Tailypo: A Ghost Story

Gather around, and let me tell you about the legend of the Tailypo. It’s a tale of a monster living in North Georgia's hills. This story begins with a young man who decided to go camping on Halloween night and was never seen again. 

The young man chose to hike Slaughter Mountain, the second-highest peak in Georgia. When he arrived at the campsite, he quickly set up his tent. It was still sunny, so he took a short walk to a clearing that overlooked the vast existence of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Piedmont beyond. At dusk, he hiked back to his camp and was horrified to find it was destroyed.

Something had attacked his tent, slashed his bag, and eaten all his food. Looking over the scene, the young man was terrified. He wanted to hike back to his car but knew he could easily take a wrong turn and become lost, even with his flashlight. Despite being ravenously hungry and thirsty, the young man decided to go to sleep as best he could and get up early, hike out in the light of day, and return home. 

Just as he was about to lay down, he saw something slithering in the firelight. He quickly took out his knife and cut off a piece of what looked like a snake’s tail. He heard a guttural shriek and the unmistakable sound of something scampering away. 

The young man looked at the piece of meat and thought it was plump and perfect for supper. He cut it into pieces and cooked it over the fire. The young man ate every bite and thought it was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted. With his stomach full, he wrapped himself in his tattered sleeping bag and immediately fell asleep. But, soon, he woke to a terrible voice screaming from deep in the woods.

“Tailypo, Tailypo, all I want is my Tailypo.”

The young man screamed out, “Who’s that? Who’s there?”

Then he heard the voice shriek, “Tailypo, Tailypo, I’m coming to get my Tailypo.”

The young man was terrified, completely frozen in fear. 

The voice screamed much closer now, “You know, and I know, all I want is my Tailypo.”

The young man looked horrified as a figure rose between him and the firelight. It had two long furry ears and massive fiery red eyes. The young man wanted to scream but couldn’t. 

The thing crept slowly toward the young man. “You know, and I know, that I’m here to get my Tailypo.”

The young man pulled his tattered sleeping bag above his head and shrieked, “I haven’t got your Tailypo.”

“Yes, you do,” said the monster. “Yes, you have.” Then the thing jumped on the boy, scratching, clawing, and ripping everything to shreds. 

The young man had vanished. His parents panicked when he never came home. The police, park rangers, and community searched the mountains, but there was no sign of him—not even a single stitch of his tent or sleeping bag. 

But folks who live in the hills of North Georgia claim that sometimes, in the dead of night, when the moon is full and the wind blows just right, they can hear a voice screaming, “Tailypo, Tailypo, now I’ve got my Tailypo.”

The End

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