The Pishtaco

“My mouth fell agape as I stared at the bathroom mirror, to see the tub behind me. What was worse though, is that I felt a warm breath against my neck.”

The Pishtaco has always been a nightmare to me, since most people think it was just a legend. The problem is though, is that they’ve never encountered it, yet I have. The pishtaco is a human-like paranoid, but instead of eating food like us humans do, things like steak, salads, chicken, that kind of thing, Instead they feast off of us. Our bodies become their nutrients, with them draining our blood into the bathtubs they have acquired over time. Then, they use that freakishly long tongue to drain all of our fat from our insides, and they eat that as their meal, throwing the bones away. They will boil our bodies before they eat however, so they have a nice cooked meal instead of eating pure raw human, since who likes that? Anyway, I’ll explain the best that I can about what I saw that night I came in counter with..the thing.

The night was long and full of mourning, our lives seemed to rise into hell without our ruler. I was one of the few who were required to be his guard at all times, but he told us not to worry. We were told to be executed that night, and me and my crew (Which consisted of me, My brother, Jackson, and August) decided to run for the woods. We could hear all the screams from our town as they called our name, but we kept running. About a mile into the woods, we managed to find a clearing, and set camp up for the night. I was assigned to find some firewood, and it was rather difficult, since nobody brought an axe or anything, and no limbs dare touch the ground. I was halfway into breaking a stick off of a tree, when I heard a bloodcurdling scream leave August. My hands were bruised, yes, but my hands didn't matter as I ran. I saw August with this man, and it could never leave my mind as I threw something at it. It would drop August's lifeless body, and come for me. At first I was stunned, the feeling of adrenaline was being slow. Then it hit me. I started to run as fast as my legs could take me, and it didn't take long for me to find a location where it had a closed door. It was an abandoned little shack, but I smelt cooking. I didn't see it at first, so I slipped into the bathroom of the house. I then looked at the mirror; My mouth fell agape as I stared, All I could see was the tub behind me. What was worse though, is that I felt a warm breath against my neck. I shot my head around to see a male, and I knew I wasn’t gonna trust it. I hit him and made a run for it, following the smell. It had hit me that I was starving, but I wasted no time running. I had to hide, or else that thing was going to find me. I saw August, But it wasn’t really him..he was hanging on a log upside down. I screamed, then covered my mouth. I heard IT coming, and I quickly slipped into a corpse, peering out of its eye-sockets. I saw the man, his voice deep and mysterious. “You can’t escape me..I'm not gonna hurt you..I'm just gonna bash your insides in..” He repeated. I saw his tongue wrap around the body right beside me, and the way he devoured it was terrifying.

My eyes would slam shut until I heard a screech, which was from the thing. It was horrifying, but I saw my brother behind it with a gun and a stake, the creature on the ground. He would then make sure it was dead, Ripping his heart clean out. I saw it transformed, and it switched into a snake. It hadn’t hit me yet, but as I saw it, I realized It was my pet snake, Jaxe. I knew something was off with him, with him trying to sleep in my bed with me, everything! Why couldn’t I tell, since he was so obsessed with me and not my siblings. I grew a scream leaving my throat, as I grabbed my brother's hand and started running for the castle, Which I knew was no good, I would run and run with him, until we came across the castle finally. I pulled him inside and covered my mouth, hearing a guard say, “Who’s there!” I didn’t speak, sliding against the wall with my hand in front of me and my brother beginning to calm down and finally work with me. We slid right through the whole castle, which when we got out, we continued to run for the town. We led ourselves in and ran straight home, Slamming the door behind us, when we both had the blood drained from our face. Inside, we saw August, who looked completely fine at first, then he slowly began to mutate into the pishtaco. His tongue was a crimson color, and when he faced us, I wanted to run. “Damn it, Come on!” my brother yelled. He snatched my hand and started running back out the house, and then I remembered what my father told me back when I was little. ‘If ever face to face with a pishtaco, shoot it in the tongue.’ I would look at my brother, and snatch my hand away. I started back toward the house, my brother yelling after me, as I ran in. I saw it playing oblivious, but I wasted no time running upstairs and grabbing my safe. ‘Come on, come on, come on..’ I mumbled to myself as I worked the safelock. I snatched the door open to find a small box. I unraveled it quickly, Then I walked back downstairs. I shot one bullet into the glass beside the thing, and when I got its attention, I shot it in the tongue. The creature fell back, as I threw a few valuable things into a bag. Some clothes, pictures, our books, as I threw it outside, I grabbed the picture of my mother and father, and I lit the house into a flame. I would walk away from it as it burned, holding all the value to me and his world. Mother and Father would’ve been proud. I found him hiding in the forest, his body hovered over August. His skin sat against the cold wet grass, And he looked so sad. My brother started to break into some tears, as he did love August. I looked and saw Jaxe the snake start toward me, and I shot it clean in the head. “Come on. We need to get out of this horrid forest before we end like him.” My brother stood up and nodded, before me and him started to run through the forest. Me and him found a small town, about four miles outside the village, and a nice couple took us in.

So this is where I am at, with my loving wife and son. The computer I am sitting at was nice and wonderful, and as I write this, I hope to get rid of that memory. My brother keeps the pictures of him and August around, and I have the ones of Mother and Father. We both hated to go near any forest after that, because we were terrified of the thought of seeing it again. My mind is currently in a whirl, as we sit near this wonderful old forest, my son always goes to play in it. I actually go out with him just rarely, since It doesn't hurt to spend time with him. I love to throw August’s old baseball with him, and it was never A thought in my mind as we played that I never knew how much I loved this kid. I would love to sit out and play with him for hours eventually, as one day I heard something strange. I nudged my son inside, as I drew the same gun that killed the last pishtaco. I slowly walked into the forest, and I saw another one. This one was young and frail, maybe 4? I couldn’t tell but when I saw the little girl, or what seemed to be one, I actually felt a sort of pity. I set my gun back into my pocket, Then I slowly walked toward the girl. “Are you alright..?” Was all I could manage to leave my throat, and I heard a twig snap. Another trap. I quickly sprinted and grabbed the girl and moved out of the way, a large branch that had been sharpened fell straight down, where the girl would’ve sat. I set her down and took her hand as we walked back toward my home, when I heard another voice. I drew my gun again as I saw an adult, and I didnt trust it. She looked like the perfect woman, and It was clearly fake. I saw the tip of her tongue, which had the same design as the pishtaco, and without hesitation I shot her. Me and the girl started to run, and finally I realized this was an actual child, not a creature. Her hands were soft, but her clothes were rags. When we finally got home, I had my wife set her up and made sure she was clean and looking nice. Today, exactly ten years from the first incident, I felt truly proud. My kids began to learn why I taught them what I did. The pishtacos was dead, and whoever dared mess with my family, was in for one ride set to misery lane. This is my way to get out that this creature was no myth, and that I have survived and killed two of them.