johnny
By Marilyn E. Patterson
Sophomore in Liberal Arts
JOHNNY reached tip with one grubby little
fist to push away the sweat that was running
down in his eyes. He brought his hook out of
the water and looked at it again. The worm
threaded on the end of it was a pale sick color,
all washed out from having been trailed
through the clear stream.
"Well, no wonder 1 haven't had a bile!
Johnny said aloud as he pulled at the wet
worm. "I should have put a new one on a long
time ago.”
The dead worm didn't come off easily and
he had to pinch the last piece between his fin
gernails to get it off. He reached up anil
brought a warm, moi-t hall of fresh worms out
of hi- shirt pocket and held them in the palm
uf his hand where they came to life and began
to squirm in a dozen different directions.
A great fat one disentangled itself first and
began to push and pull it- way out of the ma
onto-Johnny's flat palm. He pulled it out and
guiltily stuffed the others back into his pocket
a- he remembered how his mother had bawled
him out when he had put worms in his shirt
pocket once before. Well, he thought a little
angrily, he didn't have time to look for a to
bacco can. if he was to get back in time for
supper, did he
Fic unsqueezed the hand holding the stirky
worm and let it stretch out for a crawl so he
could tell which end the head was on. If you
put them on head first they pulled up and got
all nice and fat. But if you got the other end
they squirted mud and made themselves long
and skinny and then it was hard to put them on.
He picked up the worm between his thumb
and forefinger and stuck the point of the hook
deftly through it. Hi- fingers were too slippery
to push it on the rest >>f the way so he stooped
over to wipe his hum)* in the dry dirt. He
squeezed the rest of the worm on up the hook
and examined it closely. flood. Not a hit of
shiny metal showed. He guessed that was just
about the best hook he'd ever baited. Boy those
fish'd bite now.
Johnny tossed it back in the water and waited
tensely, feeling the current pull the line gently
downstream. He began to relax carefully as the
expected tug on the line failed to come. If he
was a fish, hi thought idly, that worm was ex
actly what he'd want for an afternoon snack.
And if he was a pretty big fish he’d push away
the little ones and take it all for himself.
He stood there for about ten minute*, staring
into the water and trying to imagine the
thought' of the fi'h that must be down under
there 'inelling around hi' hook. He wondered
why they weren't hungry. He wa. plenty hun
gry and he hadn't been swimming around in a
creek all day either.
He finally decided they must have all gone
down to the big hole above the manure dam.
Probably having a meeting of some kind there.
It was a cinch they weren’t uny place else in
the creek. He hated to walk so far; if was al
most a quarter of a mile down to that hide but
he knew they'd all lie there for sure.
So he pulled his hook out and crossed over to
follow down the fence line where he didn’t have
to duck so many brandies. The hook dangling
in front of him snagged on a bush and he pulled
impatiently at it. His legs were tired and lie
wa. beginning to wonder if it was worth walk
ing clear down there, when lie heard the tiny
noises.
He stopped for a minute to sec where they
wrre coming from and then ran over nearer the
11th and Olive
crock. Seven furry brown bull* wore paddling
along behind their mother. IJaby wild duck*!
lie shoved hi* filth pole together and Muck the
hook quickly into the cork handle. If he went
around on the other wide of the w illow, he could
Mieak up und catch one of them.
lie wa* glad hi* old tennis *hA'* didn't make
any noi*c in the soft gra*u. Now if hr f oulil ju*t
slide out on that smooth log. they'd be sure to
come right under and he could just reach over
and pick one up easy a* unything. Ami lie could
have, too, if hi* fool hadn't slipped on u piece
of slick mold on the tree.
All the thicks scattered in different direc
tions. One little fellow was so startled he
climbed out through the mini and into the tall
grass where Johnny easily caught him. He
picked the frightened velvety hall up and held
it gently in his liunds. where lie could feel it
trembling loo hard even to make more id tin;
pathetic little squack noises.
Johnny felt huge and awkward and clumsy
as he stroked the little duck with the hack of
his finger. Like a bully almost as he looked at
the mother duck floundering in the grass near
him. helplessly beating un injured wing on
the ground.
“ Ml right. Old Lady," Johnny said, wise for
his nine years. “You can have your baby back
if you want it." lie stooped over and set the
little duck on top of the glassy water and
watched it paddle back under the willow. ^
The mother was still threshing about in the
grass, trying to make Johnny follow her, but
he knew better. Once, a long time ago, lie had
come upon a hurl duck and had tried to catch it
but every time he'd get close t• * it, it d manage
to fly up a little bit and get farther from him.
lb- followed it for about twenty minutes, he
remembered, before it flew away, making him
feel a little foolish for letting himself be duped
so easily.
Johnny squinted at the >un trying to guc
what time it was. lie ought to be heading hack
pretty soon, lie thought. He d sure come a long
wav down in the field. But he plopped in the
tall gra" to re-t for a bit before lie picked up
his pole and started "fl- It probably wasn t
more than four o'clock.
The tall timothy standing up all around him
gave him a tight secure feeling as lie lay on
his back staring up at the scattered while
clouds splotched on the deep blue sky. lb- was
chewing on a clover stem when he heard a
faint rumbling noise. A train down at Mallei k.
In' thought. On good days the sound carried
easily over the twenty miles, lie stood up to see
if there was any smoke twisting up along the
horuon.
AM) a- Johnny blood then: vulnerable and
weak, his khaki uniform outlined clear!'
agaiii't the grey Korean hill', ijie enemy 'lu ll
pit him. It slashed il' way through hi' mid
section ami pushed him hack into the foxhole.
The stretcher hearers crouched over him there
later.
“Hell. Joe," the older one said. “I don I
know why he stood up. Maybe lie was gonna he
a hero. Maybe he just got seared. I don t know
why lx stood up Wha'je ask me for an’. " T ■