fter a few yards, the duo broke from the trees and reached the banks of the river. Shannon looked from side to side along the edge of the water, wondering how she was going to catch fish with no lines, hooks or poles.

“I wish Hoshi was here,” Shannon said quietly to herself. “Since we’re going fishing, she’d be pretty useful even though she is a doofus.”

Kishi, of course, recognized the plan right off and immediately hurried to the edge of the water, looking for movement in the shallow current. Curious, Shannon walked up to where Kishi was now pacing along the shoreline. She couldn’t tell what was making the big cat so agitated all of a sudden. She peered into the churning water for some sign of life.

Finally, Kishi lunged into the river, slapping his massive paws against the surface. Water shot in every direction. Shannon turned away from the sudden sheet of spraying water and put her hands up to try and shield her face for all the good it did. She was instantly drenched.

“What are you doing!?” Shannon shouted as Kishi changed direction, surging through the water. At that moment, a huge silvery fish of some kind exploded from the splashing froth, and Kishi attacked with a mighty snap of his teeth, but the plump fish disappeared back into the boiling water.

“Over here, look!” Shannon ran to one side, pointing at movement she thought she had seen. Kishi pounced and water exploded everywhere. Once again, Shannon was soaked but by now she had given up on walking away from this fishing trip dry. She saw a reflection and ran down the edge of the river bank with Kishi leaping through the water to follow.

Finally she saw the fish itself, and she dove both hands shoulder deep into the frigid water. She felt the scaly tail of the fish slide out of her grasping hands at the last second. But Kishi was watching, and he saw the fish escape. He swiped his massive paw through the water, and scooped a fair amount of the river up with his prize. The fish flew into the air over the surface and this time the big cat was ready. His jaws clamped down on the writhing body of the enormous trout. As the fish struggled, Kishi proudly walked up the bank and on to dry ground.

He turned around and looked for Shannon. She was on her hands and knees right at the edge of the river, soaked to the bone and looking at Kishi with a sarcastic glare.

“I bet you think you’re just the greatest fisher in the forest, don’t you?” she accused.

Kishi’s ears stood straight up and he cocked his head sideways, still holding the thrashing trout in his teeth.

“Ooh!” Shannon stood up and tried to shake some of the cold dampness off her clothes. “There’s better ways than swimming underwater for breakfast!” Shannon muttered as she wrung the water out of her shirt and hair.

Kishi dropped the flopping fish on the ground and slowly paced back to the edge of the water, head down. Shannon’s eyes widened.

“No, no, no! I just got dry!” Kishi crashed into the river once again and a hail of raining water splashed down all over Shannon as she ran from the river’s edge.

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