The next day, and the next day, and the next day after that, the strong wind did not stop. What is this? Normally, the weather was mild, there were few storms, and it only occasionally rained.  It should have been the best season for living on the island. The lagoon in front of the beach is always calm and looks like a lake with almost no waves, but the reef protecting the lagoon from the open water is struck by strong waves from the open sea.  White splay is visible from the beach.  When a big wave crashes the outer wall of the reef, a distant powerful soundechoes to the beach. 

    It's been a week since she lost Banana.  Miyoko has no idea if the Banana is still alive.  Without water, it's probably impossible to live in this heat for a week. There were some drum-cans on that island, and there was a lot of water in them, but Miyoko didn't think a cat could climb on the drums. Miyoko wondered ifBanana found and drank the water that collects in the crevices of the shells and on stones? The cat's ancestors are said to have lived in the desert in Africa. Cats may be strong creatures against drought. How on earth is Banana alive?

    Miyoko asks Michael, "Do you think Banana isstill alive?" 

    Michael just tilts his head and says, "Well,hard to know."

    However, Miyoko wasn't just worried about Banana. Miyoko and Michael's meals are limited to cooked rice and taro because the sea is rough every day and they cannot go fishing. They don't have to worry about starving and dying, but Miyoko was unsatisfied. There are many people in the world who can't eat rice and taro.  So Miyoko knows in her head that she shouldn't ask too much, but her stomach is thinking about something else.    

    Michael gives his peppers and okra seeds precious water every day, but there is no sign of the seed sprouting at all. Miyoko is secretly beginning to wonder if the seeds were old and probably dead.

    The wind that blows during the day can calm down at around sunset. It's not impossible to go fishing at night. In fact, Palauan fishermen prefer to go fishing in the evening. Fishing at night is cool and easier on the body than catching fish during the day. But at night, you have to know the ocean floor quite well to catch fish. You must know a number of places with large rocks and coral heads where fish gather.  Fishermen need to be able to dive exactly there in the limited light of their underwater flashlight. Both Miyoko and Michael have underwater flashlights, but their knowledge of the seabed around the island did not seem to make it possible to go out into the sea at night and fish effectively.

    Michael's hut was steadily progressing. Michael had finished cutting out the mangrove pillars that stand at the four corners of the hut. At first, Miyoko thought that he had cut too long pillars, but when he dug deep holes and erected the pillars, the height was just right. The work of digging a hole and erecting thin but unexpectedly heavy mangrove pillar was really difficult. Miyoko didn't help at all. She just watched Michael sweating and working. Inwardly,she realized in her heart that her childhood two-story hut on a deserted island is a little bit unrealistic.

    Miyoko's work writing a textbook making is also going well. She must finish the draft as soon as possible and start working on a clean copy of the manuscript.

    There was no Japanese word processor in Palau at that time, so Miyoko had to make all the pages by hand. Then, the Palau Ministry of Education will take a photo of it page by page and print it on paper. It is the job of Miyoko and her students to bind the pages into a book. Miyoko wants to finish printing during the summer vacation and start binding as soon as the students get back in the new school year. It's still two months away, but it's all about Palau which works at a leisurely pace.  No matter how much of a hurry she is in, she will not be hurry too much.

    Anyway, the current problem is tonight's food. Miyoko decided to clean up the table and ask Michael if he had any good ideas.

    Michael wasn't at the hut. There are several thick and long bamboos lined up on the sand. Bamboo is plentiful on the island. It would have been difficult to cut thick bamboo with an ax, the cut is jagged. Miyoko was wondering where Michael was. Then Michael came out of the junglepulling a long bamboo.

    Michael saw Miyoko and smiled, "Hi, Myoko." 

    The conversation between Miyoko and Michael is in English. Michael is learning Japanese from Miyoko, but he hasn't been able to talk much yet. On the other hand, Miyoko's English, which was very poor when she came to Palau, quickly improved.

    Miyoko said, "Don't you want to eat something tasty? I wonder if there is fishsomewhere." Michael, who was dropping a bamboo branch and his ax, stretched out his back and looked at the sea. The tide is high these days, and the sea at low tide is draining far beyond the lagoon. Waves are breaking and white splashes can be seen rising high on the reefsurrounding the island. 

    Michael nodded and said, "Well, let me go out to the sea tomorrow."

    "But isn’t canoeing difficult in this weather?"

    "Yeah it is. I walk to the reef."

    Miyoko suddenly got an idea.

    "At night, a lot of small transparent crabs come out on the beach, right? I've heard somewhere that you can eat any kind of crabhere. Let’s catch some of the sand crabs and make them into soup. Let's try it. "

    Michael was suspiciously staring at Miyoko's face for a while, but then he shrugged lightly and said, "Good, let's do it."

    "How can we catch them? I wonder if I hit them with something like a broom. I'll try to make something." Miyoko said.  Michael pulledthe bamboo branch and silently nodded. 

    Miyoko went into the jungle, picked up branches and old palm leaves that could be used as a broom if bundled, and held them in her arms. Then, she tied them tightly with Michael's strong rope and made two brooms.

    Now, can she catch the small, transparent sand crabs that move around with a lightning speed? Miyoko was licking her lips thinking about crab soup.