Azalea
Out
in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, lived a deep-sea fisherman and his
daughter, Azalea. Azalea and her father were two peas in a pod or
rather two sardines on a boat. Ever since Azalea was eight years
old she has lived on a boat with her father, passing through port towns
selling the fish they caught. Azalea’s mother died when she was seven
years old and Azalea has missed her everyday since. When Azalea was
thirteen years old she thought she was one of the best fisherwoman on the
entire Pacific sea because her father would tell her so. Unfortunately
she would have to kill the salmon fish, because her father had to sell
them in port towns to make money. When she would fish for fun she
always threw back her catch.
One
of their usual stops was Anchorage, Alaska. It was a regular blustery
day in Anchorage until her father brought a guest back to the boat.
The first time Azalea saw Rita McGee she knew something wasn’t right.
Rita McGee was not a usual Alaskan looking woman. She had short blond
hair that looked like she stuck her finger in an electrical socket.
She wore all black and her shirt was so short her skinny belly hung out.
It was cold as an icebox in Alaska. How could she have her stomach
hang out in the freezing cold? Azalea only met Rita once and
the next thing she knew, Rita was riding along with them to their next
port town.
The next few weeks were terrible! All Rita
did was complain about fishing. “These fish smell so bad. This
boat is so ugly and old!” Somehow Azalea’s father still seemed to
like Rita. Azalea didn’t know how he could be such an ignorant fool.
Azalea would try to be nice to Rita, but Rita didn’t want anything to do
with Azalea.
To make a long story short, Azalea’s father fell in love with the terrible
Rita. Rita lived on the boat with them for about a month until she
couldn’t handle it anymore. One day, when they were on their way
back to Anchorage, Azalea’s father pulled Azalea aside and said; “I think
it would be great if you went to stay with Rita in Anchorage for a little
while to become a lady instead of a fisherman.” Azalea couldn’t believe
it. There was no way she was going to go live with that terrible
woman. It didn’t matter what Azalea wanted, the next thing she knew
she was packing up her things to go stay with Rita in Anchorage.
The next few months Azalea did not become a lady, she became more of a
maid. Everyday, Azalea had many chores to do, like scrubbing the
docks, cleaning the house, and cooking all the meals. Rita turned
out to be just like Azalea thought – MEAN! Rita had it made with
her new maid; she didn’t have to do anything.
Two months went by and Azalea didn’t hear from
her father. It really worried her, but she had to keep a positive
outlook because she knew he would eventually come back for her. Azalea’s
days were long and tediously filled with horrid chores. Every once
in awhile Azalea would sneak off and go fishing down by Amore Cove.
Azalea met a fishing friend whose name was Carter. Carter and Azalea
would have fun talking about all the places they had been and about Azalea’s
father. Azalea would always tell Carter how her father would come
to get her and they would leave dreary old Anchorage to become world famous
fishermen.
Carter and Azalea would have competitions to see who could catch the biggest
fish. One day Azalea decided to go over to the next cove to catch
her fish, while Carter fished in their usual spot. All of a sudden,
Carter’s fishing line got stuck on something. At about the same time,
in the next cove over, Azalea’s line also got stuck. They both pulled
on their lines, but no fish were appearing. Unexpectedly, Azalea
turned around the rock boulder, still pulling on her line, and their bodies
collided. They were caught on each other’s fishing lines. They
laughed for hours and hours. That night they decided to go downtown
to go out to dinner. As they were walking, they saw a big announcement
for a fishing competition. “Whoever catches the biggest fish – WINS
A BOAT!” Azalea thought, if I win that boat I can go look for my
father, and I will never have to see Rita ever again. As Azalea was
thinking, Carter said pridefully, “Look, I’m going to win that boat!”
Azalea quickly responded, “No, I’m going to win!” As they were arguing,
but also getting excited about the contest, Rita’s voice came out of nowhere
echoing, “You better get home Miss Prissy Azalea, before I kick you out
of the house!” Azalea started to run home. She didn’t care
that Rita was mad because all she could think about was winning that contest.
That
night Rita overheard Azalea saying her prayers. She heard her ask
god to help her win the fishing contest. Rita couldn’t believe that
Azalea still wanted to be around those smelly fish.
The next day was the contest. Carter
came over to pick up Azalea, but Rita answered the door and told Carter
that Azalea was too busy with her chores to go to some stupid contest.
In actuality, Rita locked Azalea in her room, so she couldn’t go to the
contest. Carter sadly went on without her. Azalea was so upset
she cried the entire day. The contest was the only way out of Rita’s
clinches. While Rita was locked up in her room, Carter was
catching the biggest fish ever caught in Anchorage. After he caught
the fish all he could think about was how Azalea deserved to win because
she was the best fisherwoman in all Alaska.
A couple
of days passed and Azalea was so upset she didn’t even want to talk to
Carter. All she did was her chores and listen to Rita complain about
how she was stuck with Azalea.
Four days after the contest, Carter came
over to Azalea’s house to beg her to walk with him down to Amore Cove.
He finally convinced her and as they were walking along the water Azalea
looked up and in front of her eyes was a big fishing boat with the letters
AZALEA written on the back of it. She gasped for air and looked at
Carter with amazement. Carter said, “I won it for you.” Azalea
and Carter set sail the next day to look for her father. They didn’t
know what they would find, but at least they would be on the sea with each
other.