The King of Goosey Lake (Conclusion)

After the sun set, tiki torches were lit up and lined the park. The fish fry was an enormous success. Anyone who wanted seconds was able to get it. That even included Mr. Sasquatch who enjoyed an incredible serving of 24. Den’s recipe, which he’d spent years perfecting, was so enticing that Belinda asked him to sell her the recipe so that she could serve that up in her diner.

Belinda also offered to pay Den for every melonfish he caught, but Den insisted he do it for free. After all, he knew the best way to catch them—at least the best way humans knew how. He would go on to teach his grandson Tucker all his tricks, including what bait was best to use. As soon as Tucker was seven years old, they would enter the fishing contest and win that top prize together.

Annie and her husband Phil closed out the festivities by giving a concert. She played her Roosebeck Emma Mountain Dulcimer while Phil accompanied her with a fiddle to a rendition of Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart.” Scores of residents line danced to it—including even Mr. Sasquatch who danced well, even though he didn't wear pants and therefore couldn't put his thumbs in his belt loops.

Mr. Sasquatch wasn’t heard from or seen after that. However, Belinda had commissioned a local woodworker to carve an eight-foot replica of the creature that she placed in front of her diner. The statue was grinning and had its palm held up in a pleasant, friendly wave. 

Belinda’s diner would become a bit of a tourist attraction after that, people coming from all over the state to try their melonfish—and perhaps even trying to catch one of their own.

It wouldn't be too long before Den would finally shuffle off this mortal coil. Just months before he died, Den noticed for the first time lily pads appearing at a corner of Goosey Lake that he'd never noticed before. He suspected Petunia might have had something to do with them.