By Pamela Love
Doug’s phone slipped from his hand and skidded down the hillside below the hiking trail. He sucked in his breath with annoyance. “Screen’s probably cracked.” It had all his contact info on it, too.
Now how am I going to get it back? Can’t make it down there myself, not with my hip the way it is. He turned to his twelve-year-old grandson. I wonder… “Justin, can you try to find my phone, please?”
Justin nodded and hiked down the hill. Agile as a mountain goat, Doug thought. Reaching the bottom, the boy knelt and dug into a patch of tall grass. Then he stopped.
“Found it?” Doug shouted down.
Justin didn’t answer. He stared straight at the hillside.
Doug bit his lip as he reminded himself to be patient. His grandson’s autism caused him to get distracted at inconvenient times. “Justin? Did you find my phone? Please bring it to me.”
At last, Justin climbed back up, phone in hand. While Doug checked it for damage, Justin pulled his word book, filled with drawings to help him communicate, from his backpack.
“Can’t believe this thing isn’t broken. Thanks for getting it, Justin. I’ll buy you a frozen yogurt on the way home.”
Justin pointed to FISH on his word book’s ANIMALS page.
Doug looked at the picture of a trout, then back at his grandson. He blinked. “Fish? You’d rather have fish than yogurt? Okay, maybe your mom will make fish sticks for dinner.”
Justin leaned over the trail’s edge and pointed. “Fis’.”
“There can’t be any fish down there, Justin. There’s no water. It’s getting late. Time to go home.”
Justin clenched his jaw and pointed again. “Fis’.”
“It’s dinnertime. Let’s go see your mom.” Justin wouldn’t budge. Finally, Doug took Justin by the hand. To his relief, his grandson allowed himself to be led back to the car.
“How was your walk?” Leanne asked when they came through the door.
“Fine. You would’ve been proud of Justin.”
“Fis’.” Justin tugged on Doug’s sleeve.
Doug patted him on the shoulder. “He brought back my phone when I dropped it down a hillside. With my arthritis, I don’t think I could’ve gotten it myself.”
“Fis’.”
“Anyway, he’s been saying ‘fish’ all the way home. I told him we could maybe have fish sticks for dinner.”
Leanne hugged her son. “Sure. And good job, Justin.”
While she turned on the oven, Justin looked at the box of fish sticks on the counter. He took out his word book again. “Fis’.”
“Fish, that’s right. We’re having fish sticks for dinner,” said Doug.
Frowning, Justin started drumming his fingers on the kitchen table.
“Hungry, Justin?” Leanne reached into the pantry. “Want a snack bar?”
Justin rocked back and forth. “Fis’,” he repeated.
“He started saying that right after he found my phone. But he couldn’t have seen one,” said Doug. “We were nowhere near water.”
“Maybe he saw something when he was looking for your phone,” Leanne said.
Justin stopped rocking. A smile tugged at his lips.
“Did you see a toy fish, Justin?” Leanne asked.
Justin groaned. He flung his word book onto the floor and began rocking again.
Doug stood up. “Hey! Quit that. No tantrums allowed.”
“Yelling won’t help, Dad.” Taking a weighted blanket from a cupboard, Leanne guided Justin to sit and spread it over his lap. “We know you want to tell us something. We want to understand.” Justin’s rocking slowed. Minutes later, he stilled.
Leanne knelt so that she was at Justin’s eye level. “Okay, time to pick up your book.”
Justin reached down for it. The book had fallen open to the HOLIDAYS section. He touched HALLOWEEN, then headed to his closet.
Leanne and Doug followed. “Looking for something?” Doug asked.
Pushing over shirts and sweaters, Justin handed his mother a sweatshirt with a skeleton design on it. “Fis’.”
“You wore this last Halloween,” she said. “I still don’t get it. That’s not a fish.”
But Doug leaned forward, touching the design’s rib cage. “Wait. Justin, did you see a fish skeleton on that hill?”
Justin grinned. “Yeah, fis’.” He patted the sweatshirt.
“Dad, could you find where you dropped your phone again?” When he nodded, Leanne said, “Let’s go. It’s still light out. I’ll turn off the oven. We’ll grab takeout on the way home.”
Doug watched as Justin led his mother down the hill. When Justin pushed aside the tall grass, she said, “Oh, Justin, that’s awesome. Dad, I’m texting you a photo!”
Doug stared at the picture on his phone. “A fossil fish, wow! Looks like it’s been here for millions of years. Maybe it was swimming around when the dinosaurs were alive. Justin, we’ll tell, um, a paleontologist about this. That’s who studies fossils, right?”
Back in the car, Justin took out his word book.
Doug’s heart beat faster. “You were right, Justin. You did see a fish, one that lived a long time ago, back when there was water around here. Thanks so much for helping us see it, too.”
Justin flipped to the page labeled FEELINGS. He pointed to a word under a smiling face: HAPPY.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
well done! very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it! I got the idea for the story when I saw a rock that looked like an elephant while on a hike. (Sadly, it was definitely not any kind of fossil!)
Neat story! I liked the twist.
Thanks! I enjoy writing stories with twists.
I loved this different take on the mystery format!
I appreciate your compliment.
Wow! That was a surprise ending. I honestly thought that Justin had seen a mermaid.
Thanks! Seeing a mermaid–that’s an interesting idea…
Loved the mystery and unique story telling! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your kind words.