ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

11. FURIOUS MONSTER

★ Leonard ★

There is another peculiar legend in our town. It is generally called the legend of the Lake Weatherford Monster. Most eyewitnesses disagree over what kind of creature they witnessed.

A few accounts reported the beast was a hairy ape-man like Bigfoot. A few accounts have said that this creature was hairless and resembled a giant armadillo. The most popular accounts reported the beast like a huge bull with glowing red eyes. In at least two known cases, flames emitted from his nostrils.

This legend goes all the way back to the tale of Native Americans in this area. Their legend told of a fire-breathing bull or a monstrous, demonic water cow that terrorized the villages and killed several warriors until one young, brave warrior managed to kill the beast by piercing his heart with an arrow.

At least, this is what my uncles and cousins told me.

Adding to this unlikely legend, there is another unlikely ritual to go with it. Unknown to most Weatherford residents, it is told by some that there is a secret ritual practiced by a handful of the community's young women.

On several nights during the year, ladies gather at Lake Weatherford to dance totally naked under the light of the full moon. They are a coven of witches and gather to honor their cult figure—the Lake Weatherford Monster.

This crazy encounter took place when we were in middle school. We were fourteen years old then. Both of our families went to Lake Weatherford for a camping trip. We knew that the legend existed in this area, but none of us took it seriously.

This monster legend was a laughingstock for most of the residents rather than a frightening supernatural phenomenon. So we didn't even think about the possibility of encountering the monster.

Beth and I were walking in the forest not far from the lake to look for dry branches for our campfire. The sun was already starting to set in the distance.

I felt something pulling the back hem of my pants. When I turned around to see if my pant was caught in the branch of a thorny bush, I saw a little wild piglet biting at the hem of my jeans. He was an adorable creature. So I extended my hands to pick him up. When I took him in my arms to caress him, the hell broke loose right after.

I wanted to show him to Beth, who had been walking ahead of me. She was still gathering the fallen branches. So I walked closer to Beth and yelled, "Look, Beth! Isn't he a cutie?"

When she saw the piglet, her face turned almost white. She screamed at me.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy? Put him down right away!"

"His mother might come back to look for him. Then we are in deep shit!"

When she was about to finish talking to me, I heard a sharp hissing noise behind me. I was petrified of turning my head toward the noise. I didn't want to believe what was waiting for me when I turned around.

Yes, it was a big fucking wild pig. She was enraged, and her nostrils were fuming with hot air. Probably she weighed more than two hundred pounds. She was way bigger than me.

I slowly put the piglet down on the ground, and both of us ran for our lives toward the lake. The wild boar saw us running away and started chasing after us with ferocious speed. We were screaming so loud, and she was hissing louder.

When we started to see a campfire at the lake's shore, I knew that was exactly where we had to run. I remembered vaguely that wild animals didn't like fire. Before reaching the campfire, there were dark bushes to get past. Then, I saw several dark human shadows squatting in the bushes.

We had no idea what they were doing out there. We had no other option but to go through them to get to the campfire because it was the fastest way to safety. So I warned them by screaming out loud.

"Run! Run! Run for your life!"

"The hissing monster is coming your way! Run!"

They thought I was talking about the legendary monster, and all of them came out of the bushes at once and ran toward the campfire. They all happened to be male students from Weatherford High School, and I even knew some of them. I was wondering what the hell they were up to.

As soon as the guys ran out from the bushes, girls around the campfire started to flee in all directions. In fact, they were all stark naked. None of them had any clothes on, and they were running away from the high school boys.

Now I understood what the guys were up to. They were Peeping Toms who snuck up to see the teenage girl's naked bodies. The stupid legend I didn't believe was actually all true. These girls worshipped the Lake Weatherford Monster and performed the naked ritual to tame the beast.

It was like a wild scene from a B movie. Naked ladies ran left and right in all directions while a huge and furious wild pig chased boys around the campfire. We finally dove into the lake to run away from the beast. We were in the water up to our chests as we witnessed this surreal scene.

The boys disappeared into the forest with the beast running after them, and I found Beth in my arms. Our hearts were pounding, and her face moved toward mine. Her lips started to search mine, and we finally kissed for the very first time.

She whispered in my ear.

"I love you always, always, always."

Since then, that became the secret code of our love for each other.

"Always, Always, Always."

The sky was pitch dark, and the lake was darker. Only the reflection of the full moon was floating on the wavy surface of the water. I was the happiest man alive. I thanked the Lake Weatherford Monster for my lucky evening!