The Ring and the Fisherman

The fishing team returned to the shore with the catch. It was a good fishing outing. The nets were hauled in and the fish that were caught in them were offloaded. The leader of this team was Haru. Haru was a champion fisherman. Everyone in his fishing village knew of his extraordinary fishing skill and knowledge of the fish. Haru and his team of fishermen generally went out to sea for their fishing. But this time there was a warning from the weather office. Fishermen were advised not to venture out to the sea as there was going to be a deep depression and as a result, the sea would be turbulent and squally.

Hence, Haru and his team decided to cast their net on the large fresh water lake at the edge of the city. Fishing in the fresh water was not much of an attraction to them because it was not as adventurous and glamorous as the call of the sea. So there was not much of an expectation also. However sitting it out at home for the weather to improve was not a good option for Haru.

The fresh water experiment proved to be not too bad after all. The fresh water catch could easily compare one with that from the sea.

As a practice when the net was offloaded Haru was the first to assess the result. The first lot was distributed among the fishermen for their personal consumption and the rest was sent to the market. The first lot of fish was for the captain that is Haru.

Among his lot, one fish caught Haru's fancy. The shape of the fish looked a little odd. To a layman, it would have hardly made a difference but Haru who knew about fishes like the back of his palm that fish seemed little odd. He ordered the fish to be cut down the length. From the gut came out smeared in blood an object of metal. After the thing was properly washed it was found to be a ring. The ring which glistened in the light looked to be made of gold.

Haru kept wondering about the newfound asset. He was at a loss about the presence of the ring in the fish's stomach. Thinking of taking the ring to a jeweller to assess it's worth he fell asleep. Tired as he was he felt into a deep sleep.

In his sleep Haru had a weird dream. Someone seemed to be in deep trouble it appeared and was appealing to him for help. Though it was not very clear to him but he could make out the word 'police' from the voice. The voice seemed to be in a lot of distress and saw in Haru as his saviour.

Soon he woke up and the very thing Haru did was which he had already decided to do. He took the possession and went straight to the nearest police station. There he elaborated the full story and also told the dream to the officer in charge. At first, Haru did not arouse any interest in the mind of the officer but then someone prompted the officer to give a thought. So a case was registered and the article collected. In the case of any need related to this, Haru's services and time would be called for.

Haru went away and got busy with his work. In a few days, he almost forgot about the incident. Then one day he was called to the police station. There he was narrated a story which took him by utter surprise.

A few months ago a case of disappearance was registered in one of the police stations in the city. After a few days of investigation, the police had gone slow on the case as they were not able to get any lead. At the time of registering the case one of the items recorded in possession of the person was a ring. On receipt of this ring, the police contacted the missing person's family members and got a nod of affirmation as of being his personal belonging. The police were on a red hot lead. The best navy divers' help was sought and after a large scale diving operation conducted in the lake, a decomposed body of a male human was recovered. It was many months now since the missing diary was recorded by a local businessman. The motive was still then unknown. After conducting a series of forensic tests the identity of the businessman was established. The Police now could restart the investigation which had almost trickled down for want of clues.

The family members of the deceased and the police both independently had announced a reward each for any information regarding the matter. Without a doubt, Haru was the recipient of both the awards. Haru was felicitated by the local body in the town hall. After accepting the award and the citation, he suggested that the amount he received should be used to start a fund to help people in distress. The local body head praised Haru for his benevolent gesture. So indeed a fund was floated and everyone was requested to donate generously. By sudden tryst of destiny, Haru was now looked upon with awe and inspiration.