HCA: Hermit Crab Association

This is a game where each person is their own unique hermit crab (not one you own, one that you made up) and we make an ongoing story about what happens to them. Here is the beginning.

I was traveling with hundreds of other crabs down to the beach, just like we do every year. It was time to breed, and was like a giant party! Miles from our usual tropical forest homes, we feasted on washed-up fish and coconuts.
However, on this particular journey, giant monsters came and started to collect my friends! They were stuffing them into boxes, and you could here all the crabs around slamming themselves into their shells, not that it would protect them this time! I started crawling away as fast as I could, but with an awful jerk that nearly made me fly out of my shell, I was crowded in the dark box with the rest of my trapped comrades.

I wasn't sure how long I would be in this box or if I would get out. I felt confused. After what must have been a long time, I don't know how to tell time because I am a crab but it was a long time. We were moved to a new home and there were hermits with a different language than me!

"Congrejos, Uds. hablan en español?"
"What?! I can't understand you!"
There were so many different crabs, including red ones, ghostly white ones, and even blue ones!
"मुझे डर लग रहा!" mumbled a really big, purple one.
What will become of us? I thought.

I stayed close to my friends from the beach I came from and could easily speak to. There were some I didn't know from my beach. The different looking crabs and I tried to speak but our languages were so different. Our cultures were too and there were some crabs with large eyes that could run very fast in all directions! It was sometimes hard to sleep because these crabs were always running around and rearranging things.

The entire box experience was even more stressful than taking a molt!
After what seemed like years, the crate lid was jerked off its hinges. A beam of light shown down on us. It stung our eyes, as we were so accustomed to the dark after being in that pitch black box. We could finally see what those fast, rowdy crabs were up to! They had made a huge pile in one corner, and when the lid came off, they started spilling out of the box! More crabs started climbing up the pile!

I felt so confused. Suddenly we were placed into a clear box with a few other crabs. I saw some strange animals in other clear boxes across the way. And there will big creatures that liked looking at us.

I could escape. This was my chance! After such a long time I could be free! I could hear crashing waves in the distance. I moved around a bit, to listen for the sea water. It took me a while, but I finally figured it out! I started crawling as fast as my little legs could carry me. I was going pretty fast when I slammed into a hard, invisible force. Still dazed, I suddenly was roughly yanked up by one of the creatures. Suddenly, he grabbed my frightened limbs and started forcefully pulling me out if my shell! I tried to hold on, every part of my soft abdomen was clinging to the inside of my smooth shell. With a final tug, I was ripped from the safest place I knew, and thrown down into a huge pile of freaked out hermit crabs, all scrambling to find something to protect their lower half. I quickly spotted an oddly colored shell and rammed myself into it. It was so uncomfortable! There were so many naked crabs around me. I felt horrible. I truly believe I will die soon. I'm so scared I just curled up, and tried not to feel the pain.


Nerys: 4 PP's: Titanium, Bourne, Idris, and Khan

I was picked up by the big creatures and put into another box. days later, i was dumped in a clear box with little rocks for ground.

There were other crabs there. I wondered where I was and why I was there. The other crabs also had funny shells on.

These rocks are so uncomfortable. If that big creature picks me up again, I'll make him uncomfortable.

There's no humidity, and there are so many big people walking around. These rocks are weird, and my shell is itchy and heavy.

Several creatures walked by, and took some of the other crabs with them. One took a crab out and started shaking it. I almost puked. I hurried into a large coconut with alot of other crabs. It was so dry, and there lifeless crabs all around me.
Then, a large, pink hand lifted up the coconut. I hid in my shell hoping it would not pick me up, and the hand picked up the crab right by me! The crab chirped, "Help!" He tried to grab onto me with his claw, but it was too late. The hand took him out of the box. He pinched it, and the hand dropped him. His shell cracked on the floor, and I knew he was dead. I crawled up into a corner and tried to get under some other crabs. I just wanted to go back to the beach.

Several creatures walked by, and took some of the other crabs with them. One took a crab out and started shaking it. I almost puked. I hurried into a large coconut with alot of other crabs. It was so dry, and there lifeless crabs all around me.
Then, a large, pink hand lifted up the coconut. I hid in my shell hoping it would not pick me up, and the hand picked up the crab right by me! The crab chirped, "Help!" He tried to grab onto me with his claw, but it was too late. The hand took him out of the box. He pinched it, and the hand dropped him. His shell cracked on the floor, and I knew he was dead. I crawled up into a corner and tried to get under some other crabs. I just wanted to go back to the beach.

I felt dizzy. First up, a small creature squealed, picked me up and shook me. He put me back in the cage when I hurried to the side, to see a cracked shell with a hermit crab lying half out. I could already smell it. I hid in my shell, wishing for the soft, wet sand of the beach.

I stayed there for who knows how long, when another batch of crabs came in. Healthy and clean, I was envious. And every few days the tank was cleaned of dead hermit crabs.
I was one of the healthier hermit crabs, because, I am a survivor. And I was going to survive this.