Im smiling, but you should be scared. Thats not just any fish its the damn catfish, and Dad caught it. Hes holding it up like a trophy, grinning like he just won the world. But I know what it really is: a living nightmare, still twitching in his hand. Its not dinner. Its not bait. Its the thing that crawls out of the water and stares back with eyes that dont belong. Dad had the catfish and now its in my face. The windows bright, the trees are still, and I can hear it breathing. Dont look. Dont breathe. Dont move. Just dont look.

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