Crying Rock

The Crying Rock is a unique Spirit from Yomawari: Midnight Shadows. It is a mysterious rock that cries in a small lot in the Second Town

## Appearance

The Crying Rock's appearance is no different from an ordinary rock. Its size is a little big, with it just being small enough for Haru to 'barely' carry it.

## Behavior

It randomly spawns in a small lot in the Second Town. When active, Haru can find it crying near a pile of boxes. Haru can then pick the crying rock up and lead it to the rock's destination. You can find it by following a trail of pebbles that start from where the crying rock was found to a yard with a large, flat rock on the ground.

When Haru successful brings the crying rock to the flat rock, the crying rock will then disappear. A short earthquake will soon follow, and then a pebble in the yard will turn into a mound of dirt. If Haru checks it, she will find golden koban coins buried under there. But she will only take one coin (becoming the collectible Item Gold Coin), and bury the rest of the coins back in where she found them.

Be warned of two things. First off, there will be some hostile Spirits near the trail of pebbles. Second, while carrying the crying rock, Haru is unable to use her flashlight. This means she has no means to using the light to locate invisible spirits who hide in the dark. So caution is advised. You can temporarily drop the rock in order to use your flashlight to check your surroundings whenever you hear a Spirit or feel like you might be in danger.

## Theories and Mythology

The Crying Rock's origin comes from a book in the Library called "The Couple's Pebble". The title suggests the possibility of this rock being adopted by a childless couple, like similar Japanese folk stories like "Momotaro"(Peach Boy) and "The Tale of Princess Kaguya"(The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter).

The image of the rock crying while being carried by a group of men may suggest a number of things:

* The crying rock may have been kidnapped by the group of men, considering the spirit's ability to give Haru a pile of golden koban coins.
* The group of men may be trying to get rid of the crying rock because they saw the rock as dangerous or evil, since rocks aren't normally suppose to be alive.
* The crying rock may be grieving the death of its parents, since rocks can't normally die like human beings. And the group of men were just going to leave the rock out in the wilderness since nobody was going to take care of the crying rock anymore.

The trail of pebbles may have been made by the crying rock, as a means to guide Haru to where it wants to go to.

As for why the crying rock wanted to go to the big flat rock in the small yard, there are two possibilities.

One is that the spirit's adoptive parents were buried there. This suggests that the big flat rock may be a gravestone (either a normal rock used as a make-shift gravestone, or an old gravestone with its writings been eroded out by weather & age).

And the second is that the big flat rock may have been the crying rock's original parent. However, the only suggestion to this is both of them being rocks and that the big flat rock is bigger than the crying rock.

## Trivia

* In the Library, Haru can find a story about this spirit in the form of a readable picture book of fairy tales called the "The Couple's Pebble". In it, there's a picture of a heavy, crying rock being carried by a group of men.
* The pebbles making out the trail cannot be picked up by Haru.

## Gallery

Haru carrying the crying rock while following a trail of pebbles.Haru finding the crying rock in a small lot.Haru bringing the crying rock to a large, flat rock in a small yard.