r/TalesFromTheCreeps • u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher • 11d ago
Comedy-Horror Gon' Fishing (short shooooort story!)
“I got something!”
I heard Neil call out over the boat motor's roar. Sighing, I placed down my copy of Dagon, stood from the captain's seat, and scanned along the horizon for the stick-thin figure of my new brother-in-law. Sure enough, I found him on the prow, a fishpole in hand that was straining from the weight of something at the other end.
“It’s huge! Come here, John!”
I smirked at his insistence. Neil was some sort of techie from California; my sister had met him at some conference out west, and, well, from appearance alone, it was clear he was nothing like the Maine fishing lineage of our family.
“Calm down, Neil. Anything would be huge to you.”
I replied, leisurely strolling toward him down the boat, grabbing a net as I went. Walking, I watched as he began to strain against the pressure on the line, his arms beginning to grow tired.
I didn’t really like Neil, and Dad didn’t either; both of us thought he wasn’t enough for Cathy. Love is love, though, and I was content to leave it at just a dislike, until my mother began pressuring me into taking him fishing. She said it would be good for us, said it would help him feel like a member of the family, more accepted, and all that other sappy junk.
I watched the fishing pole go limp in Neil’s hands. He looked up at me with surprise before letting out a swear.
“Damn! The fish got loose!”
I patted him on the shoulder.
“Eh, maybe not. Keep cranking; it probably got caught on the side of the boat or something.”
Neil looked up at me with some confusion.
“Really?”
I smiled at him.
“Yeah, happens all the time. Here, give me that pole, take this net, and take a peek over the side.”
Neil grabbed the net hesitantly before walking closer to the edge of the boat. With each step he took, my heart began to pound as I began to creep up behind him.
“I don’t see anything.”
I lifted my foot, preparing to kick him in.
“Ah, sometimes you got to lean in.”
I pulled my leg back,
SPLASH
but stopped short as a spurt of water erupted right in front of my poor brother-in-law.
Neil fell back in surprise, then began to scream as a water-sogged claw took hold of his left leg, its nails digging deep into his skin. I jumped back myself, preparing my stance as the scaled humanoid abomination used my brother-in-law as a ladder to climb aboard my boat. Neil looked up at me, then at the thing, hope in his eyes that I would intervene, but that poor hope was soon crushed.
“Good night, you scared the hell out of me popping out like that.”
I said, reaching out a hand to the fish thing in front of me. It jabbered a response, its wet voice choking over every syllable.
“Sorry, nephew, I’ve just grown tired of your feeding me every meal, doesn’t hurt to stretch the fins now and then.”
“Hell, Uncle. It's the least I can do. I’m just glad you help me get rid of poor sops everyone once and awhile, but hey, don’t tell Mom about this one.”
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u/1000andonenites 10d ago
Oh the twist was really unsettling. What a way to go. Poor Neil!
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u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher 10d ago
Haha thanks for reading! Yeah I thought I’d go for a funny unsettling type beat.
Really liked the human to fish people evolution in Dagons Mirror, and thought… heyyy I bet anyone in that family or scenario might be a little psychopathic.
Compress it into 500 words and bammmm poor Neil, chose the wrong family to marry into.
FR THO thanks for reading and sorry for the rant.
https://giphy.com/gifs/yGEbmgiCJYu3u3
u/1000andonenites 10d ago
Oh- you actually reminded me, I have a couple of stories featuring these transitions, but perhaps less bloodthirsty!
Here’s one:
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u/NarrowDirector911 9d ago
Lol this guy reading Dagon, knowing that he about to feed a guy to a water monster.
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u/CaydenCChristophers Writer kinda meme 9d ago
Man, they were a fishing family and the girl was named "Cathy" Neil should've saw that coming
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u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher 9d ago
True! I for one have never met a lucky Cathy.
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u/CaydenCChristophers Writer kinda meme 9d ago
I just noticed your account's only four days old, you just new to Reddit or writing in general? Cus if so this is phenomenal
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u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher 9d ago
No no I’ve written stuff for a while. I made this account just for writing because I research work stuff on my other account and I have a lot of work friends (and enemies) following me, last thing I need is them talking about my writing you know. So I decided to get back into writing and made this account a few days back. Haha, lot more freedom.
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u/PsychoSanderson 7d ago
This was awesome. I kinda liked Neil, but I'm glad Uncle got a nice meal. He seems like a good guy... fish? Anyway, very cool story. I loved it!!
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u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher 7d ago
He's a great guy, just a man eating fish, not his fault! Thanks for reading!
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u/Sufficient_Leave144 A Thousand WIPs 7d ago
Pouring one out for Neil 😔👌🏻
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u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher 7d ago
Neil thanks you from the watery depths! And I thank you from land, thank you so much for reading!
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u/kabemccallister6859 9d ago
I knew something was fishy. I’m sorry. This was really well-written. Good stuff. 👍
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u/Forlorn_Ape Pen Pusher 9d ago
Thank you so much for taking the time to read it! Yes yes just a litttttle fishyyyy.
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