A loud crack of thunder made itself known, crashing down behind me. I stand up, getting my feet steady on the slimy woodboard floors beneath me. I look over, seeing a jolt of lightning maybe half a mile away. As it ascends back into the clouds, I watch as Crook's ship swerves past the rocks. "Holy shit man! You hear that?" He asks as he stops near me, looking back at the sound. I look him up and down as my brain attempts to process what is happening. “You’re…okay?” Crook’s expression changes to one of confusion. “Yeah, of course I’m okay! You don’t think I’d survive a little bit of lightning? I’m more resilient than that, you should know.” His smile held the features of something semi-crooked. Not in a suspicious or sinister style, but instead ever so slightly askew. The gears in my head were getting stuck, the metal scraping against itself as the sparks turned into dying brain cells. 

“Yeah. Yeah I should’ve known. I guess I was just…” I blink slowly, my vision unfocusing as I stare into the sea beside me. “I guess I thought you were gonna get hurt or something.” My words were a wounded animal limping out of my lips as I spoke. I didn’t have the energy to hide my worry and confusion. “Well, at least I’m in one piece. The current out there is really harsh and the night is getting far too close for comfort. I’m headed back to town, ya coming with?” I can feel my vision blur slightly. “Yeah, yeah sure.” My breathing continued to get stuck like a traffic jam in my throat. Was I dreaming? The world around me felt real but even feigning the idea that those past 5 minutes were just a hallucination was too easy of an out. My feet began to place themselves in front of the wheel as my hands gripped the controls to the boat. I steered myself towards the docks, letting my ship rest as my body began to step outside.

Without even so much as thinking, I tied my ship to the port and began to bring in my haul for the night. It wasn’t a super successful day but at least I got something. As sunshine sinks down and the shadows grow longer, my vision glances towards my right and sees The Criminal slowly making its way to the docks. Its faded violet painted hull rubs against the darkened docks. Crook has a smile on his face about the size of the Titanic. There’s an unfamiliar pep in his step that I can’t seem to place, it’s as if he just caught a mythical fish with three heads. He’s carrying what looks like heaps of fish into town. Something tells me Lady Luck enjoys his company more than mine. Even so I was too mentally and physically exhausted from the events having taken place earlier, so maybe it’d be best for my head if I went to sleep. I didn’t even think about what I was going to do, I just decided it was time for my body to cease all function so my systems could shut down. I rattled my keys into the lock and twisted it with the strength of 100 dead possums, which was to say not a lot.