Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Word: Guddle




guddle

[ guhd-l ]
Scot.

verb (used with object), gud·dled, gud·dling.

to catch (fish) by groping with the hands, as under rocks or along a riverbank.

verb (used without object), gud·dled, gud·dling.

to grope for fish under stones, along a riverbank, etc.

noun

Informal . a muddled affair; mix-up; confusion. 
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               Tommy felt around the cold water.  His fingers probed under rocks and through the loose dirt and silt.  He would occasionally feel the wriggling body of the small fish hiding in the water, but they darted away before he could grab any of them.  He let out a frustrated cry at his latest failure.  His siblings looked up from their own attempts at catching fish.  None of them said anything though, neither of them had yet to catch anything either.
               “I can’t do it.” Tommy cried. 
               “Yeah, can’t do it.” The youngest sibling, Christy, whined in the same tone as her big brother.
               “They all swim away too fast.” The oldest of the three, Lewis, said with a pout and crossed arms.
               “Well now, we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?” The voice was deep and powerful, and belonged to their Uncle Paul. 
               The man waded into the river near his niece and nephews.  He rolled up his pant legs and squatted into the water, lowering his hands into the cold, shallow stream.  The three children gathered near their uncle and watched his every movement.  None of them could see what he was doing, only that he came up a few minutes later with a small fish in his hands.
               “There, see?  It’s easy once you know how.” Uncle Paul said.
               “How’d you do that?” Lewis asked.  His eyes were wide and his voice colored by amazement.
               “There’s a bit of a trick to it, certainly.” Uncle Paul said as he released the fish.  “Now then, do you three know why you can’t catch any?”
               “Because they’re too fast.” Tommy said.  “They swim away before we can grab ‘em.”
               “And they’re all slippery.” Christy added.
               “Right.” Uncle Paul said with a nod.  “So, do you know how to catch something like that?”
               “We have to be faster than them, right?” Lewis asked.
               Uncle Paul shook his head.  “Nope.  That’ll get you nowhere here.  Now, for most things, yeah, being faster will usually be enough to catch something.  But not fish.  No, not fish.  You’ll probably never be faster than a fish in a river.  If you get it into something small that’s one thing, but out here?  So, you know what you have to do?”
               “What?” Christy asked.
               “You have to be slow.” Uncle Paul said.  “You have to be really slow and patient and still.  Here, watch again, really carefully.”
               The three siblings gathered around and watched their uncle’s hands as he lowered them into the water.  And then he did not move.  The scattered fish began swimming around, ignoring the man completely.  One swam between Uncle Paul’s hands.  His hands slowly closed around the fish until it was caught.  The children looked on in amazement.
               “How’d you do that?” Tommy asked.
               “Well, it’s because of how fish work.  See, fish are quick things, but they’re not too smart.  They only know that a thing that moves is dangerous.  But something that doesn’t move?  To a fish, especially small ones like this, that’s just another rock or tree branch.  While you’re moving around, they’ll do anything to steer clear.  But once you stop moving, they forget, and won’t care about you at all, which means that a few will swim right up to you without a care in the world.  That’s when you grab it.  But slowly, so it doesn’t notice right away.  Now, try again.”
               The children slowly and carefully chose spots in the shallow water and reached down.  Uncle Paul left the water to dry off and watched them try.  They would eventually succeed, he was sure of that.  All they needed was a little patience.  
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This word sounds like it should be the name of a fish, doesn't it?  It just feels fish-like to me, you know?

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