The Wampus Cat Legend

Three friends sat around a roaring campfire in an eerie Tennessean forest sharing ghost stories and local fables. It was Johnny’s turn to share a bedtime story that his father told him as a young boy. The other two men sat with baited breath as he began a story about an Indian woman and a medicine man’s curse.
There was an enchanting Cherokee woman with raven hair and emerald eyes who despised staying home while the men went hunting for supper every night. One evening she followed the men into the forest and witnessed them sitting around a fire performing magic. Watching tribal magic was forbidden for women so she hid under a cougar skin behind a large oak and watched with wonderment. As the sky filled with twinkling lights, she tiptoed back home and hoped no one saw her.
However, the medicine man had seen her in the forest and changed her into a horrible beast. She was morphed into half cougar and half woman known as a Wampus Cat to wander the darkness alone for her crime. She can be heard crying and howling throughout the woods in hope to return to her beautiful human form. As Johnny ended his story, a lone wolf wailing in the distance that sent shivers up the three men’s backs. Johnny chuckled with a smirk and stated “sweet dreams” to the others. After that creepy episode, the men fell into a nightmare filled sleep.
The men rose with the warm sun on their faces and a huge sigh of relief to have survived the night. They pack up their bags in silence and climbed into the rusty jeep to head home. Johnny waved goodbye to the others and started his household chores for the day. His two bloodhounds, Zeus and Thor, were snoring on the porch waiting for his return. Woof, woof the leggy hounds barked as Johnny greeted them with a ...

... middle of paper ...

...om her mother to sing praises to the Lord and evil will subside.
Johnny embraced Rebekah with all his might and let out a huge sigh of relief. Johnny did not venture back outside until the sun was high in the sky the next day. Zeus and Thor were safely curled up in the barn, but were caution for several days after the attack. Johnny vowed to never enter the woods again at night or hunt in the field near his house. Johnny hides under the kitchen table now every time he hears a howl.

Works Cited

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/08/the_wampus_cat.html http://johnnorrisbrown.com/paranormal-tn/wampus-cat/ http://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2010/03/big-cat-tales-from-appalachians-to.html
Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore By S. E. Schlosser, Paul G. Hoffman (Chapter 16, Wampus cat, Knoxville, Tennessee) pp. 92–98 [1]