Icy Duel

Boaz ran out of the house, towards the rising sun. The icy chill of the night still clung to the grass, and even his breath could be seen as he made his way down the family pond.

It only took him a moment to reach the water's edge. Excited at what the day was going to bring him, he grabbed his fishing gear, and cast a bait-filled line out into the pond.

As the morning slowly turned into afternoon, his excitement was also at a turning point. A prospective day of fishing was dashed by his apparent lack of fish.

" No luck today son?" a fatherly voice said from behind him.

" None." said Boaz, his anger rising, " Dad, what did I do wrong? I got up early, used the bait we always use to pull fish out of here, and yet I caught nothing. It's a stupid pond."

" Hey now. Watch that attitude. This pond isn't just an ordinary pond, this pond comes with a story, some say it's a legend." said Dad.

" Yeah right. This old pond? What, did some big fish get tossed in here and now he prowls the pond looking for a next big meal."

" No son. No massive fish lives in this pond. But a duel took place on this very pond a long time ago."

" A duel? Come on Dad."

" It's true, your grandfather told me, and he was there."

" Grandfather never told me of any duel."

"Well, if you would stop complaining, I will tell you."

Boaz paused for a moment before saying.

" Sure. Dad."

At this, his dad made a spot on the grass and began.

" Many years ago, when your grandfather was only a small boy, he lived on this very same land. Your grandfather was an only child to a single dad, his mother dying at birth. Every morning he would wake up and walk into the kitchen, seeing his father make breakfast before heading off to work on a neighboring farm. And every night, without fail, he would come home and give his son a kiss on the head, and take him down to this pond to fish.

However, one night would change everything. His father came home from work, this time a very worried expression was on his face. He franticly searched the entire house, before finally pulling out an old dueling sword.

He came to his son, and simply said to him. " I love very much." kissing him on the head like always before heading outside, the old sword in hand.

His son followed, even as snow was falling and sticking to the ground, he followed nonetheless. His father stopping on the edge of the fishing pond and looking out across the pond, stood another man who also brandished an old sword.

The man pulled the weapon from the sheathe and stepped out onto the frozen pond, his father following suit. As your grandfather got closer to the pond edge, he could hear voices. The man's voice shouting at his father telling him how wrong he was for stealing his love of his life from him.

Yet his father simply asked the man for forgiveness, not for his actions in the past, but for what must be done to protect his home and child.

The man responded with a yell, and lunged out with a viscous strike, causing his father to lose balance, but he had blocked the blow and the duel had begun."

Boaz stopped fishing for a moment, and looked at his Dad, surprised to see tears falling down his face.

" What happened next?"

" To your grandfather, the duel seemed to last for a long time, but in reality, it lasted for only a few minutes, with his father emerging victorious. But his father was never the same after that. Every night since that night, he would come home and kiss his son on the head like before, but they never fished at the pond together again."

"So you see son." Dad continued. " This pond to you may be stupid, because you failed to catch any fish, but to your grandfather, it serves as a reminder that he almost lost his father. Think about that next time you throw out a careless insult."

At this, Dad got up and headed back up to the house, leaving Ethan to his thoughts about the duel, that occurred on this very pond, and what it must have been like.

The End.