Jake's Birthday Jam 2008 Essay Contest
Steve Montgomery of Portland, Oregon
The Story Of Jake
The story of Jake begins about 100 years prior to his arrival at Long Beach, WA. During his summer prior to his senior year of High School he was lucky enough to get a job at a local sawmill. Jake worked his way up from sweeping floors to lumberjack in just one month. Jake was a natural, he could take down a tree with just a few swings of his axe. He could even control the falling of a tree as it fell, dropping it with the greatest of accuracy.
One day Jake was assigned to an old forest. It was near the end of the day and there was this one large tree he wanted to take down prior to nightfall. As the tree fell he noticed a cabin hidden in the thick forest, but it was too late, the cabin was crushed. Lucky there was no one at home. Feeling bad and wanting to take responsibility for what he had done, he waited the rest of the evening and all thru the night for the owner to return.
The next morning Jake noticed an old woman walking towards him, it was the owner. Jake tried to explain what had happened, but she was furious. Jake offered to build her a new cabin, but she just kept chanting and chanting the same phrase over and over. Turned out she was a WITCH and she had just put curse on him. The witch told him if he ever chopped down another tree, it would fall on him. Jake left the crazy old lady and returned to camp.
The next morning Jake woke up and went back to work. Not believing in curses, Jake started chopping down a tree. As it fell a gust of wind changed its direction. It landed on Jake crushing his legs and chest. Next thing the witch was standing over him saying “I warned you”. She then picked up his axe and chopped off his head.
Picking up the severed head, she headed to the swamp. The first alligator she came upon off went his head. She then proceeded to attach Jake’s head to the alligator’s body. Chanting some magic words, Jake came back to life. His punishment would be to roam the earth as half-man/half-alligator.
Jake would spend the next several years wondering the Oregon and Washington coasts. One day Jake met another one of his kind, a woman who had crossed paths with the same witch. They fell in love, settled down in Long Beach, WA, and soon there were “Baby Jakes” running around.
The magic the witch used caused Jake have a long life; he died at the age of 153 years old.
If you look close when driving to Long Beach, sometimes you can catch a glimpse of his offspring near the edge of the forest. I have seen them several times myself. Just don’t walk around barefoot in the forest;”Baby Jakes” enjoy nibbling at toes.
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