Fishing with Paps

It’s difficult for a young man to find his place in the present when he can’t escape the past. Ethan Simms doesn’t believe in a perfect world, not even a good world. Eventually, everything good goes to bad, so what’s the point? He thinks happiness is temporary, but the pain of losing it lasts forever. Far too often he has been responsible for crushing the happiness others think will last. But it’s the shame that comes from his biggest secret that could make him the most pained of all as he searches for meaning in his actions and for his place in a wicked world. Then one day what was supposed to be a brief goodbye to his dying grandfather Joseph, whom Ethan has always called Paps, turns into a series of visits as Ethan learns the chaptered story of a great man’s happy life. Paps doesn’t deny that the world is cruel, and he uses his own emotional tale as an example of its viciousness. But amidst his dark experiences in World War II and losing loved ones during and after, a unique joy stands out in his spirt, exemplifying the beauty that is so often overlooked in the world. Frozen in time, his story shows Ethan the idea that fairy tales do exist if we only let ourselves be a part of them. And best of all, there is good that can stretch across an eternity. Even so, Ethan isn’t so sure. Is happiness possible for everyone or are some people damned from the start? Ethan finds himself on a journey in which he comes face to face with his biggest secret, searches for himself in the current war in Iraq, and looks for something that may have never been lost in the first place. Possibility. 3