Week 13: Racing Monsters (Storytelling)

The mother sat down at the edge of her oldest son’s bed. After an hour of trying to wrangle the two boys, Rico and Ari were finally tucked into bed.

“It’s time for a story, mommy,” Rico said. Ari, who had only just started talking, nodded enthusiastically while arranging his stuffed animals around him.

“Okay,” the boys’ mother said. “What story would you like tonight?”

“The one with the scary one-legged men,” Rico said excitedly and his mother laughed.

“You only want to scare your brother, don’t you?”

“No! Well… not only… it’s my favorite!” Rico shouted. He had nuzzled under his covers, watching and waiting for his mother to start the story.

“Alright.” The mother looked between her two boys; both were watching her expectantly.

“Once, a long, long time ago,” the mother began, “there were creatures called ghormuhas. Now the ghormuhas were fierce and terrifying creatures. They had a human body, except only one leg, and the head of a horse. And what’s worse, they liked to eat people…”

Ari gasped and pulled his stuffed animals closer. Rico smiled and waited for his mother to continue.

“But don’t worry,” the mother reassured her younger son. “The ghormuhas all disappeared a very long time ago. Anyway, one day a young hunter was chasing a deer through the woods. Little did he know, the ghormuhas were following him.”

“To eat him?” Ari asked in a quiet, shrill voice.

“Well, they wanted to,” his mother answered, “but this hunter was clever. So when the ghormuhas caught him, the hunter watched how the monsters treated other humans and planned his escape.”

“You see,” continued the mother, “the monsters liked the humans they ate to be strong. So every day they would run with their human captives. The ghormuhas were fast runners. And they wouldn’t eat the humans until the humans could beat them in a race. Then they knew the humans were big and strong enough.”

“I could beat those monsters,” Rico said. “I’d be so fast. The hunter was fast too, huh?”

The mother nodded. “The hunter was very fast. But he was also smart. When he saw that the ghormuhas only ate the people who won the race, he made sure that he always ran slow enough for the ghormuhas to beat him. He did this for a few days. He would almost beat the monsters, then fall back and let them win.”

“So he didn’t get eaten?” Ari asked. He was hiding behind his stuffed animals, only his face sticking out.

“No.” The mother smiled. “Then, after doing this for a couple days, he knew that he was fast enough to get away from the ghormuhas, so he planned his escape. You see, usually the monsters would race with the humans in an open field, but the hunter had a different plan.”

“This is the best part,” Rico whispered, looking at his little brother.

“The hunter asked if they could race on the mountains the next day. He said that the ghormuhas could have a much prettier view while they ran because there were flowers all around. The monsters thought that was a good idea, so they agreed.”

“And he didn’t get eaten?” Ari whispered again.

“No, he escaped!” Rico shouted impatiently and then nodded to his mother to continue.

The mother said, “The hunter took off as fast as he could through the mountain forest. The monsters tried to catch up, but they tripped over roots and rocks. The hunter didn’t stop running until he reached his village.”

“And then he told everyone about the monsters,” Rico said.

“He did,” the mother said. “And after that, everyone knew how to beat the ghormuhas and not get eaten. Soon after, the monsters disappeared. And now, we can all safely travel through the forests and the fields without having to worry about being eaten by the ghormuhas.”

“The end,” Rico said, nodding in approval.

“The end,” the mother echoed. “Now both of you boys get some sleep.” She kissed both of her children on the forehead. Rico smiled and buried his face in the blankets. Ari looked a little worried but his eyelids were already drooping.

“And he didn’t get eaten,” Ari whispered one more time.

“No, he didn’t get eaten,” the mother confirmed before shutting off the light and leaving her sons to their slumber.

Gorumara National Park in India. Wikimedia

Author's Note: the original story was called The Ghormuhas from the Santal Folktales unit of the Un-Textbook. The original story was about a group of monsters who ate humans and looked the same as described in my story, and a hunter who outsmarted them to escape.

These monsters did many horrible things, including smoking, fattening, and eating humans, but they would also arrange their parents' deaths and eat them once they died as well. This hunter understands what the monsters are doing by feeding them a lot and constantly making them run, so he always stays slow enough to not get eaten. Finally, when he hears they are about to eat him anyway, he runs so fast that the monsters can't keep up and he goes back through the forest to his village where he tells everyone about the ghormuhas. 

I decided to tell this story as a bedtime story to a couple of boys. I changed a couple of things in the story. I didn't include any of the more gory details about the ghormuhas preparing or how they eat the humans and their parents. I included more about the races, because the story didn't go into much detail, but I thought it was weird that while the monsters could catch other people that beat them, they couldn't catch the hunter, so I had him change the setting of the race. I also changed the ending so that the monsters disappear because the hunter warns everyone about the ghormuhas and the monsters can no longer survive.

Story source:Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).