Duck Lake Through the boughs of the garden

He despaired a little when she told him they would be fishing today. He didn’t know the first thing about it and didn’t have the patience for lessons, including “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Nevertheless, he reluctantly followed her as Amalia waded into the shallows. He didn’t have much choice, did he? As she said, the water was cold. The boy shuddered and clenched his jaw, doing his best to pay attention as she demonstrated and instructed at the same time.

When she quickly caught a fish and tossed it onto the shore, Atreus reacted without thinking. He leaped after it, pinning it to the ground between his forepaws and quickly tearing into it. He ignored it when the pin pones inevitably pricked his gums, gobbling the whole thing, skeleton and all.

Licking his lips, he looked toward Amalia in the hopes she might have caught another.