New and strange on Pier 9B

Our ship's cat stands a good watch; Chiclet detected something way before me.

11pm, April 2, I was carrying her up to the captain's cabin when she tensed up and began to shiver and stare off the boat towards our vintage Hyster.

I could see nothing.

After about a minute, a humpbacked something came out from under the rollup door, headed behind the Hyster and then came out towards the boat and us.

Then, it looked up, and I could see the masked face of a raccoon.

Weirdly, I couldn’t see a tail. A tail-less raccoon?

It was not a huge one.

I barked and growled, and it trundled away as fast as its humpbacked self could go around the offshore end of the shed.

No, this is not April Fool’s!

Best,
Carolina Salguero