There was nothing my grandson Miles loved more than fishing. I spent a lot of time at his house, so I knew just how devoted he was to his hobby.<\/p>\n
Every day during that summer after fourth grade he\u2019d head out with his pole, his tackle box and a bag of stale bread to toss into the pond for bait. He didn\u2019t keep the fish he caught, but he kept a detailed written record for himself.<\/p>\n
One afternoon Miles came running home, bursting with excitement. \u201cI caught the biggest fish ever today!\u201d he announced. \u201cIt was this big!\u201d He stretched his hands apart carefully, giving us the length from nose to tail. \u201cYep, it was exactly this big!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s great, Miles,\u201d I said. \u201cYou must be fishing with angels!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark, his father, shook his head. \u201cYou caught a fish that big in a pond that small? I think someone is exaggerating a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face fell. \u201cI\u2019m not!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark laughed. \u201cOkay, then. Someone\u2019s fibbing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a lie,\u201d his mother, Joan, said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fish story. That\u2019s what people call it when fishermen go a little overboard talking about a catch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joan was trying to be helpful, but it just made Miles more upset. Even his older brother, Tommy, didn\u2019t believe him. \u201cNo way,\u201d he said. \u201cYou really would need an angel to catch a fish like that in the pond.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a lie and it\u2019s not a fish story!\u201d Miles said loudly and stomped up the stairs.<\/p>\n
He stayed in his room until dinner. When he came reluctantly downstairs I tried to cheer him up. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s hard for people to believe things they haven\u2019t seen with their own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUp in my room I thought about keeping the next fish I caught just to prove it to them,\u201d he said. \u201cBut why should the fish have to die so other people will believe me? I decided I didn\u2019t care. Me and God know how big the fish was, and that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was impressed by how well Miles had handled his frustration, but I couldn\u2019t help but wish he\u2019d been able to offer some proof of his champion catch.<\/p>\n
His mom bought him a disposable camera to take to the pond on the outside chance he caught another big one. I hoped that would solve the problem.<\/p>\n
A few day later Miles came home with another fish story. \u201cI couldn\u2019t get the camera out of my bag in time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure you couldn\u2019t!\u201d said Tommy, grinning. \u201cJust admit it already. No picture, no fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I got a picture all right,\u201d said Miles. \u201cThe fish was wriggling around on my line while I wrestled with my camera bag. When I was sure I\u2019d have to give up and throw it back, a lady came walking by with a little white dog. I\u2019ve never seen her at the pond before.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe pulled a camera out of her pocket and offered to take my picture. She says she\u2019ll come back to the pond tomorrow and give it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story sounded a little fishy\u2014a lady walking by at just the right moment? With a camera? But sure enough the following afternoon Miles brought home a picture of himself with a very impressive fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess we can\u2019t argue with this one,\u201d Mark said. \u201cIt\u2019s right there on film. I wonder who that lady was.\u201d I wondered to myself if the angels at that pond carried cameras!<\/p>\n
Miles continued to fish at the pond and he took lots of pictures for his scrapbook. Sometimes his family still teased him about the ones that got away. It was all in fun, but Miles didn\u2019t like anyone thinking he was a liar, even as a joke.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
God knew he was telling the truth. People were harder to convince.<\/p>\n
On the last day of summer vacation I went over to the house in the late afternoon. Miles came bounding through the door. From the look on his face, he\u2019d caught a big one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest one of all,\u201d he claimed. \u201cI was lying on the bank looking up at the clouds when I felt a tug on my line. I really had to wrestle with it. With my other hand I tried to find my camera. I felt all around my bag and even dumped it out on the bank. But the camera wasn\u2019t in my bag!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo no picture,\u201d said Tommy. \u201cNo picture of the biggest fish ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLooks like it,\u201d said Miles, with a little smile. \u201cGuess you\u2019ll just have to believe me because I say it\u2019s true.\u201d He trotted up the stairs to get ready for dinner. Miles didn\u2019t seem upset. He changed clothes, did his chores and ate dinner without bringing up the fish.<\/p>\n
But after dinner he got on his computer and called us into the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI forgot to finish telling you about what happened today at the pond,\u201d he said. \u201cA man came running down to the bank as I was about to let my big fish go. The man\u2019s house overlooks the pond. He\u2019d seen me searching for something and thought I was in trouble, so he came running out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles tilted his computer screen so we could see the e-mail the man had sent. Miles clicked on the photo attachment: a shot of Miles at the pond. In his hands he held the most enormous trout stretched across his chest. The fish\u2019s head was in one hand and the tail in the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was sure lucky Mr. Stevens looked out his window at just the right moment, wasn\u2019t it, Dad?\u201d Miles asked. \u201cYou see, he\u2019s a photographer. He was in such a rush to help me he didn\u2019t stop to take the camera from around his neck.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more than lucky,\u201d Mark said, staring at the picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother angel at the pond!\u201d I said. The family laughed. Tommy held up his hand for a high five with Miles.<\/p>\n
No one ever would have believed there were fish that big in that little pond. They wouldn\u2019t have believed there were angels there either. Miles had proved them wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n