What a gorgeous summer day it was! We got the 'necessaries' out of the way early in the day and then it began:
"I wanna do something fun! Something outside! Something that's all of us together! I don't wanna be a home!" - Parents, you know the drill.
We finally settled on going fishing out in the estuaries. Sunshine, water, fun and togetherness.
Michael the younger was extremely successful at netting small shrimp for bait and in short order, Michael the elder had caught a nice sized catfish. A baby flounder, two horseshoe crabs and some small bait fish soon inhabited our jar and we had a lot of fun looking at them before returning them to the water.
Suddenly Michael caught his own catfish! Now we were on a roll! My dinner menu was evolving every time a line hit the water!
Little Michael caught two catfish! One-upping his father! That's when it happened...
Michael the elder took the rod from Michael so he could move up the bank. The catfish swung around and the barb on one of the fins stuck deeply into little Michael's back. Now the fish was hanging from my son's back and he was screaming at the top of his lungs...."Mommy! Help me! Mommy!"
Michael told me to get the pliers and he tore the fin off the fish. Now we were left with what to do about the barb still impaled in our son's back. "Mommy! Get me to a hospital! Help me!"
I held Michael's hands and Michael and I looked at each other over his head. "Don't touch it, Daddy!" "I won't Son"...One. Two. Three. Michael had to pull for all he was worth to get that serrated barb out of our boy's back.
While Michael continued to scream, we threw rods, fish, chairs, cooler and camera into the truck. By the time we made it back to the mainland, I had negotiated the trip to the hospital down to an Icee from 7-Eleven.
An hour later, he was telling everyone in the supermarket about his 'near-death' experience.
As it is a very deep puncture, I'm keeping a close eye on it and should there be any indication of infection then he will be headed to the doctor very quickly.
As for that nasty little fish from hell, well...
If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em.
