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Buddy Grant knew now that the storm had broken this was the best time to go fishing. The storm should have churned up the water something fierce, bringing all the big fish out in search of food. Most of the other town folk left when the mandatory evacuation went into effect. Not Buddy, he had never run scared from a hurricane and he wasn’t running from this one. Mais non, this was just a baby storm. Plus, he knew the fishing would be good after Hurricane Henry had struck. He was counting on catching him some nice sized fish. It didn’t bother him that the electricity would be out for a while. He had a generator if he needed to use it, but he remembered growing up with no power plenty of times.
As he headed out in his bateau, he noticed the streets were devoid of life. It was strange seeing no cars out at this time of the day. There weren’t even people out on their porches. The town was eerily quiet.
They were lucky the water didn’t rise any higher, or it would have flooded most of the homes here. He glided the bateau along the streets, being careful to avoid any of the downed power lines. As the water receded, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the use of his bateau as transportation. He noticed several of the older trees were knocked down and lying in the street. The storm was more powerful than he had anticipated, but it still hadn’t been too bad for an old timer like himself.
As a breeze blew along the bayou, it brought Buddy back to the memories of his childhood. He grew up in a rickety old house with his parents and siblings, but it had been such happy times growing up. He grew up learning how to live off the land, never spending time inside unless they were forced to by the weather. The kids nowadays don’t know what it means to catch your supper. Instead, they spent their time playing video games instead of going outside to play.
This particular area had always been rich in game. It was a sportsman’s paradise when it came to fishing and hunting. In today’s world his family would be considered dirt poor, but he didn’t look at it that way. They always had food on the table and never once went to bed hungry.
He didn’t see the body until a slight splash caught his attention. It took a moment for his eyes to focus on the figure half submerged in the dark water. Mais sa c’est fou! This was crazy. He knew it was a dead body; it lay there unmoving. Something told him that this wasn’t a simple drowning, and he headed back to town quickly.