“In front of him, the bay stretched dark and silent.”

“He liked to go casting at night.”

“He took the net from the bucket, slipped the noose in the retrieving rope over his wrists.”

“He felt the net quiver, and knew it was not empty. He swung it dripping over the gunwale, saw the broad silver side of the mullet quivering, saw too the gleam of a smaller fish. He looked closely to make sure no stingray was hidden in the mesh.”

“He knew in the split second in which thought was still possible, that those twin swirls had been made not by two mullet, but by the wing tips of th giant ray.”

“He kicked himself backward with his remaining strength and the rope parted and he was free.”

“He saw the mullet he had just caught, gasping its life away on the floor boards of the skiff.”

“He knew then, he would never do no more casting alone at night.”