When there are two full moons in a month--the second is called a Blue Moon. That's when the Blue Moon Boy comes out of the swamp to search for his father. The swamp is in our woods.
When settlers came to Henry County in the middle 1800s, a young boy went crazy in the head. His dad was at his wit is end as to what to do with his son. One night he took him into the woods and did a very sad thing.
The dad, borderline deranged himself, brought his son into the woods, pitched a tent, started a campfire, and pretended he was going to spend the night. That wasn't his plan at all.
He told the boy to follow him through the swamp to get more firewood. The dad knew where to walk so he wouldn't sink. The boy did not. As he sunk his dad just kept walking. The boy called to his dad. His dad kept walking into the dark, leaving the boy behind to sink, alive, into the swamp. As legend states, a blue moon shone in the sky that night watching the boy breath his last.
Every month the blue moon gives some its breath to the boy to awaken from the swamp. When he does, he walks the night looking for his dad's campsite, and never finding it, disappears with the morning mist.
It is only a legend. So we thought.
A Cub Scout pack wanted to camp back in our woods. It just so happened to be the night of a blue moon. That night, we learned the legend was true.
After the scouts made camp, they organized a game of Capture the Flag. Guess who showed up right in the middle of the third game? Seeing the campfire, the Blue Moon Boy walked right past the flag. Other than his grey skin, he looked like a normal boy—dirt and all.
One scout, so into the game, thought the boy a teammate, and coming up to him, whispered, "Follow me." Without looking, the scout grabbed the boy's hand and snuck toward the opposing team's flag at the other end of the playing field. The scouts on the opposite team ran up to tag him, but when they saw the swampy, grey-faced boy, they fell backward. Wide-eyed, they'd gasp, turn, and crawl away.
"We're almost there," the befriending scout said.
When the Blue Moon Boy saw the Scoutmaster, he let go of his friend's hand and walked in a slow, stunted manner toward him calling out, "Pa? Is that you, Pa?" This shocked the Scoutmaster, and sent him into a retreat, causing him to fall over a tent peg. The boy stared into his horrified eyes, then looked away, shouting, "Pa! Where are you, Pa?" He disappeared on the other side of the campfire.
The scouts thought it was a hoax, and some of them set some traps for any strangers that might come through the camp that night. When the morning came, the only things the traps had caught were other scouts.
"We heard footsteps outside the tent and saw that boy walking," some scouts said. "We chased after him but ... he made us walk right into our own traps."
When my dad heard their story, he did a quick search on his phone for the next blue moon.
Months later, my dad said, "Pack up the tents, we are going camping." We arrived to the swamp area, set up our tent, and dad grabbed my hand and a spotlight, and headed for the swamp. We searched the whole area, but there were no signs of the Blue Moon Boy.
Just as we were about to turn back to our campsite, the moon broke through the clouds and a long breath broke the silence that seemed to come from the moon itself. When the exhale ended, an arm stretched straight up out of the swamp.
My dad said, "MmHmm. This must be the place."
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How would you finish this story? Write your thoughts in the comments.
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That Night at Grandpa's (And Other Scary Stories)
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