"Damn it," he said.

"Peanut is gone," she said, "His kidneys went."

"You scared the hell out of me," he said looking down at the hole cut into the ice.

"I said Peanut is dead."

"To hell with peanut.  I lost the augur."

"Lost it how?"

"Down there," he said.

"The augur is gone?"

"Gone."

"Our new auger?" she said. 

She has moved closer to the hole and is using her girlish hand to fan away the lingering smoke put out by the two-cycle engine.

"Bottom of the lake now," he said shaking his head.

"How?"

"You pulled open that door like you were Buford Pusser," he said.  

"You let it go?" she said.

"I wasn't expecting you."

"Who were you expecting?"

"I wasn't expecting anybody."

"That was a Freudian slip," she said as she stepped inside the shanty then closing the door behind her.

"What's going on in here, Arthur?"

"I'm fishing."

"You said you weren't expecting me. What did you mean by that?"

"I wasn't expecting anybody."

"You said, I wasn't expecting you."

"I wasn't expecting you or anybody for that matter."

"Where is she?"

"Where is who?"

"Your whore," she said then tilting her head back while at the same time taking in tiny spurts of air though her nose.

"What are you doing?"

"I can smell her."

"You're smelling pork rind bait, twenty per jar," he said then handing her the open container.

"You disgust me," she said then lighting a cigarette.

"There is no whore, Joyce," he said then putting his thick fingernail under the pull-tab of a beer can. "Just you, me and the ice."

After a pause she says: 

"Peanut is gone."

"You said that."

"Aren't you sad?" she says then inhaling from the lit cigarette.

"I'm very sad."

She exhales making sure the smoke hits him in the face and when she is certain there is nothing left in her lungs she says:

"You're not sad one bit."    

"Okay I'm not sad," he says.  "Not even one bit."

He is adjusting the propane fueled heater when she points and says:

"Your whore left her earrings."

"Those aren't earrings," he said bending over then sitting upright. "Those are multi-colored maggots with lifelike scents and appearance. Eighty baits per bag."

"Peanut loved you."

"To hell with peanut."

"He really did, Art."

"He would have loved anyone that kept up his treatments."

"You dirty bastard," she said then putting her fingers around his upper arm while at the same time pushing her fingernails into him.

Arthur is pulling line from the AF10 fishing reel mounted on his Frabill Sensive 24-inch graphite fishing rod when he says:

"Dialysis treatments for a dog.  Whoever heard of such a thing."

"He wanted to live," she said then releasing her grip on him.

"So did I."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means 350 bucks a month to keep that stinkin' dog alive was killing me."

After a pause she said:

"I thought you loved peanut."

"I loved him so long as he wasn't costing me 350 bucks a month."

Art baited the stainless steel hook using miniature whole grass shrimp then lowered the line into the icy cold water of Clear Lake. Joyce made a sandwich using sardines packed in mustard sauce putting one sardine after another alongside each other then folding over the white Merita brand bread.

"I loved that dog," she said, not looking at him.

"You'll love another."

"He was special."

"The next one will be special," he said then opening another can.

Joyce turned toward Art (facing him) and said:

"I loved you."

After a pause he said, "You'll love another."

"You were special."

"The next one will be special," he said while letting out more line then raising the can to his lips.

"What do you mean, the next
one?"

"I mean the next one."

"That was a Freudian slip."

"What was?"

"You said next one like there already was another one."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"You dirty bastard," she said then putting her fingers around his upper arm while at the same time pushing her long acrylic nails into him.

"Where's your whore, Art?"

"There isn't any whore, Joyce," he said then prying her hand loose while at the same time kissing her fingers.

"At least I knew where I stood with Peanut," she said then kicking the container of pork rinds into the hole cut into the ice.

"To hell with Peanut."

"That dog loved you," she said unbuttoning her shirt then lifting her brassiere up and over her tits.

"I'll miss the ice auger more than I'll ever miss Peanut," he said unbuttoning then unzipping his pants.

"The Lazer-Mag Ultra?" she said sitting then kicking off her waterproof, insulated winter pants.

"It had a Strikemaster LT 296 aluminum transmission with a 25-1 gear ratio," he said then pushing his mouth to her lips while at the same time putting his hand inside her cotton panties.  

"You disgust me," she said then putting her good female fingers around his ice fisherman's penis.