A children’s variation of
By Ernest Hemingway
There once was an old fisherman named Santiago. Santiago had been having bad luck and had not caught a fish in eighty four days.
He knew that today was going to be different. “Eighty five is a lucky number. I'm going to catch a fish today!� said Santiago. He then set out to sea determined to catch a fish.
When Santiago began his fishing, he was trying to figure out which way to go. He saw a bird up in the sky circling above a section of the water. “There” he said, “that is where I'll catch a fish.”
He went to where the bird was circling and cast his line. He sat and waited for a long time. He caught a little tuna fish. He cast his line again, but this time got a much more powerful bite
“Wow, this fish is big!� thought Santiago as his boat got dragged around by the powerful pull of his catch.
Santiago realized that this fish was much stronger than him, but he remained committed to catching the fish.
Hour after hour, Santiago struggled to catch the fish while the fish kept pulling the boat. This went on for a full day and night.
On the second day, the fish came to the surface and jumped high in the air. It was the biggest fish Santiago had ever seen.
Santiago began to grow very physically tired. He developed many aches and pains all over his body from fighting with the fish. “Ouch!� he said as he felt a sharp cramp in his hand.
Santiago thought back to his younger days when he arm wrestled the strongest man on the docks. The arm wrestling match lasted an entire day. He got a cramp in his hand very similar to the one he was going through now. Santiago did not give up and was eventually able to win.
“I need to persevere now like I did back then� thought Santiago. The fish kept pulling and pulling, but Santiago wouldn't give up. He realized he needed to eat to regain his strength, so he ate some of the tuna he caught the day before.
On the third day of the struggle, Santiago was more tired than he had ever been. Suddenly, the pulling stopped. Santiago pulled the fish to the boat.
Santiago was ecstatic, but exhausted. “I'm going to go home and cook this fish up� said Santiago. He turned his boat around and started heading back to his village with the fish that he had caught.
About the author: Joey Lokken lives with his family near Madison, WI. The family includes two crazy dogs.
Images from: (Google Images) http://www.novinite.com http://en.memory-alpha.org http://dealbreaker.com/ http://www.hd2wallpapers.com http://samfrancis.wordpress.com http://news.nationalpost.com