i gather its their version of the spirits , or gods ; either way , she says that a few years ago it suddenly vanished behind the clouds ; and then ... and then ashes started to fall from the sky , bitter black ashes that poisoned the trees and the grass and the flowers till they all died ; and then the animals died too , for they had nothing to feed on ... and the only creatures that survived were men and fish ; if it werent for the fish , she says , man would have died off as well , and not just from hunger , but because ... many took to eating human flesh .