CONTEST WINNER: CATCH OF THE DAY by Brenda DeLuna

George picked the perfect day to take his dog, Sparky, fishing on Diamond Valley Lake. Not because of the gorgeous weather, but because it was an excuse to get out of the house. He knew he would hear about it when he returned, but he’d have precious hours of peaceful quiet between now and then.

  Last night’s argument with his wife was still fresh in his mind.

“Don’t you tell me there’s nothing to be angry about. I know where you’ve been, and who you’ve been with.”

  He stopped listening. He’d heard it all before. Eventually she stormed out and slammed the door. Later, after she calmed down, he’d tell her she was just being insecure and imagining things. Eventually, she would believe it. Not because it was true, mind you, but because she wanted it to be true.

“It’s her fault that I cheated anyway, Sparky. Years ago, she stopped making me feel like a man. All the other women have no trouble in that department. So, I keep it up, year after year. Have my flings until the wife gets suspicious, then stop until she apologizes. After that, it’s time to start looking for my next good time.” Sparky tilted his head and barked.

  At first it took weeks for her to forgive him, but as the years passed, her apologies for not trusting him took less time in coming. After last night's hysterics, he imagined she'd be so humiliated by her over-reaction that she'd beg him to forgive her when he got back home. Just to be sure, he’d give her the day to stew, make her believe he was upset over such outrageous accusations.

George whistled as he maneuvered his boat to his favorite fishing spot and dropped a line. All the while thinking of how he would graciously accept his wife’s apology and afterwards, pacify her with make-up sex. Stupid, gullible woman. So easy to manipulate.

Smiling, his thoughts drifted to last night's tryst. How exhilarating it was to sneak out under his wife’s nose and have sex with another woman. 

  This one he would miss though. She really fell for him, not like the others who were only in it for a good time. He was growing quite fond of her too. Not fond enough to spend money to buy her jewelry, of course, but fond enough to dig through his wife’s jewelry drawer and find the thick gold chain with the sapphire pendant he bought years ago on their 25th anniversary. This would be just another one of those things she was always ‘losing.’

Another one of the games he liked to play was convincing her she simply forgot whatever excuse he’d given her for being late—after all, Alzheimer's did run in her family. If she contradicted him, he would go into a justifiable rage and tell her she was losing her mind.

He replayed last night. Dressed in nothing but his wife's necklace, what a vision she was. So lost in his lust, he’d made the mistake of telling her he loved her. Something he was always so careful never to say. The look she gave him after was full of passion. No one had ever looked at him that way before. He didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth.

  It was going to be hard to let this one go. Then a thought came to him. Maybe I don’t have to. I just have to make sure I don’t get caught. Slipping some sleeping pills in my wife’s evening tea should do the trick. She’d never even know I left . . .

Sparky’s sharp bark sounded at the same moment that George felt a heavy tug on the line. His pole bent way down. 

  “We hooked a whopper, Sparky!” 

George and Sparky looked into the water for the leviathan that lurked beneath. When the line didn’t budge, he figured the fish was wedged between some rocks. He pulled with all his might. Suddenly, the line broke free.

“Damn! Sparky, it got away.”

George reeled in the slack. Beneath the surface, something shiny caught the light.

  A sick feeling churned in his stomach. Heart pounding, he slowly raised the object from the water.

  Last night, he’d ignored his wife’s foreboding words. Words that now screamed in his brain.

“This is the last time, George! The last time you will ever betray me!”

Police sirens blared in the distance.

  Getting louder.

  Closer.

  In that moment, he understood.

  Beside him in the boat, Sparky whined.

Together, they stared at the broken sapphire necklace dangling from his hook.