AvoCorn Soup

Dawn broke over the eastern waters of the Gnorthumbarian Sea. A favorable breeze had blown the Gnogarian Fishing Fleet into position. Six ships flanked the Gnayahmah on the port side while only five remained on the starboard. One of the ships had started taking on water, lots of water, unexpectedly and had to turn around. It was unclear to Gneechee whether or not that ship had managed to make it back to port, beached itself or sank. Yet, she did know that each ship was equipped with sufficient rowboats to accommodate emergencies like that. Furthermore, they weren’t that many hours away from shore and would be able to make it back most, if not all, of the way. Therefore, all the sailors would be fine and be able to fish another day.

Returning her thoughts to her own situation, it was time to get fishing underway. She noted the flags indicating all crewmembers were topside. She gave the signal for the red flag to be hoisted up. Upon seeing the flag, all ships but the Gnaryarka began letting the wind out of their sails thereby allowing the Gnaryarka to take point and begin tossing chum into the sea. Slowing to nine knots, the sea turned red between the two sets of ships as the Gnaryarka pulled out ahead and all ships began tossing chum. Within moments, numerous dorsal fins protruded above the sea’s surface, some following the trail left by the Gnaryarka while others began a feeding frenzy on the chum. A few arrows were shot into the fray wounding a few fish. But, the gnogres didn’t stick around to see the fates of those fish.

Over the years, the gnogres had learned not to fish in the midst of the frenzy for the wildness of the gnucklehead gnourami was so unpredictable that ships could easily be smashed by a tailfin or capsized by a wake. Thus, they sailed onward matching pace with the gnuckleheads following the Gnaryarka’s trail. The goal was to thin out the fish as much as possible as they began feasting.

It took a minimum of four ships per fish. Since these particular guckleheads were very enormous, only two fish were marked. Ships flanked the fish and hapoons were thrown. With the ships and gnogres holding ropes attached to the harpoons, the fish couldn’t submerge. The ships increased distance from one another pulling the lines taut on the struggling fish.

The fish, knowing they had been injured swam as quickly as they could to get away from their feasting comrades. The gnogres directed this action back toward land so that they could take advantage of the energy expended. So far, it was smooth sailing. No lives lost and no ships wrecked. Securing her position at the helm, Gneechee grinned and sang, “Come along everyone. We’ll have fun when the gnucklehead run!”

Gnow that’s Gnomazing!