It’s as if Kiyoshi hasn’t seen us. Or maybe pretending not to. He nods to the shopkeeper.

“So,” she says, “Are you buying or not?” I weigh the rope in my hands, looking down at it. A quarter of our prize pot. 5,000 dollars. What a joke. I put the rope down on the counter and mutter a ‘no thank you’ to the shopkeeper. Kiyoshi gets up from the wooden object and walks out of the store.

“Come again soon, Jack!” the woman at the counter shouts and Kiyoshi gives a nod as he steps out onto the cobbled street. Me and Valerie chase after him, the bell on the shop door jingling as we do.

“Kiyoshi,” I shout to him but his head doesn’t turn. “It’s us, Vicki and Valerie!” He still ignores us. Is he angry with us? He has every right to be but it’s difficult to imagine. Besides, it wasn’t as if anything massive was relying on this show- not that I know of anyway.

“Jack!” Valerie says to him and he looks our way. “Jack, can you come over here!” Kiyoshi walks towards us.

“Looking for advice on where to get best fish? Please, let me take you to fishmongers. Best fish in world,” he says but he still doesn’t address us or even look surprised to see us. Like we’re strangers. Like he doesn’t remember us. He walks us down the street to where some market stalls are set up. The fabric roofs rise and fall in tiny motions like the surface of the sea in the distance and as we keep walking, it smells like it too. Salty, fishy.

“Here,” he says, pointing to a stall with a dark blue roof. Underneath it is a muscly woman wielding a rectangular shaped knife. Her black-brown hair is tied back in a loose ponytail and some of it looks slightly wet- from being outdoors in the sweltering sun I suppose.

“Ah,” she says, in a thick accent from the south. “Jack, have you brought new customers?” Kiyoshi nods. “So, you two must be hungry by now. Can I tempt you with anything? Just have a peruse and Jack will give you the info you need.” She turns around to a bench at the back of the stall and I see her slam the knife down on a fish’s neck, the dead eyes staring mindlessly into space as she discards it in a bin.

“This,” Kiyoshi points to a large silver blue fish laid on the white crystals. “Spanish mackerel. $2,000. This one bronzino also $2,000.” The bronzino has been sliced between the eyes and down to the table leaving two sides to the fish, exposing the meat and ribs. I notice Valerie is looking away, staring very firmly at her feet. “Monkfish on offer only $800. Good deal.” Valerie makes a weird noise in her throat when she looks up at the monkfish. It’s positioned with its mouth open and its beady eyes and needle teeth face us. It’s not very pretty.

“So Jack,” I say, emphasizing the ‘Jack’, “how long have you been here?”

“Born and raised here,” he says. “Kind Samantha give me apprenticeship. You want buy monkfish?” He slips on some plastic gloves and readies to pick up the fat, slimy fish.

“No thanks,” I say, watching Valerie’s face. “What is this?” I point to the drone filming us. Kiyoshi’s casual smile falters.

“You want buy salmon?” he asks.

“What is your surname, Kiyoshi?” I ask. He avoids my eye contact and looks at the fish instead.

“My name Jack North. Born and raised here. Kind Samantha give me apprenticeship. I love life. I love fish. You buy fish? Monkfish on offer only $800. Good deal,” Kiyoshi says. I don’t understand. I get that he’s acting but there’s no recognition in his eyes.

“I’ll buy the Monkfish,” I say. Maybe he’ll only talk this way. He smiles again and lifts the Monkfish from the ice and takes it to the back bench. The woman comes to the front to attend the stall.

“Monkfish are easy to catch. They try to run but they know it’ll be more painful that way. They cannot struggle. My advice to the monkfish is to swim in net-free water. Don’t let them get you because you can’t escape,” she says in hushed tones. “But Monkfish are very delicious if I do say so myself. You’re getting them so cheap with our offer. Thank you for buying with my fishmongers today.” Valerie gives her a smile but we’re both confused. Why is she giving advice to monkfish? Is she giving advice to us? To the people watching the show? The woman holds up what looks similar to a card reader. I don’t have a card though.

“Just scan your watch there, honey and it’ll take it out your account,” she says. I scan the screen of my watch on the reader but look in shock at the screen after.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Valerie!” I say. “Our money’s going down by the second!” What was 0020000 is now only 0001534 and then 0001533, 0001532. Valerie holds up hers which is doing the same thing.

“Can you check the reader?” I ask. “I think it’s taking more than $800 from our account.” The woman looks confused and takes a look at our watches.

“You could take them to Mr Larden’s repair workshop down the street but I would try Mrs Harley’s instead- she might know,” she says. Kiyoshi comes back to the front with a plastic bag and hands it to us. I peek inside and see that he’s skinned and prepared the fish so the slimy, brown skin is gone.

“Thanks for your help,” I say to Samantha as we turn to leave. We head down the street, looking for a shop labeled ‘Mrs Harley’s’ which we probably won’t find.

“It’s an old fashioned themed town. It’s very wholesome and quaint but at the fishmongers, they have single use plastic gloves and plastic bags,” Valerie says, shaking her head.

“It’s suspicious. I don’t like it,” I say. “It was just plain weird.” Valerie nods solemnly.

“It’s a full moon today and it makes people act weird,” she says. I want to laugh at just how perfectly Valerie she is but I’m still a bit shaken from the interaction. I check my watch again. Only 1315 dollars but they’re going down quickly. We start running and see a sign creatively named ‘Mrs Harley’s Fortune Telling’. We weren’t far off. Valerie parts the strings of coloured beads and we enter the shop. The first thing I think of when I walk inside is Valerie’s dream bedroom and then I think incense. I inhale deeply, as if the scent could cure me from the fishmongers stall. The layout of the shop is weird. Like the island, it’s one long corridor to walk down but we find another bead-door at the end.

“I can sense you are there,” a voice trills from behind the curtain. “I’ve been expecting you.” Well, there are cameras you might have access to which you could use to see us walking in the door rather than predicting it. “But first you must pay.” Valerie points to a card reader by the curtain, mounted on the turquoise walls. On it is etched ‘$6,000’.

“No way Valerie. It’s too much. $800 for a fish is one thing but this,” I gesture to the reader, “is another. Plus, fortune telling is just a trick. I wouldn’t pay two dollars to get my fortune read outside of this show.” Valerie shakes her head and holds up her wrist. The number keeps depleting.

“I trust the fishmonger. I trust the show. Can’t you trust me?” she asks. I know that deep down she just wants to go inside so she can admire all of the decor but maybe she’s right.

“Ok,” I say and Valerie taps her watch on the reader. We step through the curtains and see what must be Mrs Harley but she’s not looking in our direction and is instead staring at the crystal orb in front of her and doesn’t turn to us when we walk in. We sit down in the seats across from us. Valerie coughs and she raises her head slowly.

“You have paid the price so I will tell you what you need,” she says. Her voice is slow as if each word is heavy.

“K cool. So our watch thingies are being weird AF,” I say, showing her the watch. I’m rushing because we need her to fix it before all our money depletes. “The money keeps going down and we don’t know what to do.”

Mrs Harley shakes her head. “I will read your fortune.”

“Miss,” says Valerie. “We don’t need our fortune read. We just would like to know what our watches are doing.” She starts dealing cards anyway.

“You first,” she says, looking at Valerie. She uncovers the first tarot card and reads it. Golden thorny branches twist around the edge of the card and the center is a rose. “The Briar. You are coming to the end of a phase in your life. You need to make a choice where to take yourself next.” Valerie nods wistfully as Mrs Harley turns over the next card. “Very interesting. The North Star. Good things are coming for you. Lastly, the Crossroads. Big change will occur in your life.” She scoops the cards up and shuffles them back in the deck. Valerie looks positive and I think I look positively pissed. I want her to tell me about the watches, not give super vague tarot readings that mean nothing.

“Your first card, Vicki, is the Queen,” she says. The card has a woman in a long red dress sitting on a throne. Her face is shadowed except for a twisted smile. “Things are going well for you now for the first time in your life.” The first time in my life? “The Storm Cloud. You fear bad things are on their way to disrupt your peace. And beware of the Snake. A man is not quite what they seem so be on your guard.” She takes the cards back again. $6,000. For that.

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

“What is going on with our watches?” I ask.

“Would you like another tarot reading?” she asks, folding her turquoise cloak tight against her body, the magenta bead necklaces rattling.

Valerie shakes her head. “No thank you. We are just asking you a question since you know a lot and could help us.” The woman peers through her small glasses at Valerie and then her watch.

“You know what little girl? I think I’m going to read you again for free because I did it wrong the first time,” the woman says, reshuffling the cards. “The Long Road. It could be soon that you need to journey to a location. The Snake. Head here and the King. You will win.” I’m confused as when she drew the Snake for me it had a different meaning but she hurries us out of the room as quickly as she can.

We step out onto the street and find Sheena talking to a thirty-something carpenter. I tap her on the shoulder and she turns backward quickly.

“Sheena,” I say. “I know where we have to go.”