The crows see everything.
Kunji's third victim was a stubborn little fellow. The crabs threatened her with its pincers but when has that ever stopped her from plucking it off.
Kunji used a stick to flip the crab on his back and pinned it with the stick and plucked its legs one by one giggling as it lost its limbs one at a time.
When all ten were removed it didn't move or resist and it reminded her of her father's bald head and that made her giggle more.
"Stop killing the crabs Kunji", her mother shouted from beneath the coconut palm.
She didn't mind her. The crabs were still alive. She put the 'bald' crab into a small basket and walked towards her mother who had collected far more than three crabs, all with limbs intact.
The setting sun was their cue to return back to the village but Kunji liked the beach and the waves but reluctantly followed her mother.
"Your basket is full…put some crabs into mine", Kunji said, her little hands expertly grabbing the crabs from her mother's basket and tossing it into hers.
"Only if you promise me not to kill them…or pluck their legs off. I'll punish you otherwise", her mother said, with a serious tone.
Kunji nodded her head.
The crabs weren't as harmless as one of them gave her a neat little pinch. With a yelp she shook it off and it scuttled away.
"Let it go Kunji, the crows will catch it", her mother shouted after her as she ran behind it angry and wanting vengeance. Her once white Mundu that she wore around her waist fluttered in the wind as she ran zig zagging to catch up the scuttling Crab.
It was faster and had almost reached the water, where it would disappear when kunji picked up a piece of wood and hurled it at the crab.
Half of the crab was crushed beneath that piece of wood with the other half violently shaking. She picked it up and it gave a couple more shakes and died but she still plucked a few of its limbs angrily, the pincers first but since it was dead it was not fun.
She threw the limbs to the crows and watched them fight for it when she saw a group of crows gathered a little further away making loud noises that she hated. The last time she had seen crows gather like this on the beach was when a large fish of a type she didn't know was found dead.
Curious to know what the crows had in store for her now, she walked towards it, not hearing her mother's calls that were drowned by the cawing and sound of the crashing waves.
What kunji saw sent her running towards her mother with fear on her face, the dismembered crab still clutched tightly in her hand.
Her mother's shouts brought half the village and by the time Kunji stopped crying there were more men than crows around the lady from the sea.
It was a figure of a woman unlike anything Kunji has seen. She was white like a Yakshi or how she imagined the Vampiric ghost to be. The long hair was the colour of the sand around it. The clothing and ornaments were nothing like anything she or anyone from her village had ever seen.
"Must be a Princess, or someone from the higher caste…Better to not touch her and invoke their rage", An old man said as he inspected her. His dark complexion was a contrast to her pale white skin.
"Nobody touched her right?"
"Is she alive?"
"She looks decayed…look how white she is" Someone said.
"I think it's just her colour. Why is she so white?", another replied
The mumbling of people added to the cacophony of the crows around them. Women looked at the frail alien figure with pity, young men had some primal hunger in their eyes that Kunji didn't recognise.
Kunji was the first to see her move. It made her clench her first even tighter, making a crunching sound from the already squished crab and shut her eyes in fear.
The crows fell silent and that silence spread quickly and shrouded them.
When Kunji opened her eyes she saw the washed up woman stand up, her sand coloured hair lodged with sand.
She raised her hands with great effort and uttered something in a language Kunji was not familiar with.
She looked around to see everyone had their eyes affixed to the figure. There was no fear on their faces. They slowly circled around her and Kunji had no idea what was happening.
They one by one lifted her up and walked towards their village in a neat formation.
Her fear was magnified by the crab in her hands. It was still crushed and missing its limbs but now it moved. Kunji cried out with a loud shriek as she dropped it.
The woman looked at Kunji suddenly, her blue eyes shining from within the veil of hair on her face and her mouth a constant chant and Kunji joined them too. The only sound that remained was the Whisper of the woman's chant.
The crows watched the parade from their perch atop trees. They saw a bunch of men carry a woman alien to them in every way silently.
What they didn't see is a child in between them, also holding on to the woman.
What they didn't see is the crab falling from the tiny hands of the little girl.
What they didn't see is that the crab had no pincers and that its shell was crushed and it still moved.