– continued from last week’s episode –

Sally regaled Rusty with adventurous tales from Patagonia to the Northwest Territories as he sat in the tattoo artist’s chair… The gun hummed as it moved, creatively painting a northern pike to life on his forearm.

Nearing completion, she approached the sketching wizard, bent to his available ear, and whispered a request to complete the artistry herself. “Hey lady, that’s up to you and this dude,” was the response.

Flathers sat motionless… He was mesmerized like a fish trailing a lure to a boat. “Rusty, do you trust me?”  And with that…  Just below the once gaudy fishing scar, brought to life with the new painting of a radiant fish, she penned this line: “Chicks dig guys with fishing scars, forever SS.”

Officially, a love affair spawned. Their courtship made high society news with a front-page feature in the Low Tide Sportfishing Review.  Rusty Flathers, amateur status angler, had somehow accomplished the impossible. He had landed outdoor fashion model Sally Squatsnfishes, and the buzz in the fishing industry was palatable.

The rancid smell of fish slime inside the ice shanty brought Rusty back to conscientiousness. He pressed the speed dial number that would connect him to Sally’s cell. Her phone rang twice.

She answered on the third ring…

– To be continued –