a midnight sandwich. Listening to the waves hit the shoreline one after another I slowly started to become drowsy. Leaning back in my chair looking up at the millions of stars above my head and started to dream of tomorrow. Waking up early sneaking up to the shed and grabbing the fishing poles for me and my dad to spend time together out on the lake where we would wait until a fish came and nibbled on the bait and could lure him towards the boat and reel the fish in.
Suddenly, a streak of orange beamed into my eyes from the sunrise where the moon came from last night. It was morning, and I was still in my soccer uniform from last night’s game. I snuck past the house and got to my car and changed into my bathing-suit. As I shut the trunk door my dad came out of the house tying his bathing-suit strings tightly to his waist. “You ready?” he asked me.
“Of course, I was ready since day one” I responded with a smirk on my face. We met up at the shed, he was standing in the hallway with both fishing poles in one hand and the tackle box in the other. I grabbed two life jackets and took my blue fishing pole from him and started the walk to the boat. The water was still cold, but it was warming up from the sun’s rays hitting it. I threw my rod into the boat along with two life jackets and slowly started to crank the wheel that lowered the boat hoist so the boat will gracefully touch the water and slowly float away. Small fish swam around my feet getting closer and closer every second to test if I would try to scoop them up in a net and use them for bait. I moved my foot an inch and instantly all the little fish were hidden in the sand. My dad checked everything to make sure we were good, “Village pump, check. Gas, check. Lights, check.”
“COME ON DAD!! The fish don’t just wait for us.”
“You're right, but in fishing patience is the key to success.” The prop fired up as he turned the key to start. He put it into reverse and we were on our way to spend father son time together.
“FISH ON!!” I yelled to my dad only a few feet away. I thought this was the day I caught my first Northern Pike. Excitement rushed through my body as if a marathon was going on. I remembered the basics, raise your rod and get a lot of tension then lower it and reel as much as you can. I repeated this process multiple times and the fish was still battling, but I was gaining ground. You could see the wrinkles in the water from the fish's tail trying to fight for its life. It was all out of energy as I slowly reeled him in with the rest of my energy. I set down the rod as my dad grabbed the net out of the storage spot in the boat and dipped it into the water and scooped up the fish. As he lifted up the net the fish jumped and squirmed around as his last fight, at the last second, the fish jumped out and snapped the fishing line from the weight going back into the water to never to be seen again.
When my dad and I walked back up the beach laughing about the incident that happened half an hour ago, by that time everyone was up and getting ready to tackle the day. Everyone was curious about the trip, so they all gathered around me as I slowly started to explain from the beginning. At the end they all laughed, and the family has still not forgotten that moment, we all look back as a family and laugh about it. It’s a story that will be remembered as a family, whenever we need a smile we will reflect on this moment and laugh. The fishing trip that we went on taught me that you have to be patient; you can’t always get what you want right away. Whenever I get upset from not succeeding the first time I think of this story and remember I will get it next time.