This is an entry to the Writer's Jam 2026! This started development yesterday as I ran out of internet, but I only have started writing it today as I found something I was quite satisfied with. This is also the story debut of two of my characters. Please enjoy this lighthearted story!

[A cool little artwork will come here after I'm rested (◝ ᴗ ◜)]

If you'd like to read this story in a justified format that might be easier to read, or just download it, you can do it here! (Removed temporarily for being outdated)

I Invited a Crab Girl Over to my Home Today

Have you ever heard of a crab that looks like a young girl? If you have, then you must have met Nickel!

She looks just like a human girl, except that she has and does what any other girl doesn’t. She dresses in a peculiar looking shirt that has the pattern of a seashell, and a skirt that has the pattern of the sea lit by the twilight-colored sky during the sunset. Her more striking feature though is her “hair”, which actually looks more like a crab: It’s red and shiny, and where you’d expect two pigtails there’s actually two big and sharp crab claws, which she happens to be able to move at will. She has a whole lot more hidden talents and abilities, and this has caught the attention of a particular scholar.

Professor Starbright is a man who is very knowledgeable in the field of languages, although he tries to branch out to any other kind of intellectual or scientific field. His experiments and inventions, when not related to languages, often end up not working out at best and causing a disaster at worst. Today, he wants to find out more about this fascinating crab, whom he has met once during one of his nautical researches at the seas of South America. Last time they met, he had invited Nickel over to his laboratory afloat on a lake to allow herself to be studied by him.

Nickel didn’t like the idea of being “studied” by anyone, even if she was on good terms with the professor. In a mixed feeling of not wanting to let him down but also make her visit worthwhile, she decided that she was going to mess with him and prank him all day long, as she was quite used to teasing his knowledge (or lack thereof), and was prepared to take it to the next level.

She happened to be lazying in a deserted island when the day and time for them to meet was approaching, so she reluctantly hurried to meet him at his place. To get there in time, she put one of her abilities to use: Nickel is very proficient in surfing. So much so, that she is able to surf on a great velocity using any kind of board and, somehow, not needing any kind of outside force propelling it forward. With her broad knowledge of river routes, she easily makes her way from the ocean to the lake where Starbright is awaiting her.

Nickel doesn’t have much knowledge about the land world, nor ever visits it that much, so once she arrives to what it looks like the “laboratory afloat the lake” as he once described to her, rather than ringing the doorbell or knocking, she yells:

“HEY PROFESSOR! YOU THERE?!”

Inside the lab, Starbright, who a few seconds ago was enjoying a choccy milk break, just fell over his armchair from being jumpscared, for Nickel had unknowingly yelled in very close proximity at the microphone that lets the professor hear who's behind the door. Even more to his surprise was that his unusual life form analyzer did not alert him of her arrival beforehand.

“Well, there goes another invention that needs to be reworked. That and the anti-chocolate stain armchair.”

He opens the entrance to his lab and is greeted by the crab. “What’s up!”

“Ah, if it isn’t my crab friend! I’m glad you arrived; I hope the winds of the sea have treated you well. Please come in!”

She enters the lab and takes a good look around. The place pretty much feels like a hybrid between a home and workstation, with a corner that had a workbench and lots of technological equipment; another corner that resembled regular-looking kitchen, with your expected furniture and a water filter you’d see in an office; and yet another big corner where a couple of arm chairs, a coffee table, a fireplace and two big bookshelves filled with books of various subjects in many languages. Nickel, not knowing what a home looked like, just assumed this unusual place is what any kind of laboratory looked like going forward.

“Well, shall we get started? There’s a lot we’ll need to go over.”

Nickel suddenly remembered why she arrived, and she tried to make up an excuse on the spot. Her goal today was to waste the professor’s time as much as possible, just for her own amusement.

“Hey, hold your seahorses! Won’t you have anything for me to eat while we’re here? I feel quite hungry.”

“Oh, of course. Where are my manners?” Starbright remembers that he is having a guest over, not a test subject. “Hm... I’ve realized I never asked you what kind of food you eat. I do remember you mentioned that you like to hunt and eat fish, but I don’t think I have any with me right now.”

“Oh, y’know. I like all the sorts of foods... Just tell me what you got.” With this statement, Nickel was already preparing a little mischief towards the professor’s way.

“Do you like bread?”

“Nope.”

“How about cereal?”

“Nuh uh.”

“Apples?”

“Don’t like that.”

This interaction went back and forth, over and over. Some foods Nickel actually quite liked, but just would say no to mess with him. Some she had never heard of, and the sounds of them made her curious and wanting to try or find out more about it, but she stayed committed to her plans. This continued until Starbright ran over every item he had.

“I’m afraid I have nothing you can eat.”

“This ain’t gonna do it! I get quite crabby if I don’t eat, y’know?” She says that as she starts clapping the claws in her head.

“Then what do you propose we do?”

Suddenly, Nickel had the perfect idea to get even more stalling time: “I know! Let’s fish for it!”

“Fish for it? What do you mean?” The professor asked, confused.

“Let’s go fishing, Prof! We are right above a lake, so them’s the perfect times for casting a hook!”

The professor was a bit concerned. He never fished before, so he would need to have Nickel to teach him. This is not how he was hoping to spend the day, but he felt like it wouldn’t take too long until they could satisfy her hunger. It was on him for not having something she could eat, after all.

So they leave the laboratory and go to a deck close by to start fishing. Nickel then starts teaching the art of fishing with a fishing rod.

“You know, I think I remember something about using something like worms for bait?”

“Bait? What are you, an anglerfish? Real fishermen only need attitude, a hook and a dream! Now do it like I told you to.”

So they have their hooks deep into the lake, and they wait for the fish to come in. Seconds become minutes, and minutes feel like they become hours and before they notice it, the morning becomes afternoon. They do chat to pass the time, Starbright being more eager to tell about his “brilliant” ideas, but it feels like Nickel is starting to slowly doze off. Starbright becomes quite upset with the passage of time, as he could have been finding really interesting things about Nickel, but instead he’s just there wasting his time on fish that will probably never come.

While having such impatient thoughts, he realizes that Nickel has had her eyes closed for a while, although he isn’t quite sure if she’s awake or not. Maybe if he was quick, he could buy some kind of fish somewhere else and pretend he has fished it... He’d just better make sure she was asleep, so he slowly approaches her to try to pick her up to lay her somewhere more comfortable. Then...

“Woahohoh!” She jumps out of her position, even dropping her fishing rod down. “No touching!” she says, angrily, while pinching her claws, “No touching when I’m sleeping! I-I mean, when I’m deeply concentrated on fishing!”

Starbright sighed deeply after the scare. “This isn’t working. Let’s go back to the lab. Maybe you can drink water to fill your stomach with something, then we can go over our procedures. I promise I won’t go long and you can go after whichever food you want by yourself.”

The water idea gave Nickel an even more devious one. “Oh, right, of course! Silly me, how could I forget! You see, crabs drink water all the time to make the hunger go away. It’s true! I’m a crab y’know.” Starbright never heard of such a thing, but maybe she’s saying this from her own experience, giving that she is not like any ordinary crab, much like she isn’t like any ordinary girl.

“Well, that’s simple to solve then. Feast yourself from as much water as you’d like from this lake.”

“Yuck! Are you serious?” She crosses her arms as such to make an “X” shape. “I ain’t drinking any water straight from a lake like that. Can you imagine all the kinds of fishes and boats and something-elses that could have gone through it? I only drink filtered water of the finest quality!”

“You drink filtered water?” The professor questioned. “But then, how do you find filtered water when you’re traveling around the seas, you who told me once that you have no exact home of your own?”

“Well, obviously I filter it on my own. It’s one of the many cool things I know to do! If you want I can show you how to do it.”

Starbright suddenly became overjoyed. She is capable of turning seawater into drinking water by herself? This was too incredible to be true! He felt like all the wait was worth it as he could finally have something to observe scientifically about Nickel. “I would like to see nothing more! Please show me how you filter water.”

“Well you see, before I can do it there are things I need to pick up. Could you help me find them?” The professor agreed to help, of course, and then she listed out the things that she needed to make drinkable water: Sand, charcoal, pebbles, twigs and green coconuts. The items seemed quite unusual, but Starbright had big hopes that she would do something incredible with these things. She thanks him after he is able to find those items, where the most common ones were able to be found around the lake, where more specific ones were more readily available at the lab. “Now check this out!”

She starts crafting something with the items. What could it be? A mystic amulet? A totem of kinds? The thoughts kept running in the scholar’s head as he watched attentively what she was making: A tower of carved coconut shells, each one having one of the materials inside them, held together tightly by twigs. “Now watch closely as the water is filtered!” She pours a lot of sea water into the top of the tower. “Now we just gotta wait.”

A frown slowly formed on the professor’s face. She did not lie, she can filter water... Through a self-made water filter. He was severely disappointed, but he could not complain. What he was truly upset about though is that the process would probably take a long while, as the filtering process made the water come in at a very slow pace. “I see... Hey, we don’t have to wait all the way, there’s a water filter at the lab, and-“

“No way Prof! I have seen the kind of filter you have at your lab. You want me to ingest microplastics? Not while I’m sane!”. This was an annoying excuse, but he conceded she had a point. She appeared quite smart about many things related to water even though her knowledge about the world wasn’t very deep. “Well, I guess there will be more waiting then...”

“Hey, don’t be like that!” “It doesn’t have to just be science and studying all the time, y’know? Live a little! Let’s play some games while we wait!” And so they spend the rest of the day having fun together, doing fun activities around the lake, some more recreational and others more educational. Starbright learns many things about her, and Nickel learns a lot about him too.

By the time they’re finished, suddenly Nickel starts to not feel so well. She feels her body trembling a little, looking a little pale and with her belly hurting. The professor tries to aid her, asking if she wanted the water she was longing for, but she didn’t want any of that. She said she was probably just tired, but Starbright had the suspicion she was feeling sick, so he took her back to the lab.

After diagnosing her, he could tell that she was actually very hungry and started to be very worried about her. The way he was so concerned made Nickel open up and tell the truth about how she has been messing with him all this time, and that not everything she said was true. She was honest about being hungry, and that in reality there’s not much that limits her diet. Starbright, relieved in knowing he would be able to take care of her, let her rest on his now cleaned armchair close by the fireplace and a fluffy warm blanket, and he went on his way to prepare a very hearty soup with many vegetables and bread and butter as a side dish. She quickly stopped feeling unwell and had a very nice recovery. She had to spend the night at his laboratory, but the next morning, she recovered smoothly.

“Thanks professor... I’m sorry for the trouble. I just don’t like being an object of study... But I really like messing with you!”

“It’s okay. I suppose that I should stop trying to apply my interests on scientific methodology to everything. Still, I feel like we have learned a lot about each other during this time!”

“True! I hope to catch you around. I gotta be somewhere else now, I promised I’d be there in time!”

“Oh, that’s a shame. I had just had this plate of California rolls ready for you before you go...”

“Cauliflower... roles? What is this... It looks tasty!” She took one and was absolutely enamored by the taste. It almost felt like everything she liked to eat in a single bite-sized food!

“I love this! Grrr, I really need to go, but... Those are so good! What should I do?!”

“Hahaha, not to worry! You can take those with you, I will pack them in a water-proof bag.”. And so the professor handed Nickel the bag filled with snacks. “Take care now, I hope to see you again soon, friend!” They wave at each other, and Nickel sets off with her surfboard towards the ocean to find herself a new adventure.