out in the Dreamtime stocks a monster
long and fat and slow its height is the
color of the night painted with stars
and its body is longer than four
warriors laying head to toe with three
mammoth legs jutting out of each side
and atop that body is the head of an
enormous toad it is the Hui terror of
the tongue gala and it hungers this tale
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once the tongue Gala River which most
maps now call the Murray was a place of
peace and plenty where the water-rat
tribe could fish and hunt and live with
ease but then one day along its gentle
waters was seen a sight both monstrous
and strange a great frog headed lizard
long and fat and slow prowling the banks
it gazed at the humans with a savage
hungry look in its eyes it's great
tongue flicking out tasting the air
smelling their scent the people of the
water-rat tribe fled back to camp though
at first the danger did seem slight the
Hui this lizard who scoped along the
banks of the Tang gala was Honduras and
slowed each leg took its time rising and
falling rising and falling so slow is it
that despite its size even a child could
outrun it but then one day a group of
the water-rat people didn't check in
scouts were sent to their campsite but
when they got there they found only the
great heaving tracks of the Hui and the
red evidence of the terrors of the night
before not a man woman or child was left
and this was only the first camp for the
Hui was slow but in the dead of night
when the water was black and the people
were sound asleep it could move without
a whisper without a noise louder than
the wind in the reeds and so slowly
silently it would come up on these
sleeping camps and slide it's great MA
around prone bodies and swallow them
whole one by one or sometimes a mother
and a child at the same time it would
drag them silently down its dark gullet
never waking a sleeper it would eat this
way thirty to sixty people at a time and
those it couldn't digest it would trap
inside of its great mouth and carry them
back to its cave near the tongue gala
that extended miles and miles
underground saving them for a future
meal on hot days it would Sun itself
outside of this cave and in its basking
end up piling great mounds of sand that
can still be seen to this day for they
are the sand hills that border the
but when it had just had a meal it would
retreat to the very back of its cave to
sleep and for a while
the water-rat tribe would have peace the
toll it was taking on the water-rat
tribe was horrific mothers sons fathers
daughters all had been lost to the
insatiable hunger of the Hui so a
council was called to discuss the safety
of the tribe their leader stood and said
we are a small tribe and every day we
diminish we will vanish from this earth
if we do not depart for a distant
country to stay means to be devoured one
by one until there are none of our
people left to carry on our traditions
so I'll leave the question to you what
shall we do then one of the eldest of
the tribe stood up and said I am far too
old for making long journeys and before
the who you came though chungara
provided us all we needed rather than
run we must face this danger and to do
that we need the assistance of other
tribes the people murmured in agreement
and so as soon as the next dawn broke
every member of the water-rat tribe from
the youngest child to the oldest elder
went out to gather kindling and when
they had enough
they built signal fires sending up great
clouds of smoke into the sky knowing
that other tribes would come to their
aid when they saw the broad plumes of
smoke climbing over the horizon with
that done many went out to hunt fish and
baked mussels to prepare to welcome the
other tribes well a few of the bravest
went out to scout the whereabouts of the
Hui but the scouts could find the Hui
nowhere along the tongue gala at last
mustering their courage they approached
the Whois cave but there was still no
sight of the Beast then one of them
found his tracks
deep six legged tracks that ran right
into his lair now the scouts knew where
he was and more than that they knew that
with his slow steps it would take him a
full week to reach the back of the great
cave where then he would sleep so they
returned to their camp at dawn to see
the other tribes striding in a raid in
force with stone axes Spears and war
clubs and there was a great feast in
dancing and afterwards the scouts told
the tribes what they had learned the
next day every person brought a
small bundle of tinder giving it to the
most valiant among them to set halfway
down the huis cave then they lit it and
fled lighting another great fire at the
caves entrance the heat and the smoke
woke the great beast and the silent
creature roared for six days it bellowed
screaming so loudly that its rage could
be heard emanating from the cave mouths
miles away then on the seventh day dazed
its stumbled out of the cave and into
the sunlight and at that moment the
tribes descended upon it with axe and
spear and clubbed the monster fought and
the blood flowed but at last it was
overwhelmed gasping its last breath on
the banks of the tongue gala the monster
had been vanquished the tribe was saved
but to this day when the night wind
blows into a cave the sound is said to
be the breath of the Hui as it lay dying
I'm just kidding
there are no caves around here oh oh is
it behind me come on everybody I'm not
gonna fall for that
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