I’ve been thinking a lot about fishing lately: that I know little about it, and that people often relate relationships to it. My dad, probably like yours, has said, “There are plenty of fish in the sea,” in hopes of cheering me up when one slips from the line. I would like to add “the one that got away” to the list of stories we tell. Everyone has one, a story of the one that got away.
In the film “The River Why”, we watch Gus follow a salmon, hooked with the wrong leader, up the river. He follows it into the night until the fish is tired and near enough that he might pick it up. In his journey up the stream he learns about the fish, begins to admire and understand it. In the end he unhooks it and sets if free. This film is based off of the novel by David James Duncan. I have not read it yet, but it is near the top of my list.
Like Gus and the Chinook, the story of the one that got away can be breathtaking. Although it leaves us empty handed it also leaves us richer with experience. “The one that got away” prepares us with the understanding to care for the one we get to take home, in regards to a relationship. In reference to an actual fish, the one that got away may just prepare you with the appreciation of taking home dinner! Either way, it would be interesting for this story to also be told, when telling young ones that there are more fish in the sea. Because maybe all they need to know is that they have to let a few good things get away in order to find the best.
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