Julian The Fish: A Short Story: Julian The Fish

The morning was as dark as night. The fog waved over the ground and the trees cracked. They were escorted by the Julian the Fish. An angler known to be the fastest swimmer in the county, hence the nickname. A tall man with long grey hair, he was wearing a black west and a brown straw hat. In his right hand, he held a lantern to light up the path. They had not used horses that morning, hoping not to make sound when they passed the centre. The river was flowing furiously at their side with rivertrouts leaping up in the air. They had not walked long before they reached the crime scene. The darkness blinded them; they could not see the body until The Fish lighted up some torches. Then they saw the pale wet body lying amongst hundreds of dead trouts.

Water and blood blended into a nice shade of red. On his bare chest lay an enormous river trout. The fish was the biggest of the bunch; its skin shined both red, orange and green. The stranger bent his knees to get a closer look. ‘’There is no blood on the victim, except the head. He could have been drowned and then scalped, but not likely.’’ The stranger opened the victim’s mouth to look. He asked The Fish to borrow the lantern for better lightning. Pace did not know what he was looking for, but he thought it probably had something to do with the drowning. The stranger stood up. ‘’He drowned, but by the state of his head, he was scalped before drowning. I believe. What was the victim’s name?’’ he looked over at Julian as he came in for a better look. He inspected the victims face for a while. ‘’I do not know who this person is. He looks unfamiliar to me. If his hair was intact though...’’ This time, Pace did not want to step closer to the body. It looked uncomfortably to walk on the fish. He saw the stranger concentrate not to slip on those slimy animals. In the end, he managed to get over and they left the place as the sun raised in the