Tailypo

Tailypo is a scary story for kids about a man who comes across a weird creature and cuts off its tail. When the creature wants it back, things get very messy. This story is based on an old folktale from North America. It is sometimes known as “Tailbone” or “Tailybones”. Versions of this story have appeared in Tales For The Midnight Hour and Short and Shivery.

There was an old man who lived alone in the middle of the forest. He must have been 60 years old if he was a day, but nobody knew his real name. Most folks just called him Old Jake. He had three loyal hunting dogs that kept him company on the long lonely nights. Their names were Iknow, Youknow and Calico.

He lived in an old cabin he had built himself, way back in the deep, dark woods. It wasn’t very big, but it was just enough for him and his dogs. The cabin only had one room in it and that was his bedroom, his living room, his dining room and his kitchen too. At one end of the room, there was a nice big open fireplace where he could cook his supper and warm his bones on the cold winter nights.

Old Jake loved hunting, fishing and the great outdoors. He had a little garden where he planted vegetables and he would go out every day to hunt for rabbits and fish. During the warm months, there was more than enough food to go around, but in the colder months, it was hard to keep his belly full.

One cold Winter night, the old man’s stomach was grumbling, but there was nothing to eat in the cupboards but a few moldy potatoes. He 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 just in time to see a shadow creeping across the wall. When he sat up in bed and peered into the darkness, his eyes grew wide in terror. Sitting across the room from him was the weirdest-looking creature he had ever seen. It was short and stubby, with pointed ears and bright yellow eyes that seemed to burn with some strange fire. It’s body was covered in black fur and it had big sharp claws and a long, thick tail.

For a moment, Jake just sat there, frozen in fear. He stared at the hideous creature and it stared back at him. Then, quick as a flash, he grabbed his hunting knife and lunged at the thing. It sprang up and scurried out the hole it had clawed in the cabin wall.

The thing was fast, but so was Jake. A split second before it escaped, he brought his knife down squarely on its big tail and cut it off. The creature let out a horrible screech and disappeared into the night. Old Jake was left standing there with a long, thick tail in one hand and a bloody knife in the other.

Jake was about to throw the tail outside, when his stomach started rumbling again. He was famished with the hunger, so he took the tail, cleaned it, cooked it and ate it for his supper. It tasted a bit strange, but there was a lot of it and it was very chewy. In fact, it kind of tasted like chicken!

With his stomach full, Old Jake plugged up the hole in the cabin wall with some old rags and newspapers. Then, he got back into bed and drifted off to sleep.

He hadn’t been asleep very long before he was awakened by a strange noise. It sounded like something trying to scratch its way into the cabin. The old man thought that if he stayed really quiet, the thing might go away. He could hear it scratch, scratch, scratch, but then a strange voice outside hissed:

“Tailypo! Tailypo! I want my Tailypo!”

He thought he must be imagining things, but then he heard it again:

“Tailypo! Tailypo! I want my Tailypo!”

Old Jake jumped out of bed, ran to the front door and threw it open. He called out to his dogs, “Iknow! Youknow! Calico! Get over here!”

The dogs they came tearing up to the cabin and ran around, barking and sniffing and snarling, couldn’t find a thing. Jake shrugged his shoulders and went back to bed again.

He was just about to drift off to sleep when he heard the noise 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. Then he heard the strange voice again and this time it hissed a little louder:

“Tailypo! Tailypo! Where is my Tailypo?”

Old Jake, 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.

Jake 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 Jake woke with a start. The sound of scratching seemed to reverberate from every area of the cabin. Jake 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!”

Jake 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. Jake 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!”

Jake yelled back as loud as he could, “I ain’t got no Tailypo, 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!!”

Jake 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!”

Jake then felt the thing scratching up the bottom of the bed and onto the cover. Jake eased the cover down to see what was steadily approaching. Then he saw it – a short, stubby creature with pointed ears, fat feet with long claws and bloodshot red eyes that glowed in the dark — eyes that seemed to burn straight through Jake! 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!”

Jake 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 Jake, trying to get that TailyPo back. Jake tried to fight back, but that thing was too strong and those claws were too sharp. Jake’s screams echoed throughout the dark mountains, then stopped, leaving a chilling silence.

After a month or two without hearing from Old Jake, the townspeople got worried and came looking for him. They hiked up the mountain and through the forest, but when they reached his cabin, they found it had been torn to shreds. There was no sign of Jake or the dogs. They searched the woods and called out to them, “Jake, Iknow! Youknow! Calico!” but there was no answer. Old Jake and his dogs were never seen again.

The townspeople say that if you are all alone out there at night and you listen carefully, you can hear a strange voice calling on the wind:

“Tailypo! Tailypo! Now I’ve got my Tailypo!”