"Holy crap!"
"Wait- here, here!"
The father grabbed the straining rod, helping his son reel in what seemed to be a huge fish. They strained, together. Both of them had never caught anything this big in the past few sessions.
The wind picked up, blowing grains of sand away from the soft shores of the sand. The waves seemed to crash harder onto the shore. The sound of the line straining and reeling resonated through the hot midday air.
"Look at that!"
After what seemed like an eternity of fighting, the father and son had finally won. Their catch flopped as it entered and transitioned from the ocean to the shorebreak. Its head was lifted above the air a slight bit, the rest of the body's weight laying on the soft sand. It was just as huge as they thought it was.
"Holy Shh…Shoot!"
The son precariously watched his language near his father.
The fish they had caught was large. From afar, it looked like it could almost span three quarters of the son's total height. Its scales reflected a shallow lime green color, while its fins were of a deeper jade. It was a massive sea bass. Its lustrous eyes stared at the father, who was holding the son's rod. As the pair calmed down, the father looked at the son.
"I got it from here, Quies. We've been sitting here for a while, and it's almost dusk. Why don't you go back home, your mom would be worried."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'll come back home soon enough. I'm sure you can already tell that your mother and I… are having some disagreements."
Quies wasn't unaware. He had notice the subtle changes in the relationship between his mother and father. Apparently, his mother didn't like his father's side investigation.
"Is it the investigation?"
"You… Yeah. I think I'm close to a breakthrough… You shouldn't worry about it too much."
His father forced a smile. His father was good at covering things up. His father lowered the catch down onto the soft sand.
"Now, go on and help your mother set the dinner table. Or maybe help her out with her groceries. I overheard her talking about something like that earlier…"
"Right."
Quies stood up from his sitting position and took a deep breath in. The air felt uneasy around him, sharp and chilling. It wasn't sunset yet, though he wished he could stay a bit longer to take in the view, especially with his dad. He stubbornly moved his feet, blades of grass flowing through the gaps between his toes. His shirt blew in the cool breeze, and his wavy hair was slicked back by the gusts. He stopped in the middle of his step . He wasn't close in terms of distance to his father, but still close enough to talk to him without yelling. He paused…
"Love you, dad."
His kind father looked back at him, holding the fishing rod in between his two hands. There was a light smile on his face. Maybe he was enjoying the breeze…
Quies, in many ways, was like his father. Most prominently, he looked a lot like a mini version of him, except for the hair. That, he inherited from his mother. Their mannerisms were similar. Well, similar enough for a busy father that barely gets to spend time with his family and son. Even with their small moments together, Quies had picked up a few phrases here and there. Maybe a few curse words too…
He was someone Quies looked up to. He wanted to be like his dad. Yet, his father's statements before made Quies think.
It made him think whether he wanted to be his father, or whether he wanted to be what he thought his father was.
Because all this time, Quies never really knew his own father.
"I love you too, Quies."
***
"I feel like I should be more guilty."
Quies swiped his fingers across the soft weaved mat of the dining room. Valerie sat across from him. She held the full glass cup in her dominant hand, watching as a subtle precipitate settled.
"My father… is gone. I can't even visit his grave, if anybody even took the courtesy to give him a proper burial. If anybody even gave him proper closure… If anybody even gave me proper closure."
"But am I feeling enough?"
He watched as the light from the lamp above refracted within the solid surface of the glass cups.
Other than fishing excursions, which rarely happened, Quies never really had the time to form a proper connection with his dad. Quies loved his father, and his father loved him, but there wasn't enough time for them to communicate that love properly. His father woke up early and got home late. He usually ate dinner alone or with his mother, depending on whether a new meal was cooked on that day or not. Maybe he would catch a glimpse of his father when he was about to sleep. When he was younger, his father would sometimes get the chance to say good night before he dozed off…
He remembered reading children's books at that age. Children's books that portrayed families eating together for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Families where parents would read bedtime stories to their kids. The typical happy family.
Did Quies have a happy family?
Quies stared outside the front window. The light coming from the lamp perpendicular to the faint moonlight flowing in.
"I should've spent more time with him…"