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Now the weekly Special English program “American Stories”.
Our story today is called “the Wide Net”, it was written by Udall Wealthy. Here is Larry West with the story.
William Wallace Jameson’s wife Hazel was going to have a baby, but this was October, and the baby wouldn’t be borne until April. Hazel acted as if it would come tomorrow. She wouldn’t speak to her husband when he came into the room. If he tried to touch her, she would run away from him, or stick out her tongue at him. So one night, William Wallace went out with his friend Virgil Thomas, he didn’t come home until the next morning. Hazel wasn’t there when he got back. Instead, he found a letter from her. It said she was going to the river to drown herself.
He ran out of the house, as he ran, he shouted for Virgil Thomas, who had just gone into his own house, “I’ve lost Hazel!” William Wallace cried to his friend, “She went to drown herself in the river!”
“Why? That’s not like Hazel.” said Virgil.
William Wallace reached out and shook Virgil “We have to drag the river with a wide net!”
“Who will we get to help us pull the net through the river?” Virgil scratched his head, “I’ll get the Doyle’s and you go get the Malone’s.” he said.
They met fifteen minutes later. “Here come all of the Malone’s.” said William Wallace, “I asked four of them to help, but the rest of the family invited themselves.”
“Don’t they always do just that?” said Virgil.
From the other direction came the Doyle’s with the eggs from the breakfast still on their faces. The whole crowd went to see Duck. Old Duck owned the wide net, he had a house on the top of a hill, and he sat outside it on his rocking chair.
“Now what?” he asked, when everyone had arrived and stood in front of him.
William Wallace stepped forward, “If nobody else is using your wide net, could we use it?”
Virgil Thomas pushed William Wallace aside, “We got a reason to think William’s wife is in the river, drowned!”
Duck give a long, low whistle, “Hazel is the prettiest girl in Mississippi.” he said, “a golden hair girl, I never saw a prettier one, never will.” He got to speak and said, “I’m coming with you.”
They followed a path that took them through the deep woods and to the Pearl River. They walked in silence near William Wallace. They would not let him carry anything. Soon, the smell of the river spread over the woods.
“We’re in the changing time,” Duck said, ‘any day now the change will come, it’s gone the turn from hot to cold, and the Old Man Winter will be standing at the door.’
They walked down and suddenly they reached the river. Everyone stopped, but Duck talked down as though nothing had happened; “Only today,” he said, “today in October sun, it’s all gold. The sky, the trees, the water, just before the changes, everything seems to be made of gold.”
William Wallace looked down. He thought of Hazel’s shining eyes, he could see her in his thoughts, sitting at home like a piece of pure gold, too precious to touch.
The men began to unfold the wide net. It was very old and had been used a lot. There in October light, it looked golden too. Since the net was so wide, it was able to reach across the entire river.
Splashing sounds filled the air. the Malone’s with great groans swam across the river. The Doyle’s stayed near Virgil Thomas. Each group grabbed an end of the net and began walking along the riverside. Duck got into a rowboat, and followed the parade from the middle of the river. William Wallace swam in front of the wide net, diving down under water. The dogs chased up and down in and out of the water, and in and out of the woods, where the light fell on the river it trembled gently. The willow trees leaned over the river, their long branches hung like green waterfalls in the morning air. The men were catching lots of fish in the net, big ones and little ones. William Wallace caught more the big fish than anyone else. He and the others put ropes through the fish’s mouth, and pulled them through the water behind them. They caught other things too, old shoes, a lady’s necklace, and a baby alligator.
“It’s time we ate some of these fish.” said Virgil.
They all gathered by a clearing near the river and built a fire, then among clouds of smoke they cooked and ate fish. They ate until they all were so full, they could need anymore, and then one by one they all fell asleep.
The thunder woke them up, lightning flashed in the sky looked black, all color left the world, the golden afternoon was just a memory. A wind touched each man on his forehead. They ran under trees as the hard drops of rain began to fall. The rain fell heavily. When the sudden storm ended, the men looked up the river ahead of them.
“Look,” said Virgil, “we’ve come almost to town.”
There just beyond the trees was Dover, it had rained there, too, and the town looked somehow like new, the way be heat of the late afternoon came down as the men entered the main street. William Wallace walked through the town as if he did not see or hear anything. he carried his great capture of fish high, so that everybody could see it. Virgil came next, imitating William Wallace exactly, then came the Doyle’s and Malone’s, tossing their fish in the air. Behind the entire crowd, walked Duck. The whole town of Dover came out to watch the men. People came out of the houses, the stores, and the post offices. “Did you ever see so many fish?” said the people of Dover.
As the sun ran down, Duck climbed the hill to his house; he sat down in his rocking chair and lit his pipe. William Wallace hung up the wide net, while Virgil Thomas waited for him. Then they both went to say good night to Duck.
“Well now,” said Duck when they came up, “I’ve never seen a better river dragging.”
“But,” Virgil objected, “We didn’t catch Hazel.”
Duck took the pipe out of his mouth, “She wasn’t there,” he said, “girls don’t like water, and they don’t jump in rivers just because they are angry with their husbands, remember that.”
William Wallace looked up, “Didn’t you think this morning she had drowned herself?”
“Not even once!” Duck said.
Virgil and William Wallace walked home slowly. When they reached Virgil’s house, Virgil said good night, and went inside. William Wallace was alone. When he got to his own house; William Wallace saw something he had never seen before in his life. There curved over his roof was a rainbow at night, the moon was out and its light fell on the little rainbow. It made William Wallace think of a lady’s summer dress. The stars shone through the rainbow. William Wallace walked into his house, someone called his name, the voice came from the bedroom.
“What do you want!” he yelled. Then bedroom door opened, and there was Hazel, she had not changed at all.
“Supper was ready,” she said, “I was wondering if you were coming home tonight. Go wash yourself for dinner.”
They sat on the front steps of their house after dinner.”
“Where were you this morning when I came in?” asked William Wallace.
“I was hiding,” she said, “I just finished writing the letter.”
He looked at her, “Did you watch me while I was reading it?”
“Yes,” she laughed, “I was so close to you that you could have put out your hand and touch me.”
He bit his lip and pulled her into his arms, “Do you think you’ll do it again?” he whispered, holding her tightly.
She tried to free herself for a few seconds, and then she suddenly relaxed in his arms, “I’ll do it again if I feel like it.” she said, smiling into his eyes.
It was if he had chased her and captured her again, after few minutes she took his hand and let him into the house.
You have just heard the story “the Wide Net” written by Udall Wealthy, it was adapted for Special English by Dannie D. with the permission from Russell and Volker Lyn Literary Agency, New York. This story is copyrighted, all rights reserved. Your storyteller was Larry West. For VOA Special English, this is Shirley Griffith.
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AMERICAN STORIES - The Wide Net - 2007/6/9 00:45 UTC
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