Mirumiru Kurumi -

By dawn, the rain stopped. The river had not retreated, but it was tame. The bridge was lost, but no homes were. No lives were taken.

Fumiko approached the tree. The rain seemed to part around its canopy. There, nestled in a fork of the roots, was a single, perfect walnut. But it was not brown. It was a deep, liquid blue, the color of a mountain lake at twilight. And it was humming . mirumiru kurumi

The tradition continues to this day. Every autumn, during the Hitoyoshi Kuma River Festival, the children hunt for the rare Mirumiru Kurumi nuts. They are not eaten. They are kept in small wooden boxes. And when a family argues, or a farmer can't decide which field to plant, or a child is lost in the woods, they take out their Mirumiru Kurumi , hold it to their eye, and whisper: By dawn, the rain stopped

And the walnut did.