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Fisherman's Folly

based on a dream and a song North Atlantic Oscilation - soft coda

This story will be very long, you have been warned! haha also there is some looooove makin' but that's later on in the story, probably chapter 3 or so.

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The day started off like any other, I'd woke up early to go fishing. I quickly put my clothes on and sauntered out the door. In my usual morning haze i waltzed down to the shore where my boat was locked up. Seagull cries rang out in the sky as waves broke across the shoreline. Already the sun was glittering, diamond like across the water. It was a clear blue sky kind of day, the type that are perfect for fishing. I began to drag my boat out to the water's edge.

Today's catch was going swimmingly as catching fish could go. It was if they were drawn to my nets. One net in particular felt heavier than usual. As I heaved it aboard a glimmer caught my eye; I reached down to pluck if from the net full of fish. What a curious catch, the ring had an unusual weight to it. It was made of gold, probably solid and had beautiful teal encrusted stones along the side. Being a small town fishman, it was more exquiste than anything I'd had the pleasure of touching in my 19 years.

I was so enthralled with the ring I didn't even notice the black cloud cutting out the light from the sky. It was the lighting that shook my from my trance, violently crackling across the sky; It seemed as though it was right above my head. The thunder followed immediately after, the thunderous roar so loud you wished you were deaf. The wind whipped around me nearly knocking me over. Huge waves rose up towering above my puny little craft, drawfing me in comparison. All I could do was stand there and watch it tower over me, thinking "oh... shit so this is how I die.." Continually they broke atop my boat filling it with more water faster than I could bale it out. The water stole away my precious new found treasure just as it had came; back into the sea it went. And just like that the skies cleared. My mind was in disarray trying to make sense of this madness I had just been witness too. My head wasnt the only thing in disarray, not by far; My boat was a complete mess, a few of my nets were missing and my extra few canisters as well as most of the fish I had caught were gone. The few that were left were actually SWIMMING in the bottom of my boat! I groaned in frustration, why me? why today?

"god damn-it!!!'' I yelled out to nobody in particular

After venting some of my built up anger I attempted to put my head straight. First things first, where was I? I looked out over the coastline ; I didn't recognize it at all, it was utterly alien to any I knew which was very worrying for someone their whole life at sea. Where had that freak storm carried me? I decided to fire up the small outboard motor and make some ground.. er water. Perhaps then I could spy a landmark I recognized.

As I rounded the corner of an inlet I saw a town! it was none I had ever seen but then again, there were many I'd never seen. I didn't care though at this point any sight of civilization was a welcome one. Maybe I could end this strange day on a high note after all! The town was set in between high mountains on all sides and had a concrete port along the whole seaside in front of the town. There was a flurry of small boats in the cove and a large tug boat tied along one side of the port; It looked as though it had not moved in some time, I could see the rust down its side from this far out even. None of the buildings of the town looked new, but it have a homely atmosphere; as I got closer I could see people walking along the board walks and swimming in the water.

Just to see people again after that storm brought a smile to my face, surely I thought this day would be my last. The sea can be like that sometimes, it's the great giver of life but just as easily it can take it away.

My happiness was short lived though, something was wrong; even at a distance I could tell these people looked.... different. I strained my eyes to see, they had something dragging behind them.. did they have tails? were they even people at all? By this time a few had noticed me and were pointing out towards me. A crowd of them was gathering at the boat landing area and even still a few were swimming out towards me. I nearly lost my courage then, I considered just turning around and leaving not that I'd get very far on my nearly empty tank of gas.

My stomach was full of butterflies as they swam up along side my boat. They appeared to be giant otters, about the same size as a person though with the obvious addition of a tail and a slightly more elongated torso plus sleek brown fur covering everywhere. One broke the water to look at me, looking as perplexed as an otter can possibly look.

"hi?" I said, hoping that they would at least be able to speak.

"hi!" it said cheerily, green eyes looking at me curiously

"what are you?" it asked. At least I knew they were very blunt. The other otter broke the surface to stare at me as well.

"I'm a human, although I suppose I should be asking you the same question.. What are you?"

"what does it look like, we're otters duh!" he said matter of factly. Before I could say anything else he continued.

"My name's Kaeori, and this is pete" he said patting the brown eyed otter on the head comically. Pete just continued to stare. "I must look as strange to them as they do to me" I thought

"My name is luke" I replied

"Cool" Kaeori said simply. After an akward silence the green eyed otter piped up again. "c'mon we'll bring you back to shore to meet the others" he said. and with that they dove back under the water dragging my boat behind them.

I still felt unsure of my current predicament but what other choice did I have? I was nearly out of fuel and had absolutely NO idea where I was; This was frustrating! This was the kind of thing that happened to newbie fishermen not seasoned veterans like myself! I sighed and swallowed my frustrations. There was still hope someone in this town could help me, they had been nice to me so far.

When we got to shore Pete and Kaeori dragged my boat onto the concrete shore. there it looked as though the whole town was gathered. None of them were really wearing that many clothes but i guess the fur more than made up for that. There was fur of many browns and greys and one otter had almost completely black fur which seemed highly unusual compared to the other colours. Unfortunately the rest of town didnt look as happy to see a stranger as kaeori did. Once my boat was pulled to shore pete scampered over to the rest of the crowd but Kaeori stayed just a little distance from me. They were all staring, immediately I felt self concious. I looked to Kaeori but he just shrugged.

"hi everyone.. my name is luke, I got washed off course earlier by a huge storm.. I.. could anyone lend me a place to stay until I find my way back?"

Murmuring went through the crowd before someone asked "what are you?"

"Im a human" I said, getting a little tired of that question already.

"hew-man" a few attempted to pronounce, but nothing more.

All I was getting were stares, and with them my hope was rapidly diminishing. that was until Kaeori piped up

"Isn't anyone going to say anything? or help him?" he half yelled

I felt relieved i had at least one friend in this town. "c'mon luke, i'll help you, lets go somewhere else" he said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me away from the crowd. His hand felt so soft.. all that fur.

***

After the akward meeting with the town people Kaeori toured me around the rest of the town. Most of the building's signs were faded and many of the doors on the buildings doors had been taken off, instead replaced with blankets. After the tour we went to go sit one of the natural beaches and relax. The sun was just starting to set and the sky was starting to become sunstained, hues of orange and pink spilling across the sky.

"and that's where I live" he said, pointing to a very victorian looking house on waterfront street. Kaeori's house was a big two story victorian looking thing with a large deck across the front and a coupola on both stories on the right. The whole house was painted in a variety of blues and greens, giving the whole house a friendly feel even if it was a little worse for wear.

I smiled politely "it's a very nice town but.. I havn't eaten since breakfast, you have anything to eat at your house?" He grinning widely then without a word got up and sprang into the ocean. I was dumbfounded. What was I supposed to do? So i chose to just wait. Not even a minute later he surfaced with two large fish in his mouth, an apt fisherman indeed!

Kaeori waded out of the ocean, fish in mouth, water dripping of of his sleek coat of fur and as much as it embarrasses me to admit it he was actually really hot. I guess I just hadn't noticed how attractive he was before

"Care for a fish?" he asked

"love one" I replied. by this point I was starving, hell I would've eaten anything he gave me.

"C'mon, we'll go back to my place and cook em up" he said and began to lead the way with me trailing behind.

****

Kaeori had a frying pan out and what looked to be butter and some spices and herbs I didn't recognize. I had offered to help but he refused, insisting he do it, ( I think he was a better cook anyway) The smells wafting up from the frying pan were driving me mad, it smelled delicious and seemed to take an eternity before it was ready but I had a feeling it was going to be worth the wait. I set the table, it was the least I could do seeing as he had caught and cooked the fish; Mine had washed overboard during the big storm. I frowned remembering the size of the waves.

"Everything alright?" he asked carrying over the food, obviously having seen my grimace.

"yes fine, just thinking about how close I came to dying, that storm came out of nowhere" I replied, looking at those honest green eyes of his.

"Im glad you didn't, besides you're here now" he replied with a small smile "anyway, let's eat!" I agreed and so did my stomach. The fish was absolutely delicious, like none I had ever had before which is a huge compliment coming from someone who's career is fish and fishing!

"Wow Kaeori this is delicious, without a doubt the best fish I've ever had!" I exclaimed

He beamed and made a sound of contentment that I cant exactly explain

"Ah it's nothing" he shrugged "just a recipe with a few secret spices passed down from generation to generation" he said then seemed to get quiet.

Now it was my turn to be nice "hey, kaeori, what's wrong?"

"It's...nothing.. its just that.. my parents disappeared during a big storm a few years back, no one knows what happened to them but we never did find them" Kaeori said, sadness creeping into his voice. By the time he had finished talking his tail was hanging limply on the ground.

Hearing this made me very sad for him, now I felt as though I wanted to protect him, keep him safe from the sadness on which he must be barely floating above. I had only just met this man but already I could feel myself starting to care for him more than people I had known my entire life; I had always lead a pretty detached life and something was telling me this was my opportunity to change that. I got up from the table and gave him a big hug and just helf him, that furry body so undeniably not human yet more human than many I'd known. Here was this man who was just earlier today a stranger and had out of the goodness of his heart befriended me. I felt now it was my duty to help him back.

I continued to hold him until he pulled away

"You feelin better now?" I asked

The green eyed otter smiled sheepishly "Yes, sorry I usually don't have emotional breaks in front of people i've just met I swear" he chuckled

"Ah don't sweat it, everyone has their moments" I replied hoping to lessen the embarassment. Kaeori smiled again less sheepishly this time, those green eyes watching me intently.

****

After dinner I helped Kaeori clean the dishes and we talked about life

"So you never wondered what else is out there?" I questioned

"Yea of course, who hasn't? But we dont really have a way of leaving, and besides everyone is quite comfortable living here no one really wants to leave". Kaeori replied

I thought about this for a second then replied "Well what about that big tug boat?"

"Oh that old thing? I doubt it would run anymore and even so, we have no fuel for it; our ancestors used it to come here and build this town. No one since then has ever really left" he smirked at me.

"But hey, tell me about where you come from, I'm very interested" Kaeori asked

"Well I live off the coast of a place called British Columbia, in a small town called Bella Coola which is a town of mostly fishermen. Do you know where Bella Coola is?"

Kaeori shook his head no

"Surely you know where Canada is at least?" Again the otter just shrugged.

"Can-ada... nope don't think i've heard of it before" he said

At this point my hopes of getting home were pretty low, Canada was a pretty large country and if he didn't know where it was, did anyone here? My prospects were not looking good.

"Look, why don't you stay the night- it's been a long day for you, you can figure things out in the morning" said Kaeori looking especially hopefull; of what though, I wasn't sure.

I nodded still a bit down from having my hopes dashed but at least happy to have a warm place to stay and a friend.

"Sure that sounds good" I said smiling, still hiding my inner turmoil.

He nodded and motioned to the stairs, they were big and wooden, possibly oak; just like something you'd expect to see in a victorian house. Kaeori started up the stairs, the tip of his long rudder tail hitting the step behind him all the way up. I smirked finding that slightly amusing then followed him up.

"Unfortunately" he called from the top of the stairs "I only have one bed, I moved the other out a year back to make more room for other things. So your choices are the couch or my bed but it's pretty big anyway"

I pondered my choices not wanting to offend Kaeori I chose bed; It seemed that was what he wanted me to choose anyhow. Besides who would pass up an offer to sleep with that cutie?

Kaeori seemed extremely happy with my decision although he was trying to hide his excitement, he failed. I mean the tail thumping on the floor was far to obvious. The otter showed me to his room, in the middle there was a large bed, probably queen sized and two candles on each nightstand on either side of the bed, One lit. On all the walls were paintings and drawings of various things, people.. fish.

"did you do these? They're beautiful!" I exclaimed.

He nodded, looking very proud of them. I noticed one particular painting beside the large window in the room. It was more crudely done than the rest of them, possibly done by Kaeori as a child. In it was him and two other otters, most likely his parents. Kaeori was just getting into bed when he saw what I was looking at.

"Ah, that one I did as a kid, that was two years before they dissapeared" Kaeori mused, this time though there was no sadness in his words. There was only a happy distant look on his face, probably remember happier childhood times.

I walked over to the bed and took off my shirt, then my pants. Those green eyes on me at all times. I'm not sure but I may have blushed. It definitely felt like I was under scrutiny Kaeori smiled shyly and turned to blow out the light as I got into the bed. Idly I wondered where this was leading? was there somewhere i hoped it would lead? I tried not to think those kind of thoughts, choosing instead to let whatever would happen run it's course.

Kaeori said softly "I'm glad you came"

I agreed "If I could pick any place to be stranded it would be here" I said sleepily, ending in a yawn. I was just drifting off when the feeling of something sliding across my legs jolted me out of my sleep. I reached a hand down and felt along what must have been Kaeori's tail. The fur was suprisingly soft and very sleek. Absent mindedly I ran my fingers through the soft fur of the otter's tail, feeling the way it molded around my fingers. I could hear Kaeori's breathing slow and before long he was asleep. Sometime not long after, I followed.