Death by Water 3

The Korean bum was always picking his nose. Sometimes he ate his bugger. At other times, he flicked it into the air. John liked to watch the Korean bum. He just seemed interesting to him.

-How can you live in the woods like that?

-You must learn to listen to nature. It's always saying something to you.

John tried to listen to nature but all he heard was the chirping of the birds. He looked at the Korean bum and the Korean bum was praying again. He looked like a praying mantis the way he was praying. John could hear the sounds coming from his lips, but he could not figure out what he was saying. He was probably saying something in Korean. That sounded right.

Then the Korean bum made a fire. It wasn't really cold outside so John wondered why he made a fire. Then the Korean bum put rocks in the shallow part of the river. Then he put rocks on the another part of the river. Then he went back his hut made of boxes and made a sharp spear. He sharpened and sharpened until it was razor sharp. Then he prayed again. When he had finished praying, he smiled. I wondered why he was smiling and what he was doing. There he was, as happy as a child and smiling from ear to ear.

He walked steathily toward the river and looked into the water. He thrust the spear into the water. Then he thrust again and again and kept on going until the fish was finally speared. He looked so happy when he speared the fish. I was literally shocked. What a genius this bum was! At least a great fisherman. He cooked the fish and gave me some. It was tasty.

-Do you always know when fish are in the river?

-Sometimes I can tell. It's a very shallow river. I have to thank God for all the fish I catch or I get arrogant. Men put the fish in the river. I should thank men also.

I was really amazed by the Korean bum. He was so resourceful and I could never see him getting hungry. Sometimes I did worry that maybe coyotes or even a bear might attack him, but no one had seen a bear in the woods although people had seen coyotes. But coyotes could be dangerous and they had hungry eyes.

I just ate the fish and really enjoyed the taste. I realized that it was farm-raised fish that men had planted there, but it tasted just fine. I liked the taste of the bass. I liked being around the Korean bum as he smiled like there was no tomorrow and just the moment to enjoy.

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