⏱ ~4 min reading
Nazar and his father had been sitting on the pond since morning. Dad was wearing an old canvas jacket, a fishing rod in his hands, and a newspaper on his knees. Nazar, in a light jacket and a hat with a pompom, was looking at his little float, which was swaying quietly on the blue water.
The day was warm. The sun gently warmed my shoulders. Somewhere in the reeds a frog croaked - once, then again. The smell was special: a little bit of mud, a little bit of wet wood, a little bit of the jasmine bush that was blooming behind me.
"Dad," Nazar whispered, afraid to scare the fish, "how much longer?"
Dad looked at the float:
"Who knows, son. A fish has its own sense of time. Sometimes it wonders whether to come at all.".
Nazar sighed. He had been sitting motionless for an hour, like an adult. His legs were numb. His back ached. And the float was still swaying quietly—it didn't dive, it didn't twitch, it didn't give any signs.
“What if there are no fish here at all?” Nazar asked.
"Yes," Dad said calmly. "I saw it. She's just looking at us and wondering if it's worth it.".
Nazar liked it — that fish think too. Like us. It made everything more important.
Another hour passed. The sun rose higher. Dad poured hot tea from a thermos into a metal cup and handed it to Nazar:
— Warm up, fisherman.
The tea was sweet, with a mint leaf. Nazar warmed his hands against the cup, looked at the float and thought: "Well, fish, well, come on. At least one.".
And then it happened.
The float suddenly sank. Not slowly. Quickly, as if the trigger had been pulled. Nazar froze.
“Dad!” he breathed out in a whisper.
“Pull, pull!” Dad put down the newspaper and smiled.
Nazar grabbed the rod with both hands and pulled. With all his might. The line stretched, swayed — and something jumped out of the water. Small. Shiny. Sinuous.
Nazar pulled it out and froze.
A tiny fish hung on the hook. No bigger than a child's finger. Its scales shone in the sun like coins. It had round, surprised eyes, like two dark beads. It jumped on the hook, hiding from the light.
Nazar carefully removed it. He placed it in his palms — carefully, like a testicle. The fish was wet, cool, and had thin skin. Its heart was beating — Nazar could feel it. Fast, fast. Time-time-time. Like his own right now.
"Dad," Nazar said in a quiet voice. "Can we let her go? She's very small.".
Dad looked at his son. He nodded. He didn't say a word - he just nodded.
Nazar walked to the very edge of the water. He squatted down. He opened his palms — carefully, slowly — and lowered the fish into the water.
She froze for a moment. The little body hung in the water, as if wondering - what is this, am I free again? And then - she flicked her tail - and disappeared. In the depths, among the seaweed.
Nazar looked at that place for a long time.
“Why didn’t you want to take her home?” Dad asked on the way back. They walked along the path, Dad carrying the fishing rods, Nazar running ahead, jumping over a tree root.
Nazar was silent for a long time. He wanted to say the right thing.
"Because I surprised her," he finally answered. "She didn't know there was a hook. She was just swimming. And I pulled her out like that. It's not fair. Now she should know how it is. And she should tell her friends. And she should grow up. Then it will be more interesting for both of us.".
Dad smiled. He placed his hand on his son's head.
"You're my little wise man," he said. "You know, I didn't always take what I had on the hook myself. Sometimes I let it go. Maybe that's why the fish still come to our pond.".
Nazar smiled.
A year passed. Nazar again came to the same pond with his father. Again he sat for a long time, again tea warmed his palms. And suddenly — the float sank. This time — not like a trigger. But like a whole cannonball.
Nazar pulled and pulled until his feet were stuck in the ground. Dad rushed to help. And together they pulled out a big fish. Silver, with a greenish tint, with the same round eye as that little fry a year ago.
It could have been the same fish. Grown, trained, cautious. Or maybe not. Maybe her daughter. Or someone else entirely.
Nobody knows.
But Nazar forever remembered one thing: when you give, sometimes you get back tenfold. And the biggest catch is not what's in the net. The biggest catch is when you do a good deed.
✨ The biggest catch is when you do a good deed ✨