Tailypo

The Tailypo is a frightening creature from Appalachian folklore, half human, half dog, with red eyes, a long tail and sharp claws.  The Tailypo wanders around in the night hunting for the hermit who cut off and ate his tail.  You can sometimes hear him in the night whispering, "Tailypo, tailypo, give me back my tailypo..."

The story, of course, is told to children to scare the dickens out of them for no good reason whatsoever, and I remember learning of the Tailypo through a fifth-grade classmate while standing in the pitch black of the girl's bathroom of John Jones Elementary School (the same location where I was taught to play the game of Bloody Mary and told the silly tail of "If the log rolls over, we're all going to die").  Don't ever doubt the benefits of a public school education.

Why do I mention the Tailypo?  Because I forgot to list it as one of the nicknames we have for Booker.  He is our Tailypo.  And he wants his tail back.

To read the full story of the Tailypo, please visit here.

To read more about the urban legend of Bloody Mary, please visit here.