The short story, “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D. Wetherell is a narration about a 14-year-old young man who has a crush on Sheila Manta 17-year-old lady. This boy is fanatical about Sheila and at one point against all odds he gets the nerve to ask her out to a dance that is just about to be held. To the amazement of the boy, Sheila agrees to keep him company to the dance. The evening before the dance, this boy cleans his canoe that he plans to use to take them to the dance. In the process of cleaning the canoe, he drops his fishing line in the water then forgets to remove it. After picking Sheila up, they head straight to the dance. However, halfway through the journey the fishing line he had forgotten to remove catches the biggest fish he has ever caught and he has to decide whether to keep the fish or Sheila who hates fishing with a passion. He decides to favor love at the expense of his fishing line and the bass he has caught. The reason why I enjoyed reading this particular piece of literature is the moral lessons I have been able to get from the story. The first thing that impresses me most about this young boy is the way he faces situations. Just like this boy, there are numerous times when I have been called upon to make decisions at the spur of the moment. These are times when I have to choose between staying with my dream or compromise to get something else that I may need to get at that particular time. The story told me how to go for what I believe in despite what is at stake in doing so. Looking at the young boy, he had to sacrifice the fishing line that cost him $40 to win the love of Sheila. Sacrifice is one thing that the world should learn. The story taught me how we should sacrifice some things in life just to keep others happy. With all the things happening in the world, the sacrifice that was made by this young man should be a wake-up call to all of us who believe in making the world a better place for humankind. Looking at the end of the story, when Sheila decides to go home with Eric Caswell’s Corvette, all that the boy says is “Okay”. To me, this is such a good attitude that I have learned to emulate. Despite the numerous sacrifices that this young boy had made, he decides to have the right attitude towards his situation. Though he had sacrificed the biggest bass that he ever caught and his fishing line for a girl who embarrasses and dumps him, he decides that spilled water can never be collected and he decides to move on. This has told me how to forgive myself when I have done some foolish mistakes in life. The other thing that made me enjoy reading this story is that I am a strong believer in love. Considering that the boy was only 14 years while Sheila was seventeen, I was so challenged since there are times I have found myself in almost the same situation. This taught me how to know if what one is having is real love or just a crush. The fact that the spell was broken within a month goes a long way in proving that what was happening between the two was not real love. Through the story, I have been able to differentiate between real love and infatuation. When I feel that I want to do absurd things for someone, then I know that what’s happening is infatuation then I decide on how to deal with it. Besides the moral lessons that I was able to get from “The Bass, the