The sea roiled. The sky flashed. Thunder cracked the air. And the sturdiest vessel that Locke had ever served aboard listed and toppled. Not two hours before, his greatest worry had been that the special item he had acquired at great cost and effort would not get lost or stolen. His mind was filled with visions of what her face would look like when he presented her with it, a real pearl.

He was tossed overboard the breaking ship. It was night. The torches from the ship were drowned. The stars and the moon were blocked by storm clouds. The only light to see by was lightning. It was by chance that he surfaced that first time. He struggled to tread and to see anything he might hang on to. Lightning flashed and he saw nothing but waves. They pushed him up and pulled him down. And one of them loomed above him. In vain, he pumped his arms and tried to swim away. The wave descended and swallowed him.

Read More The Prisoner Under The Sea