As the car came to a halt, Isaac started bouncing excitedly in his seat.  He saw that the dull highways and cement walls transformed into palm trees rooting in the beach sand.  At that moment, his father announced, “We’re here, Isaac! Get ready.  Today’s going to be a day you’ll never forget!”
Isaac, blinded by the fact that they were at the beach, completely disregarded his father’s comment, and ran out the car onto the concrete.  Impatiently, Isaac waited, tapping his toe in his sandals, waiting for his father.  His father appeared on the opposite side of Isaac, and was geared up with a fishing net and a fishing rod. 
With one glance, Isaac started trembling, and shaking his head.  He said, “Dad, where are we going? It’s not where I think, is it?  You know where I’m talking about.  It’s my worst fear…”     
His father, with a sympathetic expression on his face nodded slowly, and calmly said to Isaac, “I’m sorry to say that we are going there.  You need to get out of your room, and get your face off of a screen.  I know you’re afraid, but if you are scared of something, you cannot let it take over you.  You must conquer your fears.  Prepare yourself for the journey of your life.  On the ocean.”
Isaac contemplated what his father said, and took a deep breath.  He started to shake his head in disagreement, but rethought. He inhaled and exhaled once more, and hesitantly nodded once.
With his feet trembling, Isaac lowered himself from the dock.  He shifted his weight from the security of the wooden dock, and dropped onto the cold metal of the boat.  Feeling himself suddenly drop, Isaac had a sudden flashback, thinking he was plunging into the darkness of the water.  He remembered from when he was a toddler, plummeting into the pool, nearly drowning.  With his ears popping, struggling to breathe, his hatred of the water blossomed.  Hitting the bench, he was brought back to reality with a pang.
Isaac promptly sat down, waiting for his father.  His father plopped down on the boat, and walked over the bench that Isaac was sitting in.  His father stepped to the front of the boat and started the engine. Isaac felt seasick the moment he stepped onto the boat. He stared down at his feet as they swished across the ocean, as they were on their way.  
After a couple of minutes of silence from Isaac, and his father trying to find a prime fishing spot, they stopped.  Isaac’s father dropped an anchor and salty spray hit Isaac’s face.  Isaac let out a little yelp, and wiped it off as quickly as he could, clearly repulsed by the water.  They were dead in the water, with the anchor keeping the boat in place. and his father laid the bait box in front of Isaac.  He showed him how to tie the fisherman’s knot to secure the bait, and how to set up everything. 
Isaac gazed off into the sunset, both bored out of his mind and terrified at the same time.  As he was about to peacefully drift off to sleep, a strong odor caught his attention.  He took a whiff, and smelled something fishy, a mixture of the inside of a crab trap and the remains of the inside of a fish.  As he turned and faced his father, Isaac saw a horrendous sight.  About twelve mushy, frozen pieces of squid were in a Ziploc bag, with a gooey substance encasing all of them.  As his father ripped the bag open, the same putrid aroma, but stronger, rose into Isaac’s nose, and he gagged.  Isaac just looked back at the sunset, attempting to rid his nose of the nasty smell of the bait.
Next, Isaac’s dad grabbed a squid out of the bag without any reaction, and laid it on the bench within the boat.  He took out a small knife, and chopped up the squid into small pieces, while Isaac watched.  Isaac stared at the body of the disassembled squid, and caught the squid’s eye.  He thought he saw the eye move, and stare directly back at him.  Nearly barfing, Isaac turned away and went and watched the sunset again, trying to get the image out of his head.  Isaac’s father took the squid, and put it on the hook, with his hands filled with a slimy substance from the squid.  With a glance, and not disgusted at all, he dipped his hands in the ocean water, and rinsed off the goo.  He threw the line over the edge of the boat, and closed the bait box.  He cleaned up his mess methodically, and started heaving up the anchor.  With a thud, the anchor landed on the boat, after his father pulled it up with ease. 
Suddenly, Isaac heard a muffled vibrating noise, and looked at his father, who took a phone out of his pocket, and quickly stopped the motor.  He said to Isaac, “Hang on, this should be over soon, I need to take this call, buddy.  Once I’m done, we’ll catch some fish.”  Isaac nodded silently, and his father started talking through the phone.  Isaac was bored out of his mind, and terrified at the same time. 
He wished that he could be home in his bed, watching a video, playing video games, and writing his coding project.  Isaac has been working on the project for several weeks now, and wanted to get it done, so he can release it to his father’s company.  His father was proud of him writing that code, since it was very advanced, and took lots of skill.  As he longed for this, he rested his head on his shoulders, and sighed.  Yet, all he could do at the moment was wait for his father to finish his phone call, and hopefully, return soon.
Out of the corner of his vision, he saw a jerking movement.  He realized it was the rod, and stared at it.  Nothing happened for a couple seconds.  Then, it happened in front of his very eyes, the rod started vibrating up and down, meaning that a fish was on the line.  He looked back at his father, busy with the phone, and thought about the fish. If it was left for too long, it would run away.  He moved his hand toward the rod, and then jerked it back, thinking about his fear.  Then, impulsively, repelling his fear for that split second, he grabbed the rod, getting ready for his battle with the monster of the sea. 
Isaac gripped the rod tightly, and immediately felt the power of the fish.  He felt the throttling force of the rod, and pictured the fish under the sea.  Isaac’s hands started to tremble, and he thought about his father’s words.  “Isaac, trust me.  You need to get out of your room, and get your face off of a screen.”  With these words from his father echoing in his mind, Isaac took a deep breath.  He desperately wanted to make his father proud, and started reeling.  With each reel, he felt his father’s presence watching over him, encouraging him to keep going.  He took a couple of reels in, ignoring the fish’s strength.  “I know you’re afraid, but if you are scared of something, you cannot let it take over you.”  Isaac took another few reels in, and completely lost thought of his fear of the ocean.  “You must conquer your fears.”  As his father’s last words rang throughout his mind, Isaac had only one goal in his mind at that moment.  He wanted to please his father, and catch this fish once and for all.  He just wondered when his father was going to be done with his phone call.
While these thoughts were running through Isaac’s head, he was clueless that his father was spectating him as he was catching his fish, and conquering his fears.  He had finished his phone call a few minutes before, but was silent to see what his son would do.  He beamed, as he realized his son was fighting his fear, and listening to his words. 
Isaac’s father observed his son, and found that the line in the reel was getting thicker, and that his son was getting enthusiastic that the fish was almost in the boat.  As silent as a cat, he gently stood up from the metal bench, slowly, so he doesn’t disturb Isaac.  He gingerly took a step forward, and landed by curving his foot from heel to toe, making sure not to make a single sound.  Reaching out with his hand,  Isaac’s father clasped his hand over the net, and held it tightly in both hands.  After returning, he just stared at his son, mentally encouraging him and sending him positive thoughts, while he clenched the net with both fists, waiting for the right timing.
On Isaac’s side, he was almost there, he felt the fish’s strength dwindling, as his grew greater.  He reeled the line in, reel after reel, his father’s words on repeat in his mind.  Suddenly, he felt the tension break loose, as the fish flew out of the water.  It was huge, nearly three-quarters of his height.  It was a monster-sized bass, flying through the water.  Then, it ran through Isaac’s mind that there was nobody to use the net to catch the fish.  Just as the thought ran through his head, his father swooped in with the net, and caught the fish.  
Isaac whipped around in shock, and turned to his father.  Only one word popped out of his mouth.  “How?”  His father just nodded and beamed, as he started his speech.  “Good job, Isaac! You did what I told you to do.  I finished my phone call a while ago.  I’m happy that you caught your fish.  You now have a new hobby, fresh dinner, and also, your fear of the sea is gone.  I’m proud of you.”
Just as Isaac listened to all of this, he smiled as well.  As he listened to his father praise him, the last four words rang in his head, just like when he was fishing.  “I’m proud of you.”  Isaac couldn’t speak, but just gave his father a hug.  His father hugged him back, and gave him a pat on the back, and whispered, “I’m proud.”  His father took the motor, and turned the boat back to the dock.  He decided that the fish Isaac had caught was big enough to feed the family.  As they headed back, the boat hit a rock, and Isaac got drenched in saltwater.  Instead of screaming or trying to shake it off, Isaac just looked back at his fish, and did something he never did on the ocean.  He smiled.