A fishy find on the stream bed
Heavy rainfall had washed sediment into the stream from the surrounding farmland. Covering submerged stones and snagged branches like a thick bloom of dust, the silt rose, swirled and settled as I waded out towards the centre of the channel where the water deepened and cleared. The watercourse was formerly part of a system of watercress beds, and mats of leafy, emerald-green watercress still grow rooted into the stream bed, providing cover for the creature I sought.
I crouched down and gently overturned a boulder - nothing. Carefully replacing it I moved on to investigate three more potential hiding places, all unoccupied. I've been visiting the stream since I was a child, and back then I learned that I could reliably return to some rocks week after week and find my quarry nestled beneath.
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