4. The Best Day Ever: Chapter 2 (1/2)

"okay abby, now in order to catch fish, we have to bait the hook first. otherwise, we won't catch any." phineas passed his daughter a hot pink fishing rod before opening up the tackle box. "now-"

"daddy, what's bait?"

"oh. it's food for the fish to eat. and the food fish love to eat the most is..."

"worms?"

"right!" he pulled a white plastic container out of the box, opening it and holding it out. "abby, these are worms."

she looked inside. "oooo...can i touch one?"

"sure." he watched as his daughter put a hand inside. "well, what do you think?"

she made a face. "slimy."

phineas laughed. "yeah, they're a little slimy, but fish love them. hand one to me and i'll show you what to do." abby handed one to him. "now what you have to do is..."

"there, now we're ready to fish. we have our hooks baited and our fishing lines ready. remember everything so far abby?"

the little girl nodded. "put the worm on the hook and tie him tight, then make sure the line isn't...uh..."

"tangled." the four year old nodded. "okay abby, now watch me." phineas stood on the riverbank, fishing reel at the ready. "first, you gently

ing the pole over your head, then

ing your arm back and..." he paused, trying to think of how to explain the movement. "then

ing your arm forward like you were throwing a ball. only, don't throw the fishing pole. we kinda need that to fish."

his daughter giggled. "daddy, you're silly."

"yes, yes i am." he watched as abby mimicked his movements. it would have been perfect if the fishing line hadn't missed the water by several inches.

"daddy, i missed."

"that's okay abby, try again." she tried again, but with the same result.

"fishing is hard."

he chuckled. "only at first. but once you get it, it's easy." he could see a frustrated frown slowly creeping across his daughter's face. "you know what abby? how about we do it together?"

"okay."

phineas walked behind his daughter, kneeling down so he was level with her. "okay abby, reel your line back in and let's start again." the little girl nodded, slowly reeling the line back in. "now, i'm going to help you. i'm going to grab your right arm and together, we're slowly going to

ing the line back and then release it. ready?"

she nodded.

"good." he gently took her arm, slowly

inging the line over their heads. "now, on the count of three, we're going to release it, okay?"

"okay."