Where did I stray?

So last night I was sitting down stairs in my room watching a very interesting program on the 12 days of terror in 1916. What caused the terror? Well, have you seen the "scariest movie ever"? I even hear people nowadays say it's the scariest ever. Well that movie is loosely based on the events those fateful days from July 1-July 12 (in much the same way the movie Cujo is based off a dog with rabies).

Beach-goers had to get out of the house since it was one of the hottest summers on record and A/C wasn't invented yet. . . well I suppose you figured out by now where they went. Well, anyway, A fellow was swimming in the ocean and started his trek back to shore. Suddenly, in 3 feet of water, a shark grabbed his legs. He died from massive blood loss.

The second death was on July 6. Another fellow was out swimming appx. 1/4 mile away from shore. When something came up from below him. The life-guards quickly rowed out to get him. He ended up losing both legs: 1 above the knee and 1 below. He died on the way back to shore.

There were other deaths/attacks but the most striking ones was in a creek called Matawan. A child is swimming with his brothers and friends. A fisherman is near-by.The kids see a fin and start swimming to shore. Little Lester got to the dock but something has his leg. He fights it, his brother jumps in the water to fight the "demon" and the fisherman comes to the rescue. Lester and the fisherman die. There was another attack but the kid lived.

On the 12th, 2 fellows are fishing with a net behind them. Suddenly, the boat starts in the opposite direction. When the "sea turtle" (as one official said the beast was) surfaces, they "Whap" it to death with an oar. They empty the stomach of the beast and find human bones. A professor (the same one who said the attacks were perpetuated by an sea turtle )says it's not the shark of the killings. Then says it is . . . It was a great white shark. . . . That is a scary story. Why did I tell/write this story? Well, because it's history and I think it is a tale scarier than most. And as the saying goes: those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I won't be going swimming in the ocean this week . . . will you?

Some Creative Name