A Tale of a Rock Angler

By Darren Ramon

In a world of mystery, Billy's biggest challenge was finding what happened to his grandfather's fossil discovered in 1968. Unknown forces took his discovery away and it was never heard from again. The lose of the ancient fish did not go well for Rafael for he had lost something that could have changed his life and the future of his family. As people die, so does the memory of the fossil, that is until Billy finds a news paper archive from the past, from another town not related to his home that printed two articles on this discovery. Billy's grandfather's name was mentioned with clues not known by Billy or his family. Now new and old forces are in play and are determined to stop Billy from discovering the truth about the fossil and his grandfather. This story goes from a real event and evolves into a fictional story since the ending of this real story is yet to be determined by good people like yourself. Discover in this gripping story who the real Rock Angler is and what is the MVM?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darren Ramon
• Release date: Nov 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463628409

Darren Ramon

Retired and ready to share wonderful experiences regarding events that shape our future. More is coming. Educated at RCC and OUP in business, accounting and Computer science. Originally from West Texas with ancestry in both European and native american heritage. Living in the beautiful city of Portland Oregon.

Book preview

Apsopelix

A tale of a Rock Angler

Author

Darren Ramon

Prelude

When my grandfather, Rafael, brought home the fossil he found, well, when I saw it, my eyes opened to a world that had long been forgotten. The fossil was split in two halves but the half that had the face, was most precious of all. You could see it’s details, the socket of it’s eye, its teeth and it’s size. When my grandfather broke the limestone in the middle with his hammer, out came this amazing fish. When he did that, my grandfather became the Rock Angler.

It had beauty that I had never seen before and for a young boy in grade school, it has forever been branded in my mind. He was proud of his discovery, and yet there were unknown forces who wanted to take his find away so that their was no mention of it’s discovery in the local paper but became like the silence of an empty desert, devoid of life with not a shred of evidence that it ever happened.

However, within his home, the fossil meant so much because it was a discovery of a life time. He even allowed me to take it to school and show it off as a treasure. Yet, by that summer, he was asked to loan it out to people he did not know, with the idea that it would be returned.

I would always ask him if and when it was coming back, like a lost family member. He would always tell me that it would be returned soon. So time passed and days became years until everyone forgot or died who knew that the fossil had existed at one time in the home of my grandparents.

I eventually forgot that it was real until old newspaper archives were found but these articles belonged to another town, far away from our home and thus a spark of light ignited my search for the fossil until to this day. I hunt for the missing piece, yet even in silence I can feel that we are getting close to finding it again. Yes, it is almost within reach.

Be forewarned that this story takes an unusual turn so that reality becomes fiction and fiction becomes science fiction. In the end, the search for justice, truth and honor must take place for the man that found it and was ignored, and relegated to invisibility. Thanks to the help of brave individuals in Austin from the Memorial Museum and the people of Fort Stockton, especially our historian Kelly from the Old Fort who are helping me with this project. I thank them immensely on behalf of the Ramon family. I hope that this story will have a happy ending.

Table of Contents

1. The Apsopelix Fish

2. The Fossil

3. Caver School

4. The Fight

5. The Archive

6. The Story Changes

7. The Knock

8. Night Visitor

9. I Care

10 Get Ready

11. The Real Work

12. The Map

13. Johnny

14. Town and Country

15. Follow the Plan

16. The Letters

17. Time to Meet

18. The Meet

19. Deadly Dart and Recovery

20. A New Path

21. Thoughts

22. Ms. Temple

23. Wild West Adventures

24. The Water Cave

25. The Betrayal

26. Fight for Life

27. The Rock Angler

28. The Salt Flat

29. Fly Fish Reunion

30. The Machine MVM

31. What Dreams may Come

32. A Little History

The Apsopelix fish

The water is very warm and the sun is stifling hot. The surrounding air is humid and sticky. In this world, it will be a long time before humans appear and change the course of history.

An ancient fish has been separated from its group and finds itself swimming alone.

Above the sea are islands of land with bellowing sounds of prehistoric animals and large reptile flying birds soaring in the sky as they search for prey and their numbers are as numerous the stars in the heavens.

The waters are murky and full of strange sea creatures, both large and small. Some are shell like creatures weighing over a ton and ready to eat anything. Not far away, is an ancient fish whose family has just been attacked by a group of Mauisauruses.

They are swimming for their lives. They are terrifying to look at but the creatures chasing them are even more frightening. It is a good thing that this bony fin fish is away from danger. It is still young and hungry, it sees a meal but does not realize that the bank of sand is loose.

It has also failed to see a large predator coming its way. It is coming fast and it has a long neck ending with the sharpest teeth you have ever seen. Just when the lone juvenile fish is about to be eaten an underground tremor that releases a poisonous air bubble that kills in seconds, intercepts the predator as it takes a breath, the creature dies right on the spot. The startled juvenile swims in the opposite direction toward a bank of sand that was loosen by the tremor. When it gets too close, the bank fails and it is encased in earth.

The ancient fish has been swallowed by the sand. The sea is quiet but in time the hot sun begins to evaporate the shallow sea and after thousands, perhaps millions of years, the great sea is gone, replaced by a desert. It has been a long time since that fish was alive and swimming. Its kind is extinct, just like many that lived during its day, until now.  

I have always been fascinated by the past but now I have these dreams of someone fly fishing in a quiet stream, with birds singing in the trees, and the splashing of water on shallow rocks. 

A stranger looks at me and tells me, Billy , just loosen the string and throw it like you are throwing a baseball.

How am I suppose to do this? The water is cold? Can’t we just leave? I said.

Seems that I was not enjoying myself even though I felt peaceful doing something I had never done.  I know he was trying to help me but I couldn’t see his face for the life of me. Who was this stranger trying to convince me that everything was alright when I knew, deep down inside myself, that something was terribly wrong. He tried to calm my nerves but like any little boy, I was excited about something even though the cause of the excitement was a mystery.

Don't worry son, you are doing fine. Become one with your environment. Feel the river , how cold it is and imagine that elusive fish, the king of fish, the one we have been looking for all of these years.

I then remembered an unusual fish, one that was different than all others.  They say that a fish like this could change a persons entire life and his future. I kept trying to see if it would ever come out of the water as if it was some sort of fable creature we had heard about but never seen. 

That's when I woke up, not knowing who the stranger was or if I would ever be able to catch the king of the fish. These are just reoccurring dreams that are happening more frequently then before. What is their meaning and why am I having them so often is perplexing.

To better understand the source of this story, we need to go to the beginning, not of time but of the event when it became a reality. I believe the story of the Angler started when I went to visit my grandparents at their tiny grocery store which was the only neighborhood market on the east side of my home town Pecos.

It was an oasis of candies for all the kids in the area. Sugar was a big problem for me but it brought smiles to all the kids in the neighborhood. My grandmother sold more candies than most stores in town. Like me, she was addicted to candies. I was addicted to sugar daddies. Before I entered their house from the back yard, and after placing my bike in a safe place, I played with their dog. A welcome respite from the usual lack of interaction she had with my grandparents.

My grandmother’s dog was called Lady, named after Lady and Tramp, the Disney movie. I felt bad for the dog, since it was suppose to live inside but in my family, outside was the only home for them and it didn’t matter if they were small. 

Most of her life was spent in a cage which wasn’t great either but I was too young to know any better or to help. She was a good dog that should have lived with someone else who cared and not in a small cage that I detested. 

My grandfather’s company truck was always parked on the north side of the property which meant that he had finally arrived from his week-long job assignments from the Texas Highway Department. 

He would travel throughout West Texas, building rest areas, mainly on highways governed by the department. My grandfather loved his work. He was an excellent mason that didn’t mind how the concrete made his hands feel cracked and dry.

He had built his own house out of cinder blocks and rebar. My grandfather brought his family from the valley and had arrived with nothings but the change in his pockets. Now they owned a small market, rental homes and a school bus, which he used to transport braceros to his store mainly on weekends or special days.

I was proud of my grandfather and his comedian side. He was always saying something funny or telling stories like when he abandoned his model T ford, never returning to get it. He was always ready to make everyone laugh, even if he was the brunt of the joke.

Working for the Texas Highway