Haley and the Catfish Invasion (Haley and Nana 2)

A Girl, a Grandma, and... Catfish?

Haley and Nana return in a second heartwarming adventure! Having embraced her new meta class, Haley is ready for anything... except, possibly, a plague of seafood! It turns out it's harder than she thought to sit back and let other people handle the problems she really, really wants solved....

This second installment in the adventures of a post-apocalyptic world with a game system imposed on it by magical aliens contains yet another recipe, because (once again), that's the kind of story this is. Curl up with some cornbread and watch Haley craft her way through another quick read!

Genre (setting): gamelit fantasy
Tags: cooking, baking, family, gaming, litrpg, religion, calligraphy, wildlife, ecology
Rating: G

Excerpt from Haley and the Catfish Invasion

Haley hopped off the bike and followed Oliver’s stare. “Is… that… a fish? Next to my front door?”

“That is a fish,” he confirmed.

She walked over, baffled. The critter flapping around on the grass was a bona fide, living fish, blue-black and the length of her forearm, with long trailing whiskers and large fins. No feet, no fangs, no red eyes. Just… a fish.

“Where did it come from?” she asked. “We don’t have a well, and there’s no water around.”

Oliver joined her. “That’s easy. It’s a walking catfish. It must have come from somewhere else.”

“A what?”

“A walking catfish.” He prodded it with the tip of his shoe. “I read about them while I was doing research for my homestead. They’re an invasive species, came from Asia. People eat them there with curry sauce.”

“A walking catfish.”

“Yeah, sure. Do you have a pail? I can catch it for you and maybe your grandmother can fry it.” He looked hopeful. “She can fry things, can’t she?”

“Of course she can,” Haley said. “You’re sure it’s edible?”

“If it’s not, maybe the system will tell us?”

Why hadn’t she tried squinting at it? Maybe because watching it flap around on dry land was so bizarre she couldn’t stop staring at it with her normal eyes. Summoning information about it informed her that it was a [Level 1 Walking Catfish], and that it was classified as a critter, rather than a monster. “Looks like you’re right.”

With a bucket, Oliver easily scooped up the stranded fish and offered it to Nana. While the two talked, Haley retreated to her room to find a good scroll reward for Oliver. A quest that awarded 300 XP needed a significant reward. She wasn’t sure which to give him… but maybe a choice would be a good addition to the reward’s value? She brought her Special Scroll of Vigor and her Scroll of Wealth to the kitchen where both Nana and Oliver were already at work: Nana on the catfish and Oliver on the brownie that had been offered as the side quest reward.

“Which of these two would you like?” she said.

“Oh, definitely the Vigor! Thanks. Your grandmother said I could come back for dinner if I wanted fried catfish!”

“There’s more than enough to make fritters for all of us. And if I’m frying, might as well make some hushpuppies,” Nana said.

“I’ll help with those. Oliver, thanks for fulfilling the quest.”

“Anytime!”

After he left, Haley went to grab the cornmeal from the pantry. “Have you ever seen anything like that thing, Nana?”

“Lord, no. Your grandfather used to go fishing, but he never brought home one of these. Strange looking creature, isn’t it? But I have a skill that tells me if things are edible, and it declares this is going to be fine eating.”

“Poppy went fishing? Is there a pond nearby?”

“Oh, the one past the fire station.”

“Where Mr. Ellis is now.” Haley took down a ceramic mixing bowl.

“Yes, though back then it was Maurice Babin’s place. Frederick Ellis bought that property ten years ago, after Maurice moved north to live with his daughter and her family.” Nana scooped out more fish bits, which Haley carefully didn’t watch. “Frederick Ellis, now, he’s more of a keep-to-himself type.”

Thinking of her quest board, Haley said, “He helped Billy with some scraps for Mumps. Does he like children?”

“Goodness, I wouldn’t have said so. Bit of a curmudgeon, or so the rumor goes. I never had a chance to learn for myself; he rarely comes to town. Doesn’t attend services, either, or at least, I’ve never seen him at one. Goodness, I haven’t had a fried fish in ages. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had fish more often? And catfish is so tasty.”