Captain Kitty Sails - original short story

view at deviantart here

Captain Kitty sets sail quite often these days, usually at dusk where he goes offshore into the Pacific Ocean with Catnip.

Catnip, a somewhat clichéd name he bestowed upon his fishing boat, is a fine 26-feet fibreglass vessel , with a 212 gallon tank of fuel capacity, equipped with mesmerizing docking halogen lights, and Furuno electronics for determining location, and fish shoal detection. Catnip is Captain Kitty’s most cherished companion.

Catnip has gone through considerably rough stormy seas and angry waves, she handles them very well, splendidly every time. Catnip has been a fine fishing boat for Captain Kitty for 10 years now, today is their 10^th anniversary. Good ol’ Catnip is the most precious thing in this whole wide world, for ol’ solitary Captain Kitty, who loves fishing more than anything, alone with Catnip venturing into the open Pacific Ocean with no worries, every time.

In the dark of night with no moonlight, where the sea is calm and the wind is still, Captain Kitty would then see thousands of diamonds glittering on the surface of the night sea. “Ah, tis the purrrfect time fer sum squid jiggin’ eye Catnip?” , the usual phrase Catnip would hear coming from her master, whenever they hit a ‘squid jackpot’ location. Squid eyes glitter in the dark night, while they hunt for small wandering fish and shrimps as prey to feed their hungry bellies. Catnip likes squid jigging time too, perhaps as much as Captain Kitty even though she cannot join in the fun, jigging away those greedy squids for hours, static in the still of night. Captain Kitty would use his portable white lamp as his primary bait to lure the squids near Catnip’s starboard, the right-hand side of the vessel, while he prepares his jigs and smelly fish baits. Smelly fish baits are a fine offering to the squids, in return for their souls and flesh taken without their prior consent. Hours went by, and one after another, and another, and another squid fell for Captain Kitty’s smelly fish baits, foolishly biting the sharp jig thus letting themselves get caught and pulled out of their playground, never to return to the sea alive, ever again, one after the other. Smelly fish baits are indeed irresistible to the squids, dangling in the seawater giving out a mesmerizing and intoxicating scent, under the mesmerizing and intoxicating light of Captain Kitty’s portable fishing lamp.  

After Captain Kitty’s insulated fish box is about three quarter’s full of fresh squids, and having no more smelly fish baits left to offer, he decides to stop jigging and start heading home. “A good catch we had this time eye Catnip? Let’s head home fer now eh”, the usual phrase Catnip would have to listen to every time her master has had enough of fishing for the night. Catnip could swear that she understands Captain Kitty better than anyone in this whole wide world, and she never grows tired of having to hear his usual ramblings, every time, all the time. 

~fin~