For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Hi everyone! It is a beautiful, sunny, spring day here. This is the kind of day that says spring must be here to stay now. There are no clouds visible from where I sit looking out my living room window. It is a pleasant 63F (17C) at the moment, with the temperature yet to rise to 70F (21C).
Tomorrow and Monday will be slightly warmer, then it will drop back to a more normal early May temperature. However, this is a great way to start the month of May. It was a nice day like this, though later in May, that my Dad, brother and I decided to head out for some early morning fishing. There was a small lake that we had not tried yet and so this was a good opportunity to do so.

It should be noted that this was quite a few years ago when I was in my late teens. My brother was in his mid twenties at the time. Anyway, we were up early and on the lake about 5:30am. The lake was nice and calm and everything was quiet, even though the lake was right beside the highway. However, there isn’t much traffic that time of day.
As mentioned, the lake was small and we had never seen anyone fishing on that lake before. And we did drive past that lake a lot. So, we were all quite excited about the possibilities of getting some fish. After an hour without even a nibble, our excitement was disappearing. Sigh. “Maybe we should rock the boat and see if that scares up some action,” said my brother.
I was in the front of the boat at the time, Dad was at the back. Dad then mentioned that if we rocked the boat, he would throw us both into the lake. Then he did some kind of weird cackling laugh. That got my brother and I laughing. Loud and long. Just then Dad caught a fish, while he was standing at the back of the boat. My brother got the net ready to grab that fish.

It was off the rock that all our fun happened.
Now, what followed was quite interesting. I thought it was, at least. Since my Dad was standing, my brother had put his tackle box on the seat, which Dad also used. Anyway, he was ready to get that fish and Dad was bringing the fish around to that side of the boat. However, my brother was a bit eager to get the fish, so he leaned over the edge of the boat.
He was just barely holding the end of the handle of that net. Leaning over the edge of the boat made the boat tip in that direction. Dad screamed and sat down quickly! Actually, I think he fell down quickly, landing on top of the open tackle box. That sudden fall caused the boat to rock the opposite way! Dad screamed again as he sat on the open tackle box.

My brother screamed because the boat suddenly went the opposite direction. That made him let go of the net and it sunk to the bottom of the lake, never to be seen again. Dad lost his fish as well. Plus he nearly dropped his rod and reel overboard. And he got two fishhooks stuck to the bottom of his, well, bottom! Fortunately they were not in deep so my brother was able to pull them out easily.
“You two made so much noise, it probably scared every fish in the lake,” I said. Dad was now ready to start fishing again and made a nice cast close to some trees that had fallen into the lake. That’s when my brother answered me. “Take’s more noise than that,” he said, “something like this.” He then dropped his tackle box on the bottom of the boat, which was aluminum.
That was actually quite loud. When Dad had made that nice cast, he caught a fish immediately. But that noise must have scared the fish and it wrapped the line around those trees. Then it got away. Leaving Dad’s lure behind. We could see it, but it was too deep to reach it. Dad did finally get it though, while Doug and I were catching fish. I caught 3 and Doug caught two.

This whole area burned in a large forest fire 45 years ago.
Poor Dad didn’t catch any, well, none he was able to keep. Then suddenly the fish stopped biting. Dad sighed and we went out for breakfast at our favorite restaurant. I was 18 at the time, Krissy was 8. Who would have thought that 9 years later, Krissy and I would be going out hiking together.
When we got home, Mom asked Dad why he didn’t catch any fish. He just said, “Because I had 2 sons with me.” Very strange answer. I hope you all have a great weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
Everyone was excitedly talking about my new abilities and trying to figure out if this means I’m a ghost or not. Sky didn’t say anything, nor did Kristina, they both just sat quietly and smiled, with Sky smiling the most. I don’t think I have ever seen Sky so excited, except perhaps for the day we got married. Honestly, I’m not quite certain why she is so excited.
Well, maybe it’s the fact of us being sort of ‘twins’ now that I can do what she does. This is something that can prove to be very helpful for our team now, though I did enjoy the ability to call Sky anytime, anywhere and she would show up, even with food. But, I guess we can still do that. Does this mean I can’t be killed now? Does this mean I’m dead and now a ghost? Or am I alive and now a ghost?
This is kind of confusing. Hopefully Jennifer and Kat can clear up my confusion once this case is over and we can spend some time talking about these things. Suddenly it was back to reality. “Hey, my dear husband,” said Misty, “my sister is on the phone, waiting patiently for you to talk with her.” She was sitting beside me as I laid on the bed, she was smiling and holding the phone.
“Oops, I hope she’s not angry with me,” I said and took the phone, “I’m so sorry Misty, I was daydreaming and it took a bit for Cristy to wake me up.” “I think you’re still daydreaming Steve,” she said, “I’m Cristy, she’s Misty, remember?” “Oops, sorry again,” I said as all the girls laughed. I could hear Cristy sigh on the other end.
“Anyway, I have been checking on this Chambers guy and there is no such person,” she said, “not anywhere, yet he is the owner and CEO of that company. There are no photos of him available anywhere either. He has no driver’s license, no health coverage, nothing. He just does not exist. I even got Cynthia to help me out, but still nothing.
I asked Hannah, Carolyn, Jazzy, Mandar and Rossana, but still nothing. He just does not exist. He doesn’t even file his taxes each year, yet he makes a lot of money as the CEO, some $400,000 per year.” “Did you check him out as a woman too?” I asked. There was silence. “Are you still there Cristy?” I asked.
“I’m tired Steve, I need to go to bed,” she said, “is that okay? I’ll call back in the morning, like, real morning, not in the middle of the night morning.” “That’s okay Misty,” I said, “you are probably tired, it’s been a long day for you, why not go to bed?” “Why didn’t I think of that?” she said sighing, “And my name is CRISTY!”
“Oops, I’m sorry,” I said rather sheepishly. The girls were laughing again and Cristy hung up. “I hope she’s not mad at me,” I said. “Why would she be mad at you for keeping her up super late,” said Misty, “and forgetting her name and basically telling her she’s stupid for not checking on this Mr. Chambers as a woman.
I mean, who would ever think of checking on a “he” as a “she” when everyone calls him Mr. Chambers? And his name is Wendel, who would call their daughter Wendel, it’s a boy’s name. And…” “Um, I get the message,” I said, “I will apologize to Misty when she calls back in the morning.” “Steve, look at me,” she said, “who am I?”
“Misty,” I said, “I called her Misty didn’t I?” “Yep, a few times,” said Misty, “and after all she does for you too.” I kinda felt bad about that now. “Maybe I should call and apologize,” I said. “No, she went to bed,” said Misty, “you are not waking her up.” “Good idea,” I said, “let’s go to bed, I’m tired.”
“Steve, there are 4 other girls that sleep in here,” said Misty, “are you going to order them to bed this early?” “Good idea Misty,” I said, “everyone, time for bed.” Everyone groaned. Sky came and sat beside me and put her arm around me. “You’re just having some problems because of what is happening to you right now,” she said, “that’s normal at the beginning, it will settle down after a while.”
I looked at her, she was smiling again. “Promise?” I asked. “Yes, I promise,” she said. I then looked at Misty, who smiled too. Then I whispered to Sky. She giggled. “That won’t be a problem,” she said. “What did he say?” asked Misty. “Did you hear what he said?” asked Sky. “If I heard what he said I wouldn’t be asking what he said,” she replied.
“Well, if you didn’t hear what he said, then how do you know he said what you didn’t hear?” asked Sky. Misty stared at her and blinked a couple of times. “Steve is right, it’s time for bed,” she said. There was a lot of loud sighing suddenly, but we all went to bed and the night passed quietly. Good thing we went to bed early though, Jennifer, Angel and the rest of the girls and cats that had been security guards were told to leave by Sienna.
The police were taking over completely now, so it seems our part is now over. They are also investigating the murders of Tammy’s parents. They will also investigate Finders, Helene and Wendel Chambers. I didn’t care about them taking over Finders, but Helene and Chambers attacked us, which makes them our case first of all.
However, there were several law enforcement agencies involved now and they didn’t quite see things our way, so we were politely told to stay off the case. Ezra was free to go so Sienna asked us to bring him back to France with us. His sisters wanted him close by for a while and he, with his kids, will be living with his sister and her family that are close to us in France.
On the flight home Ezra was asking a lot about our team, what we did and who is allowed to join. Perhaps he is thinking about joining us and that would be okay, we can always use more men on our team. However, there is the problem of what to do with his children. Apparently he has already been discussing this with his sisters.
The one in Germany will be taking the baby and raising her as they are unable to have children of their own. They may take the other girl, who is 3, as well. And if Ezra worked for us, he would be close enough to still spend a lot of time with his kids. This might indeed be good for everyone. “Misty, I want you to know that I truly appreciate all the help and sacrifice you do for us,” I began,
(she tried to interrupt saying, “me? but…”), “and you never complain about it either even when I get impatient (“me? yeah, but”), and playing the part of my wife is not an easy job (“yeah, but”) and yet you do your job perfectly not asking for anything (“yeah, but”) and you have fit into your role so nicely, like it was just natural for you
(“yeah, but”) always volunteering for things even if it’s something new for you (“yeah, but”) and from now on you and Cristy are going to get the recognition you both deserve (“yeah, but”).” I stopped and looked at her, she stared back, then threw her arms around me and said, “thankyou”.
Well, this case may be officially over, but yet, it isn’t. It’s terrible when a case doesn’t really end the way it should. Helene is still around and we need to find out more about Mr. Chambers. Meanwhile, we wait for another case.
The End. But another case will come along soon.
©2025 Steve McLeod.