Anansi was the king of a small African village but he died, so they buried him. But they didn't realise that he was actually a seed and they were planting him. So overnight when it was dark a huge coconut tree grew up in the middle of the village where they had planted him and it grew taller than all the trees and the shadow of the tree sometimes looked like a man, and sometimes looked like a long arm with a grasping hand.
If you passed under that shadow Anansi could get some power over you or do magic to you. The shadow would also move of its own accord, and at night it would still be visible as it was darker than the rest of the darkness.
