Week 23:
157. What is one of the coolest places that you've ever gone on vacation? Who did you go with? What was the occasion?
158. What was one of your favorite outfits to wear as a little kid. Why did you like it? Who gave it to you?
159. What was the scariest story you were told, read, or heard when you were growing up? Why was it scary? Does it still frighten you?
160. What is one of the best discoveries that you have ever made? How old were you when you made it? Was this a physical, emotional, or mental discovery?
161. What is one of the most unique animals you have ever encountered? Where were you when you encountered it?
162. What do you remember about your maternal grandparents - grandmother or grandfather - cooking? What made cooking in their house unique?
163. What do you remember about the preparations you made for your own wedding? What advice would you offer to yourself (or someone you know) if you had to do it over again? Why?
As for 162, I remember my grandfather making pancakes or waffles. I remember his metal mixing bowl, and the soft, yellowed plastic measuring cup he used to scoop out flour and pour butter milk. He would mix his pancakes and waffles with a table spoon - never a wire whip.
Now that I've discussed 161 and 162, I will return to 159 - the stuff of my nightmares.
As much as I enjoyed reading folk tales, one of the most damaging was the story of Tailypo. I think that I first became aware of this story from a childhood friend - who knows where she heard it - and of course, as children do, she told everyone she could think of, because why should she be the only one afraid to sleep at night? | |
That night, the man awoke to the sounds of the creature outside of his home. The man let the three dogs out. A scuffle ensued, and when the man let his dogs back in, only two had returned. The next night, the same thing happened and only one dog returned. The third night, his last dog did not come back.
On the forth night, the man awoke to find the creature in the cabin with him, demanding its tailypo. The man denies the possession of the tailypo, but the creature states again he has it, and then kills the man.