The Legend of Chiffaw is unforgettable for children. Scary and intense. A great campfire or sleepover story. Read this legend to yourself or to someone else. Or retell it with your own unique twists. Make sure you find the most eerie and startling tone in your voice! In the dark, with nothing but a small light – its memorable! At least I hope it will be as memorable and unforgettable for you as it has been for me!
The Legend Begins…
. It’s in a small town, rural Idaho. The town is so small there is only one grocery store, one post office, one bank, one restaurant, and one school. The school is a single level school, no stairs. Old windows with paint chipping . The school playground is part asphalt with a one hoop basketball court. The netting on the hoop barely hanging on to the rim. An old-fashioned merry-go-round is off to the side on the grass. Alas, surrounding the circular wheel of spinning torture, the ground was worn down so deep it becomes a moat in the rain. One low monkey bar fits up to three kids without them in kicking range of each other. A single high bar is attached at one end of the low bar. It too has worn ground from kids not quite tall enough to reach swinging and dragging their feet.
The Body of the Legend
The town was under siege by a solo predator. The creature is very tall and slender, bone thin with long stringy ragged hair. So stringy it is hardly there. But instead of standing tall, he hunches over and practically walks on his knees. Chiffaw’s body arches so severely from his chin to his knees it makes the shape of a C when you look from the side. With his feet being so long and not necessarily human, his nose sharp, long and very pointed with a drip. His teeth more like that of a crocodile or a werewolf. His name is “Chiffaw”. The Legend of Chiffaw.
The Prey of the Legend
Chiffaw is on the hunt for any live human he can find. He will kill them and eat them. The whole town knows he is on the prowl. Everything has shut down except for the school. The grocery store is closed, the bank, and the hospital is closed. Even the gas station is closed.
One afternoon, a group of kids are walking home from school. They all know they need to walk home as quickly as they can, hustle even better. Quietly too. Chiffaw, a creature of horrifying legends, will find them right away if the kids are noisy. With backpacks on, books in hand, the kids hurry home. One by one the kids reach the walkway to their homes. The second a kid got inside the house, the door is shut and locked and the curtains are drawn. No lights. Not a TV or a radio. Nothing. Soundless.
The Legend Nears
With just a couple kids left that haven’t made it home, a sound from a distance can be heard. A soft shuffling followed by a scraping sound and a sudden tap. The sound repeats itself. This causes the kids to start to panic and so they begin to run the rest of the way toward their homes. The sound keeps growing louder and louder. The first of the kids runs into the home and slamms the door fast.
Then as the shuffle, scrape, tap continues, getting louder at the same time, all of a sudden you can hear the name “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Th CH in Chiffaw almost sounded like a SH. He is nearing the neighborhood of the last of the kids still walking home from school.
The Legend Has a Name
Chiffaw smells the children. He knows he is close and he is hungry, very hungry, starving indeed. But he is slow. His feet are so long he can’t chase his prey down, he can’t lift his feet off the ground, he can only shuffle. Because his back is so hunched over he can’t stand tall enough to see over the buildings to find them. He has to follow his nose. Like a bloodhound on a hot trail. A monster tracking its next meal. Because that’s what he is and what he is doing. Looking for dinner!
His fingernails are so long and curled they almost circle back around to his hands. Instead, they scrape along the ground. As his arms would swing forward with his shuffles, the fingernails lift and tap the ground on the end. Every time he walks anywhere, he can be heard. It makes a shuffling, scraping sound with sudden taps. It is in fact the very reason he got his name, “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”.
Where is He?
The beastly creature had come upon the school. The building had emptied but school papers flew about the playground. A lost jacket lay on the ground near the merry-go-round. And a basketball rolled across the black-top. Not a soul in sight. The Legend of Chiffaw knew school had been let out and children must be on their way home. He carried on with his search, walking through the neighborhoods. Home after home was quiet as a mouse and still as a rock. The drapes didn’t even wiggle. It was as if nobody dared to breathe for fear Chiffaw would find them. But Chiffaw is a legend. He can still smell them.
Just two kids are still walking home. They can hear the sounds getting closer and closer and closer. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. It sounds almost as if Chiffaw is following right behind them. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. And Chiffaw picks up the speed of his shuffle. Now he hears their hearts beating with fear. He knows he will have dinner tonight.
Getting Closer
Chiffaw gets closer. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Grunt. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Snort. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Finally, he sees the children.
The Legend of Chiffaw Chases His Prey
Behind them, the children know Chiffaw is approaching. Even though they are running, they don’t believe they will outrun Chiffaw. He is so big and his feet were so long he can make up the distance in no time. But his fingernails are like claws and he can reach out and trap you, grab you and gore you until he sinks his teeth into your body.
.Breathless, they keep running. Determined, Chiffaw shuffles faster and faster. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Then he is within arm’s reach of one child. The child reaches the gate to his yard and it was shut. The kid knows the gate has to be opened with a jiggle from inside or it will stick. Chiffaw is so close. Hurriedly, the kid jiggles the gate, jiggles and jiggles. Finally, the gate flings open and just as Chiffaw stretches his claw-like fingernails to capture the child, the kid makes it inside the house and shuts and locks the door. In tears of terror, the kid pulls the drapes on all the windows as fast as possible so Chiffaw no longer can see its prey.
The Last Kid Walking
The last kid, John, saw the Legend of Chiffaw attempt to turn off and capture the other kid. He ran faster than he had ever run before now. Then, he jumped as much as he could to take short cuts. It was life or death imperative he gain a head start because he knew Chiffaw would be after him if he didn’t catch the other kid first. This kid wasn’t about to wait around and find out!
John finally reaches his home. Thankfully, he had forgotten to open the drapes that morning before he headed off to school. Just as John walks through his yard to the front door, he can hear Chiffaw. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Grunt. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. Snort. “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”. He is so close he can even smell Chiffaw’s breath and FEEL the heat coming from his every breath.
Trouble Awaits
John realizes the front door is locked and he will have to go around the house to the back door. He remembers now that he had forgotten his key. His key is on a long strip of leather that looks like a shoelace. And it is sitting on the kitchen table next to where he left his cereal bowl from breakfast. He woke up late that morning and was rushing to eat breakfast and get to school on time. That’s why he forgot to open the drapes.
Chiffaw is pleased. The last kid escaped him but he sees John has locked himself out of his house. John frantically runs around the house. He knows there is always a spare key just atop the ledge of the back door. But it is out of reach for him. He jumps and jumps. Chiffaw likes to play a cat and mouse game with his prey now and then. Chiffaw slows down and is as quiet as can be as he sneeks up close to the house. His sounds are muffled by the soft green grass of John’s yard. He has the advantage.
Eye to Eye with The Legend Chiffaw
Just then, John jumps up and knocks the key off the ledge. Chiffaw hears a plink sound as the key lands on the ground. John picks up the key. Chiffaw reaches the corner of the house. John puts the key in the lock. Chiffaw turns the corner of the house and is now facing John. John turns the key in the lock just as he looks up to see Chiffaw looking right back at him. They lock eyes but barely, John can’t see Chiffaw’s eyes well because of the long, string hair. Had the hair been any thicker, John wouldn’t see any eyes but Chiffaw’s hair is thin. John sees Chiffaw’s long, sharp pointed nose with that disgusting drip. He can see the sharpness of Chiffaw’s teeth, more like fangs!
A gust of wind suddenly pushes open the door and John breaks away from the deathly stare of Chiffaw. He takes one step in the house and slamms the door. He can hear Chiffaw’s fingernails scratch across the door. One of the fingernails got caught in the door. There inside John’s house lies the broken tip of Chiffaw’s fingernail.
The Legend of Chiffaw – It’s Over…or Is It?
Chiffaw has never broken a fingernail before this. He is injured now and has to retreat. John hears Chiffaw as he leaves. The less sound he hears, John knows the further Chiffaw has gone. John picks up the fingernail tip. He will never forget this day. An idea comes to John. He will pierce the fingernail and add it to his leather key necklace.
Chiffaw will go hungry after all…for tonight. Next time, Chiffaw decides he will wait until dark. After everyone has gone to bed and to sleep. Nobody will hear him coming while they are sleeping. Not one single soul. He will surprise his victims laying in their beds.
The Lesson
The lesson of this story is to be careful tonight when you go to bed. Lock your doors. Close your drapes. And hope The Legendary Chiffaw isn’t hiding in your closet or under your bed! Waiting for you! “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”!
The END
p.s. Okay, I don’t really remember the legend that clearly. The kid’s name, I have no clue! It probably changed with the story and who might have been listening to the story. Another thing, I can’t say for sure how many kids were left in the end or exactly what happened to them. Hence, Chiffaw must have had a victim or two before to incite that much fear. In conclusion, that might explain the bloodied clothes being thrown over hedges I recalled earlier. Simply, I combined two stories. Who knows? Only Chiffaw knows! “Chiffaw…Chiii-fff-aaawwww…CHIIII-FFFF-AAAAWWWWW”!
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