I slowly rose from my seat, the smell of fish thicker than the air. It wasn't anything I wasn't already used to. That didn't mean I enjoyed it. My back ached in pain, the torment of last night still ringing throughout my spine like the devil screaming my name. I snatched my bag as it dangled from the hook mounted to the wall and grabbed my toothbrush from a small resealable case. Hygiene is still important, even if no one can smell my sharp, minty breath under the swampy, putrid scent of being a fisherman. I focused purely on brushing my teeth while I could. A loud horn forced itself into my ears, resulting in me dropping my toothbrush to the slimy wooden floors.

"Wakey, wakey! How we feeling today, Mr. Cyrus Ocean?" I recognized that weirdly ecstatic voice anywhere, and I hated that I did. "Crook, what have I told you about horns this early?" Crook sighed, rolling his eyes as I called his name. "No horns while you are still waking up." "Exactly, so why are you out here?" Crook looked behind him and pointed to the small town he just left. "Well, Just left Fernal Island! I'm on the way back home to get that much-needed slumber. That early morning light was calling my name, so I caught myself some new cretins; wanna see?" I respectfully declined, picking up my toothbrush and sighing. "I'll pass." Crook smiled, giving me a friendly smile and a wave. "Alrighty. The Anchor and The Criminal will cross paths again someday. Probably later when it’s brighter out! You’ll never catch me out there when it’s dark, that’s when the mermaids come out and try to steal you!" He says, with what sounds somewhat sarcastic. I gave him a wave as I watched his boat travel against the current. "Why the hell would that insane man name his ship The Criminal?" I say with the world’s stupidest grin on my face. Tossing my now disgusting toothbrush back into the bag, I decided it was time to do my job. I pulled up a wooden crate, sat, and clocked into work. I flung the line outwards, ready to start catching. What would the briny deep have for me today?