A lot of transparent small crabs live on the beach.  They are half the size of the palm of Miyoko’s hand. The body is milky-white and looks almost transparent. It is nocturnal and appearsall over the beach when night comes. So, even if Miyoko and Michael successfully caught somecrabs tonight, a crab soup would be for tomorrow’s dinner. For tonight, they'll have simply rice again.

    The two, who usually go to sleep early,stayed up until near midnight. Miyoko goes to sleep early here, partly because she wants to save the battery in her flashlight, but the truth is that Miyoko is afraid of deserted islands at night. The strong winds in the daytime usually weaken after sunset, but even so, the trees and the grass all move and continue to make a mysterious noises. Moreover, after sunset, Miyoko often feels a strong sensation of being stared at by someone from behind. She turns around, but of course no one is there. When she asked Michael if he had the same experience, he said that on islands and jungles, he often had a strong feeling that someone was watching him.

    Miyoko thinks the gaze is nothing more than a trick of her brain. When people are in the presence of powerful nature, people instinctively realize their powerlessness.  The feeling of powerlessness amplifies their fear. Miyoko thinks it's very natural to interpret themysterious gaze from behind as a gaze of the gods and evil spirits living in nature. If one makes an altar and prays to not stare from behind, it will calm people’s fear. Miyoko thought that the ancient religions might have started in this way, but anyway, she doesn't like uneasy feelings, so she goes to sleep early.

    That night, Miyoko and Michael sat on the edge of the jungle, holding a handmade broom in hands. They patiently waited for the crabs to come out. Overhead, palm leaves are constantly making noises. There is a moon, but moving clouds cast moving shadows on the dark sandy beach.

   "Say, Michael. Do you feel like someone is looking at us from behind?"    Miyoko asked.

   "No, I don't feel that just now. What about you?"

   "I'm okay now because I'm not alone."

   After a while, Miyoko asked again.

   "Listen, Michael. Haven't you heard that spirits live on this island?"

   "Yeah, I know. He's tall enough to have his head above the palm trees."

   "Yeah. The head that sticks out on the palm tree moves quickly. It's strange that the spirits living on such a small island are giants. I wonder which is scarier a giant spirit or a small dwarf spirit.”

   "Leo made up the story, you know?"

   "Really? I heard that Leo actually saw the spirit."

   "Leo said that he had seen it. Then there were other people who started seeing it."

   "Why did Leo tell such a myth?"

   "Maybe Leo wants to ensure fewer people visitthis island. This is a beautiful island. If a lot of people come, they spoil the beauty of the island.  Leo thinks people may stop coming if they think this is a creepy island.”

   "Hmm. Did he say that?"

   "Yeah. He was laughing when he said it to me."

   "Well, the person who told me the story of spirit really believed in the spirit."

   "Many Palauans believe that spirits live in jungle or on island."

   "Leo used it. I wouldn't live on a deserted island alone, even if safety was guaranteed."

   After thinking for a while, Miyoko said again.

   "I hate less of the giant spirits which stares us from the top of a palm tree than a dwarf spirit. I’m scared a short spirit of my eyelevel."

   "There is no such thing, Miyoko."

   "Yeah, I know." Miyoko agreed with a very uncertain voice. 

   The conversation was stopped and time passed.  Eventually, transparent, tiny crabs came out from the holes one by one. At first there were only a few, but they sprang up from here and there in the sand, and the crabs soon filled the wide beach. It seems that one can catch a lot of crabs with a single swing of a broom. Miyoko forgot about the spirits, and looked over the sandy beach with her eyes wide and focused.

   When Miyoko nodded to Michael, they stood up and went out from the grass area on to the sandwith their brooms in their hands.

   Then, what had happened? As soon as theystepped onto the sand, the crabs all scatteredinto their holes.  In a blink of an eye, there were no crabs on the wide beach at all. The speed was like a magic trick. Miyoko and Michaelalmost gasped, opened their mouths, and blinked their eyes. This seems to be harder than they had expected. There is no other way, they wentback to the grass area, sat down, and waited for the crabs to come back again.

   The two made the same mistake again. There is no doubt about it. The crabs don't feel like waiting to be crashed by a broom and become soup. Okay, if so, how about this? Miyoko and Michael decided to stand in the middle of the beach, and to wait for the crabs to come outaround them. It's not easy to stand still. Theywaited patiently. Eventually, the crabs came out of the holes little by little, but so far away that the broom was unlikely to reach them. No crab appeared at their feet. Miyoko couldn't wait and ran and shot down the broom at the crab, but she couldn't move quickly enough.Agility is not Miyoko’s strong forte. Since she was a child, she was the last one to grab a chair in the musical chair game. On the other hand, Michael was much more agile. Miyoko saw,in distance, that Michael ran all over andcrashed his broom down on the sand. However, it seems that Michael also could not catch anycrab. The two soon realized that it was impossible to catch crabs this way.

   Michael brought a stick from somewhere and started digging the sand. Miyoko thought this might work, but to her surprise, no crabs came out no matter how deep Michael dug.  Either the tiny creatures live in a very deep place or theycan dig a hole much faster than Michael did. In the end, Michael was tired, said "I quit", and threw the stick. After spending hours, they got very tired, but at the same time, something was really funny. They went to the tent, laughing and laughing each other. Did the spirits of the island see the whole event from the top of the palm trees and laugh together?