Shadows in the Timber - Chapter 2.

Instructions

I entered the home and saw Kestrel staring at me, annoyed. “Warum bist du schon so früh wieder zu Hause, und wo sind die Fische?!" Kestrel hissed at me in our native tongue. We spoke German during our childhood, but when my dad married my mom when we were 3, we started to learn English. Nowadays, we mostly use it when we are angry at each other. “Maybe, if you had taken a look outside, you would have noticed that the water has fogged up and it's impossible to fish on the kayak,” I snapped back, while sprinting up the stairs to my room. It was a small loft, under an A-frame roof, meaning the ceilings were pretty low, about five feet seven, but I didn't mind, I'm pretty short, to be honest. I had a small bunk bed, the top bunk having a beautiful view out the window. The view was of a thick boreal forest, like all forests around us. The forest floor was covered in moss and ferns, making it one of my favorite places to do quadrobics. I quickly went to my closet, which held my wolf mask and coyote tail. I put them both on and walked down the stairs, ignoring Kestrel's roll of the eye. I walked down into the basement, where our family stores all of our camping, hunting, and fishing gear. I pulled out my rod, which was normally in my room, from the storage, along with a bait box. I picked up my things and left the house, walking to the dock, which was only 15 feet away from the back of the house. The dock was small, but it worked perfectly for fishing and docking our canoes and kayaks. On clear days, there was a beautiful view of the narrow lake, but today I could barely see ahead of me. I hooked a dull red lure and cast the rod, waiting impatiently for a tug. After 13 minutes of sitting around, something got hooked. I quickly reeled it in, revealing a lake trout. Lake trout were my favorite thing to catch; they shared my name and were absolutely delicious. I quickly pushed the fish into the small cooler I had brought out. I quickly cast my rod back out, knowing one Lake Trout wouldn't be enough. I peeked back towards the house where Kestrel had her face pressed up against the window, giving me the thumbs up. Despite our fights, we had a pretty close bond. Sharing a lot of hobbies, after all, we were basically the only kids in the area. I gave Kestrel a thumbs up back as something else bit the line. Generally, fishing took a lot of time, but when it was foggy, catching fish was a very easy feat. I reeled the fish in quickly, seeing a landlocked salmon. I had only caught a couple of these in my life, so it was a giant surprise. I added the fish to the cooler and packed up my supplies. I put the cooler in front of the kitchen and smiled. Kestrel smiling back. ”Have fun cooking," I teased, as I headed back outside to start a bonfire. Kestrel was responsible for cooking, while I was responsible for the bonfire.