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"Ian, hold this fish," Mac said,
handing Ian one of the trout that he’d just caught. "Hold this one too."
Soon Ian’s arms were full of wriggling, slimy fish. "One more," Mac said,
flopping another on top of the pile.
"Mac, I can’t see a thing. You’ve
got me carrying so many fish. Please, don’t catch any more. You’ve got
enough now to last us all night," Ian pleaded.
Mac stuck his paw into the water.
"Just one more, Ian and then I’ll stop. I’m feeling a wee bit hungry
tonight." He grabbed the fish from the stream and added it to the pile.
The fish wiggled about, arching itself and stuck its tail in Ian’s mouth.
"Mac, I can’t hold all these fish.
They’re too wiggly," Ian shouted. Just then all the fish started jumping
about and Ian couldn’t hold them. He fought to keep them in his arms and
fell backwards. "YIKES!" he shouted.
The fish went flying into the air.
Some of them landed back in the stream and others in the mud. Ian landed
right on his back, twisting his leg. "OUCH!"
Mac stood watching, angry that Ian
and dropped the fish. "Ian! You’ve lost our supper. Why didn’t you hold
them tighter?"
"I hurt my leg, Mac. Ouch. It hurts.
I can’t move it," Ian cried, rubbing it carefully.
Mac bent down to have a look. "Och,
it does look swollen," he sighed, feeling bad for shouting at Ian. "Here,
lean on me and I’ll help you get up."
"What about the fish?" Ian whined.
"We’ll just have to do with berries
and nuts for supper again tonight," Mac pouted. "Come on, get up and we’ll
go back to the tree." Ian struggled to stand and leaned against Mac all
the way back to the woods.
"I can’t climb the tree," Ian said,
looking up at its height.
"We’ll have to stay on the ground
for a few days then, until you’re better. Now, you lie down and I’ll prop
your foot up," Mac said, pulling a pile of dried grass over. "Does that
feel better?" he asked, setting Ian’s swollen leg down on it.
"Yes, Mac, that’s much better. What
about supper?" Ian asked.
Mac took a deep breath. "I’ll go and
fetch us some nuts and berries. They’re not as delicious as fish, but will
have to do. You just close your eyes and rest and I’ll be back in a
while." Mac ran into the woods to search for food.
Ian lay quietly, looking around.
He’d never had to stay on the ground before. "I hope there aren’t any
bears or wolves in this part of the woods," he shivered, feeling a bit
frightened.
Mac came back a while later. "Here
you go, Ian. I’ve got some nice, juicy raspberries for you, a few
blackberries and some hazelnuts. Eat up and then you can rest again." Mac
let Ian eat first, until he was full and then finished the rest off. "It
will be dark soon. Why don’t you try to get to sleep?"
That night Ian tossed and turned. He
cried out several times, when he accidentally bumped his foot on the
ground. Mac lay awake most of the night, worried about his friend. The
next morning he got up bright and early and ran down to the stream. He
brought back two fish. "Here you go," he said to Ian, handing him one. "I
caught these this morning. Eat up."
Ian gobbled down the fish. Just when
Mac was about to eat his, Ian said, "I’m still hungry, Mac. I wish you’d
brought me back two fish. If only I’d not slipped, then I could have
helped you catch more." He let out a loud sigh.
Mac, feeling guilty, gave Ian his
fish, which he devoured without a second thought. "Are you feeling better
now?" Mac asked.
"Much. I’ll take a wee nap now, if
you don’t mind," Ian smiled and dozed off. So it went all day long. Ian
asked for berries, nuts, acorns, and even had Mac lift stones to find bugs
to eat. Mac ran around all day catering to Ian. That night Ian tossed and
turned again. By the next morning, Mac was exhausted, but still Ian was
full of demands. While Mac was off at the stream catching some more fish,
Ian tried to stand up. "Well, well, well, my leg is much better," he said,
putting his weight on his foot. "I can walk." He was about to take a few
steps when he heard Mac coming back. Quickly he lay back down and propped
his foot up. He even moaned a few times for effect.
"Your foot still bothering you?" Mac
asked, handing Ian two plump fish. "These will make you feel better. Say,
Ian, I’m sorry that I piled all those fish on you the other day. It was my
fault that you fell. Next time we’ll both carry them. Now, just lie back
and take it easy. I’m going to try to take a wee nap now, if you’re all
set."
Ian gobbled the fish down and spit
out the bones. "Go ahead, Mac. I’ll just lie here and enjoy listening to
the birds chirp."
Mac shut his eyes and fell asleep.
Ian waited a while until Mac was sound asleep and then tried to stand up.
"I think I’ll not tell Mac that I can walk. It’s kind of nice having
someone fetch me fish and berries and nuts." Ian took a few steps and
realized his foot felt nearly perfect once again.
He was walking about when Mac opened
one of his eyes and saw Ian walking about, smiling. He tried very hard not
to growl. "I’ll let him think I am still asleep," he whispered to himself,
though he was seething with anger. A while later he pretended to wake up.
Ian had sat back down by then. "That was a nice nap. Did you manage to get
a wee rest?" he asked Ian.
"Och, aye, Mac. I listened to the
birds sing and watched a few butterflies fluttering past. I wish my leg
didn’t hurt and that I could walk so I could go and get another fish. I’m
feeling very puckish right now."
Mac burned with anger inside, but
didn’t let Ian know. He put a smile on his face and said, "Poor Ian. Your
leg is so sore and you’re in so much pain. You just lie there and rest and
I’ll go down to the stream and catch you some more fish. Poor Ian."
Mac jumped up and ran off. Ian
started to giggle. He thought it was pretty funny that he’d tricked Mac,
though a wave of guilt ran through him for taking advantage. When he was
sure Mac was out of the way, he stood up. His leg was normal once again.
He climbed up the tree and came back down, ran around, jumping over logs
and bushes. Mac came back and hid, watching his friend. "Well, let’s see
what I can do about this," he whispered to himself. He broke a few twigs
to alert Ian that he was coming back. "Ian! Ian! Just lie still. I’ve got
an armful of fish for you."
Ian ran over to the bottom of the
tree and propped his leg up. "Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. My poor leg," he moaned.
Mac came back carrying the fish. He
walked up to Ian and stood in front of him. "Here’s your fish," he said
and started hitting Ian with them. "You’ve been taking advantage of me,
Ian." He hit him with another fish. "You let me wait on you and fuss over
you and your leg feels better again. Do you know how cold the water is?
I’ve been standing in it for hours catching fish for you and you have been
able to walk and run! I never want to speak to you again!" Mac shouted. He
threw all the fish at Ian and walked off into the woods.
Ian sat on the grass. A fish was on
his head. Another fish was sticking out of his ear. One was on his tummy
and five of them were on his legs, wriggling about. Now he’d done it!
Suddenly he felt very bad. He had taken advantage of his friend. It hadn’t
even been Mac’s fault that he’d fallen. It had just been an accident and
he’d let him think it was his fault. Ian felt very sad. He started to cry.
He sat near the bottom of the tree all day long sobbing. When the sun
began to set, he stood up. "I’d better go and find Mac," he pouted. With
head hanging low, he walked into the woods. "Mac! Mac!" he shouted. There
was no answer.
He walked for hours. The mood came
up and was high in the sky. Stars twinkled above him and owls hooted all
around. "Mac! Mac!"
Mac heard Ian calling him but was
still feeling rather annoyed, so he didn’t answer. A few minutes later he
heard some twigs snap behind him. He turned to look. "Oh, it’s you. What
do you want? I’m not going to get you any more fish," he said to Ian.
Ian came and sat next to him. "I’m
sorry, Mac. I did hurt my leg, but I got so used to you doing things for
me and I enjoyed it. I liked not having to hunt for my own berries and
nuts and fish. I’m sorry though. Will you forgive me?"
Mac didn’t answer for a while. He
stared at the stars.
"Mac, I’m sorry," Ian said again.
This time Mac answered. "It’s all
right, Ian. I forgive you."
"Thank you Mac," Ian laughed. "What
can I do to make it up to you?"
"Nothing, Ian; nothing at all. Don’t
worry about it. That’s what friends are for. We forgive. Now, let’s just
go home," Mac sighed.
Mac fell asleep quickly. When he
woke up, much to his surprise, Ian was sitting on the branch holding four
fish. "Here you go, my friend. These are for you," Ian said, handing Mac
two of the fish. "I got up early and caught them. You’re right, the water
is cold."
Mac started to laugh. Ian started to
laugh. Together, once again friends, they gobbled down their fish. |
