Change

Danny and Ted were headed to the creek to wet a line.  The boys loved fishing more than anything and could spend hours on the creek bank.  It didn't really matter whether they caught any fish, they just liked to be together.  The boys had been friends forever and spent most of their days hanging out.

As they reached the big bend where they always fished, they could hear the steady flow of the water running over the rocks before it hit the big hole.  The excitement always starting building when they reached this point even though neither of the boys had ever caught a "big one" from the hole.  Today they were fishing with flat tails and were sure they would hang the granddaddy of all fish today.

Danny had brought his rod and reel, but the boys knew they would only be fishing with the cane poles at the creek.  The rod and reel wasn't a good idea on the banks of the tree shaded creek.  There wasn't enough room to cast out without hanging a tree limb or a vine.

They didn't even need a tackle box.  Each boy had a few extra hooks in an old plastic medicine bottle in their pockets.  Extra hooks and their pen knives were all they needed.  Reaching the creek bank, the boys unhooked their lines and baited their hooks, slowly dropping the line into the water.  Even though the water was constantly moving everywhere else on the creek, the big hole was pretty quiet. 

Sticking their poles into the sandy bank, they started exploring the woods.  The boys had spent hours in these woods and knew every secret hiding place here.  They had climbed most of the trees and turned over the biggest rocks.  Both the boys saw the bright orange flag at the same time.   Running to the fence line between Ted and old man Turner's place, they looked for more flags.  There they were about 25 feet apart.  That's when they spotted the bright yellow of some kind of machine. 

Danny and Ted knew what was happening.  Mr. Turner's son was having the timber cut.  The boys forgot about fishing.  They just stood and looked at the flags and the equipment.  Danny asked Ted when he thought they would start cutting.  Ted just shrugged his shoulders.  The boys were visibly shaken. 

Fighting their interest in the big equipment, Danny and Ted talked about all the good times they had had playing in the woods and fishing.  During the summer, this had been their private world.  A place for just them.  Now they wouldn't have a place.  They would sell Mr. Turner's land and houses would be built.  It was happening everywhere.  What had started as a fun filled day was now a day filled with hurt, uncertainty and fear.

Cutting the trees would change their creek, their woods, their life.  Change was coming and the boys didn't like it at all.