Friday Night Lights Turn Squidlicious

"Is there like a term or phrase that alludes to the sea being empty of any game?"

My older brother a.k.a. Big Brother didn't bother turning around to answer me, "Yeah. It's called 'Shit'."

Journeying into low tide...

And shitty it was. My two brothers, Big Brother and Squirt, spent 45 minutes walking in the sea at low tide without spotting a single thing. Personally, I like to venture out at low tide before dusk, when the sun is still out so I can spot oysters for their pearls. The worst part is tugging the oyster from its root, mostly because I abhor the tiny little worms that live on it since I'm worm-phobic. The best part, however, is when you lay them out and watch them open up slowly. When that happens, you take a knife and quickly put it inside the oyster before it clamps shut again. From there, you crack it open and fiddle around with the oyster's insides to see if there are any pearls in it.

View of the shore

My eldest sister always comes to mind at these situations i.e. tigimber. Her first love is the sea; I won't be surprised if she starts to grow scales on her legs before she turns into a mermaid. When I was younger, the two of us would always go out to sea at low tide. When we approached the deep end, I would entertain myself by drawing on the islands of soft sand that arise at low tide while she fearlessly dives into the deep end, in search of oysters on the rocky reef. I remember once, she caught a gigantic oyster that had four large pearls in it. Another time, she caught a baby shark with my father. They placed it in a large bucket before they let it out to sea again.

The only time I patted myself on the back was when I caught an Indian Flathead i.e. وحرة. It was about seven years ago. I had gone out at low tide and started to head back to our chalet when I saw this large fish as long as my arm lying calmly on the sea's floor. My heart started to race as I came near it. While I was examining it, I was thinking about my two options: I either get hold of the bastard or flee. I stood there contemplating my options before spending ten minutes adjusting my position and aim because I knew this fish would fight back. I finally sunk my fishing spear onto it's back using both hands. I think I stood there putting my weight on it for about 20 minutes. The darn thing was unbelievably strong. Finally, it quit moving around. I took it out of the water and placed my fishing spear on my shoulder before I continued my march back home. I remember my dad didn't believe I caught it all by myself, "It's too strong!" he exclaimed.

Remembering times like these is kind of depressing and disappointing. Not even five years ago, we used to catch a lot of sea creatures when we're halfway from the deep sea. "This is global warming," I told Big Brother for the third time, "And pollution."

"I'm bored. There's nothing here," Squirt complained.

"Have patience! Nothing comes easy. Wait for it," I replied in slight annoyance, "And if you see a baby crab, don't kill it," I added.

I always admired the courageousness the baby crabs have. You don't even pay attention to them and they come at you with their snapping claws.

But we didn't see any crabs this Friday night.

"Khithag! Squid!" my older brother yelled before getting into position to catch it. "This is a good place. Let's just turn around the same area," he said after he plopped his catch in the plastic container Squirt was forced to tug along.

That's when I spotted the largest squid we caught that night, the squid I dubbed "The Godfather" because the guy was a big ol' cephalopod. The problem is, The Godfather wasn't as stupid as the rest. The rest just sit there like stones, thinking nobody can see them. The Godfather kept bumbling along and played it cool the whole time I was tracking him down, speeding up and slowing down while I sloshed carefully through the rising tide. I had good aim, but he was slightly too far for me to have a powerful go at him. I took a deep breath and with one large step I extended my fishing spear (kabar) and "CRACK!" I got him good.

"Big Brother! Big Brother! I caught him!" I was a bit tense, frozen in my attack position with my rear in the air. "Look! He's the biggest one of the bunch!"

The Godfather...he looks pissed doesn't he

"The smaller ones are more delicious," Big Brother replied.

Squirt beamed, "I caught the tastiest one! Haha! I'm going to eat it tomorrow for lunch!"

And that he did.

at 8:30 AM