Stories Of Horror

TailyPo

"TailyPo"

There was an old man who lived alone, in the middle of the forest. He had three loyal hunting dogs to keep him company on the long lonely nights. Nobody knew his real name, but most folks just called him Smitty. He loved hunting, fishing and the great outdoors.

Years ago, Smitty had quit his job, packed his belongings and moved out to a a nice little cabin he had built himself way back in the woods. It wasn’t very big, but it was just enough for him. The cabin only had two rooms. One he used for a bedroom, and the other was a kitchen. He had built himself a nice big open fireplace where he could cook his food and warm his body on the chilly Winter nights.

He planted himself a nice little vegetable garden by the side of the house and he would go out every day and hunt rabbits and fish. During the warm months, Smitty had no problem catching as much small game as he needed. But in the colder months, it became a little more difficult to keep his stomach full.

One cold Winter night, the old man went out to his storage shed to see what he could find for dinner. All he found was a small piece of fatty meat and a handful of moldy potatoes. He had to make do with what was there so he cooked it and gobbled it down.

Smitty was still a little hungry, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. So despite the protests of his grumbling stomach, Smitty stoked the fire in the fireplace to keep the cabin warm and he went to bed.

He was just about to fall asleep, when he heard something in the room. He opened his eyes and saw a shadow creeping across the wall. He slipped quietly out of bed and tiptoed into the other room. There, he saw the oddest looking creature he had ever seen. It was short and stubby, with pointed ears and short fat feet with long claws, and it had a long bushy tail.

There were no open doors or windows, so Smitty was confused as to how the funny looking thing had gotten in. He quietly picked up his axe and, creeping silently over to the odd critter, he brought it down squarely on its big tail. The creature let out a loud screech and escaped through a big hole in the wall. The old man was left standing there with this long bushy tail and a bloody axe clutched in his hand.

Smitty was about to throw the old tail out the door, when his growling stomach reminded him of how hungry he still was. So he took that tail, cleaned it, cooked it and ate it. It didn’t taste that bad. It kind of tasted like chicken! With his stomach finally full, Smitty got back into his warm cozy bed.

Smitty had just drifted off into a deep sleep when a strange sound awakened him. It sounded like something trying to scratch its way into the cabin. The old man knew that if he stayed real quiet it would probably go away. So he stayed as quiet as he could, but then he heard a strange, otherworldy voice hissing outisde.

“TailyPo, Tailypo, I want my TailyPo!”

Smitty thought he must be imaining things, but he heard it again.

“TailyPo, TailyPo, I want my TailyPo!”

Smitty jumped out of bed, flung open the door and called out to his dogs. They came running, barking and sniffing around, but they didn’t find anything at all. So Smitty put the dogs back outside and went back to bed.

Sleep had just eased itself into Smitty’s body when he heard the voice again. This time, the scratching sounded like it was at the window. Whatever it was, it really, really wanted to get in! But the scratching seemed to be on two walls at one time. Smitty called out, “Hey, hey, hey, who’s that at my door? Get on away from heyeah!” Then he heard the strange voice again, only this time a little louder:

“TailyPo, TailyPo, Where is my TailyPo?”

Old Smitty, who wasn’t one to frighten easily, was getting a little shaky — this was getting really weird. So he eased to the window and called, “Iknow, Youknow, Comtiko Callico, come on over heyeah and see what this is scratching at my house!” The three dogs bounded up to the porch and they sniffed around and barked, barked and sniffed, but they never found anything at all.

Smitty decided to stay up for the rest of the night to protect himself, his dogs and his little cabin. So he pulled a chair next to the fireplace, grabbed a blanket from his bed and settled in for the rest of the wind-chilled, wintry night. Sleep soon overtook him, and once again he dozed off.

It was almost dawn when Smitty woke with a start. The sound of scratching seemed to reverberate from every area of the cabin. Smitty searched frantically for his ax, his rifle, or something to defend himself with, but he was so frightened he couldn’t find anything. The scratching grew louder and louder and louder.

“TailyPo, Tailypo, Give me back my TailyPo!”

Smitty yelled back, “Leave me alone, I ain’t got your TailyPo!” Then he called his dogs, but this time, the dogs didn’t come. He waited and waited, but still not one dog came running. Smitty had never been so scared in his life. He ran to his bed and jumped in. The scratching and the voice grew louder and louder and louder.

“TailyPo, Tailypo, Give me back my TailyPo!”

Smitty yelled back as loud as he could, “I ain’t got no Taily-Po, so why don’t you leave me alone and go on about your business? I ain’t never hurt nobody or nothing, just leave me alone!”

The scratching seemed to be inside the house now and the voice was so loud it was deafening.

“Tailypo! Tailypo! You took my TailyPo. Now I’m back to get it, give it to me NOW!!”

Smitty pulled the cover up over his head and stayed as quiet as he could, but the scratching was now in his room!

“TailyPo, Tailypo, you better give me back my TailyPo!”

Smitty then felt the thing scratching up the bottom of the bed and onto the cover. Smitty eased the cover down to see what was steadily approaching. Then he saw it – a short, stubbycreature with pointed ears, fat feet with long claws and bloodshot red eyes that glowed in the dark — eyes that seemed to burn straight through Smitty! Before he could pull the cover over his head again, the thing pounced on his chest, looked straight down at him and said:

“You got my TailyPo, and you better give it back to me NOW!”

Smitty yelled, “I ate it! I ate your TailyPo, it’s gone!” And that thing started to scratch and claw and tear away at poor old Smitty, trying to get that TailyPo back. Smitty tried to fight back, but that thing was too strong and those claws were too sharp. Smitty’s screams echoed throughout the dark mountains, then stopped, leaving a chilling silence.

After a month or two without hearing from Smitty, the folks who owned the store at the base of the mountain went up to his cabin to make sure everything was alright. When they got there, they found his cabin torn to shreds, but no sign of Smitty or the dogs. They searched the woods and called for them, “Smitty, Iknow, Youknow, Comptiko Callico!” But they never found a thing.

As the search party was heading down the mountain, the winter wind began to blow and a strange voice could be heard saying, “TailyPo, TailyPo. Now I’ve got my TailyPo!”