Man-Eater of Myanmar

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A giant man-eating fish stalks the Irrawaddy.
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al_Ussa
al_Ussa
273 Followers

It was an early morning on the Irrawaddy, and the sun had not yet crossed the eastern horizon. U Tha slowly paddled his old aluminum canoe down the river. It was difficult work to make a living as a fishermen on the Irrawaddy these days, or anywhere else in Burma for that matter, but somehow U Tha managed, just as his father before him had.

The trick, he always told his neighbors, was to get up early, so that you could check your fishing lines before the oppressive tropical heat became too unbearable. As he came to a calm area near the bank, he began to do just that. U Tha had only found this particular spot a couple months ago, but he found that it was especially good fishing. He'd caught dozens of catfish, eels, carp, snakeheads and gar in this particular location, so he made a habit of setting his lines there.

Unfortunately, he had no such luck today. At first, there seemed to be nothing on the hooks at all, but then, some started to come up with nothing more than mere scraps and fish heads. U Tha cursed under his breath. Something -- or perhaps even someone -- must have found out about this spot and started poaching from him.

As if in response to his colorful exclamations, something knocked into his boat. U Tha swore again, thinking that he must have hit a submerged log. And then it struck again, this time harder. U Tha looked over the side of his small canoe and strained to make out any shape in the dark, muddy waters. He could barely make out a large shape, perhaps a crocodile or giant fish, circling about his boat. Terrified, U Tha looked towards the shore.

"Keh-ba," he cried out, "Is anyone there? Help!"

There was no response. U Tha looked back down into the river and saw that the creature, whatever the hell it was, was still circling his boat. He looked desperately back over towards the shore and wondered whether or not he would be able to make it. It didn't look that far, but he wasn't certain he could out swim whatever was in the water beneath him.

Before he had a chance to make up his mind, the creature lunged into the canoe again, flipping it over and knocking U Tha into the water. U Tha barely had time to react. Almost immediately, he began swimming towards the shore. He didn't even look behind him to see where the creature was; he knew that every second mattered. His lungs were on fire, but the shore was so very close.

Just as he got near the shallow, muddy banks of the shore, he felt something pull him by the legs. Turning to look behind him, U Tha got his first glance at the creature, it's flabby, pale grey face poking out just slightly above the surface of the water. With its beady eyes and whisker-like barbells, it reminded him of a mythical naga serpent, or perhaps even some creature out of a nightmare. But the jaws that were wrapped around his legs were all too real.

U Tha barely had time to scream before the creature gulped once more, pulling him back down into the depths of the Irrawaddy. He thrashed for a while, fighting until the very end. And then, the waters went still.

*******

Robert Clark stood nearly waist deep in the murky waters of the Irrawaddy, the fiery mid-day sun bearing down on his back. His clothing was literally drenched in his own sweat by this point, and small gnats and flies started to bite at his face. Nonetheless, he somehow managed to endure.

"Do giant river monsters exist," Robert said as the camera zoomed in on his face, "Hello, I'm Robert Clark, cryptozoologist, and I've travelled the globe in search of the world's most terrifying and mysterious creatures -- creatures that some say do not even exist."

He paused for a moment, if only for dramatic effect.

"Today," he continued, "I'm here in the South-East Asian country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) in search of a giant river monster said to devour people whole! Only three months ago, local villagers say that an old fisherman named U Tha was dragged down by this creature, never to be seen again. Only his canoe was found! So does this creature exist? We'll examine the evidence and let you decide."

"So how was that," Robert shouted out to Ann Dimitrou, his camera woman.

"Excellent," she replied, "I think we've got more than enough material to work with for the opening."

"Sounds good to me," Robert said as he wiped a pool of sweat from his forehead, "How many takes was that anyway? Six? Seven?"

"Seven," Ann laughed, "But I think we're good now. If you hurry up, we'd probably have time to shoot a little more footage upstream."

"I'd love to," Robert replied as he waded back towards the shore, "But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now we've got to catch the lorry down to Mandalay. We're supposed to meet our government-appointed guide and translator down there."

Ann looked at her watch and nodded.

"So who is this guy anyway? Some sort of military guy or something?"

"I don't really know," he replied, "But he's supposed to be the guy in charge of this stretch of river, almost all the way down to Mandaly, in fact. Let's hope that he can tell us more about this supposed man-eating fish."

"And that he doesn't try to confiscate any of our footage," Ann muttered under her breath.

*******

In a small tea shop in Mandalay, a large, barrel-chested man in a khaki uniform sat waiting for his foreign charges to arrive. It was already almost half an hour past their agreed meeting time. Anxiously, he began to tap his finger on the table.

"Please accept this gift as a sign of my hospitality, Bogyo," said the shop keeper as he came out with another free cup of tea.

Bogyoke Ztaw Hlaing was a man who knew how to use his military rank to get what he wanted. He was not accustomed to having to wait for anything. He took a sip of his fresh tea, and then looked over at his watch. And then he saw them. The two kala phyu -- two foreigners -- stood out against the sea of Burmese. Ztaw Hlaing got up to greet them.

"You must be Mr. Clark," he said as he approached the pair.

"Are you our government-appointed guide," Robert asked as he shook the man's hand.

"Yes. You may call me Ztaw Hlaing."

"You probably already know that I'm Robert Clark," Robert replied, "And this is my camera woman Ann Dimitrou. I'm just sorry that we're late. The lorry was..."

"Please," the Bogyo interjected, "Think nothing of it. Everything in Myanmar runs an hour late. It is a pleasure to finally meet you both. Why don't you have a seat and we can discuss business over a cup of tea. This is my favorite tea shop."

After they sat down, Ann opened her shoulder bag and began to take out one of her cameras. Ztaw Hlaing stopped her, tightly grabbing her hand and staring into her eyes.

"Please understand," he said, "For the sake of national security, I am not allowed to let you record my image or voice."

Ann was a little shocked by this. She looked over towards her partner, who just shrugged, and then decided it wasn't worth it, and put her camera back.

"We're sorry," Robert replied, "It won't happen again."

"I will tell you what to film from now on," the Bogyo replied, "For your own safety, of course."

That comment bothered Ann, but she chose not to say anything.

"So do you know why we came to Myanmar," Robert asked.

"You wanted to film a documentary about fish," Ztaw Hlaing replied.

"Sort of," Robert said, "We believe that there is a giant fish in the Irrawaddy, perhaps even a man-eater."

Ztaw Hlaing was silent for a moment, though they could not tell whether it was out of anger or fear. And then, he began to laugh a forced laugh that fooled nobody.

"Monster fish," he exclaimed, "No such thing. That is just a folk tale that mothers tell their children to keep them from playing in the river. There are no dangerous animals in Myanmar."

It sounded as if he had rehearsed these lines well in advance.

"But what about the missing fishermen?"

"There are no missing fishermen," the Bogyo said, "These are just stories. Nothing more."

"But surely there could be no harm in letting us film a documentary about Burmese folklore then, right? After all, wouldn't it be celebrating the national culture?"

"Yes," Ztaw Hlaing said, "I suppose it would."

"All right," Robert continued, "So who can we talk to about the regional folklore?"

Ztaw Hlaing thought for a while, taking a sip of his warm tea.

"Perhaps it would be best to go to the old Taungmyo hpongyi kyaung. The head abbot there knows many of the old stories. He could probably help you."

"How far is it," Robert asked.

"Not far at all," the Bogyo replied, "If we take my jeep, it is only half an hour to the south."

"Sounds good to me," Robert said as he got up from his seat.

*******

The drive to Taungmyo hpongyi kyaung took considerably longer than half an hour, due to all of the pedestrians, military road blocks and even an occasional vendor blocking the way. It was made even longer by Ztaw Hlaing stopping to explain the historical or cultural significance of almost every single site in Mandalay. Robert and Ann quickly learned that the Bogyo was not a great conversationalist.

The Bogyo parked in front of the monastery, and then led Robert and Ann inside.

"You'll have to take off your shoes before setting foot here," Ztaw Hlaing told them as he took off his own boots.

Robert and Ann followed suit, having a little trouble slipping off their shoes. A crowd of saffron-robed monks gathered around them, seemingly confused by the new visitors. Robert gathered that this particular monastery did not receive many visitors, particularly not foreigners.

One of the monks approached Ztaw Hlaing and spoke to him in Burmese. Robert couldn't understand what they were talking about, but from the tone it seemed quite urgent. Finally, Ztaw Hlaing bowed and the monk led them into a narrow hallway in the monastery.

"Come with me," Ztaw Hlaing instructed, "They said Sayadaw Shwe is in his chambers at the end of the hall."

"Is he the head monk," Robert asked.

"Yes," the Bogyo replied, "You may ask him about the folklore of the Irrawaddy. I will translate for you."

"Am I allowed to film this," Ann asked.

"You may film Mr. Clark and the Sayadaw," Ztaw Hlaing replied, "But you are not allowed to film my likeness, in the interest of preserving the national security of Myanmar."

Ann was more than a little offended by this, but she chose not to make an issue out of it.

When they finally reached the door to the senior abbot's chambers, Ztaw Hlaing turned around and addressed his foreign dependents.

"Sayadaw Shwe is one of the oldest and most respected monks in the state," he said, "Please be respectful and follow my lead."

Robert nodded, and then the Bogyo opened the door and led them in.

"Mingalarbar," Ztaw Hlaing said as he bowed before the monk.

Ann and Robert mimicked the gesture out of respect.

The monk replied in Burmese, and began to discuss something with the Bogyo. Taking out her camera, Rahcel eagerly filmed the old, saffron-robed monk. They would have to go back later and have a translator work out what he was saying. After a while, Ztaw Hlaing turned to Robert.

"Head Abbot Shwe is telling me about the legend of the lady of the Irrawaddy."

"What is he saying," Robert asked.

"He said that there was once a nobleman from Amarapura who went to Ceylon to bring the dhamma back to the people of Burma. While there, he married a Singhalese princess, but when he came back to Burma he began to ignore her. Feeling jilted, the princess committed suicide by jumping into the river, but before she did so, she claimed that her spirit would haunt that stretch of the river from then on."

"I see," Robert said, "So what does that have to do with the giant fish?"

Ztaw Hlaing asked the abbot something in Burmese, and then, after a short conversation, turned back to Robert.

"The legends say that the princess takes the form of a giant catfish," the Bogyo said, "And that she haunts the river on the nights of the new moon."

"And which part of the river does she haunt," Robert asked.

"It's a place just north of Mandalay," the Bogyo said, "A cool, swampy bank, underneath a row of ka nyin trees."

Robert turned and looked at Ann.

"That sounds just like the stretch of river where U Tha was supposed to have disappeared," he said.

"You mean the spot where we were filming earlier?"

"Yes," Robert exclaimed, "We'll have to go back tomorrow morning and make a dive. Perhaps there really is a creature down there!"

*******

The next morning, Bogyogke Ztaw Hlaing escorted Robert and Ann to the river, having brought a couple of local villagers to help them carry their diving equipment. The Bogyo had no problem with allowing them to make a dive; he only insisted that he be present to ensure their safety.

"So what do you think that legend is based on," Ann asked as she checked the batteries on her underwater camera.

"I'm not sure," Robert said, "But it might be a goonch."

"Goonch?"

"Yeah," he replied calmly, "A sort of giant catfish native to India and south-east Asia. The monk had said it was a giant catfish of some kind. The biggest goonch can reach over six and a half feet, and weigh more than a hundred and sixty pounds."

"That's a big fish," Ann exclaimed.

"The real question," Robert said, "Is whether they get big enough to be a man-eater."

"Let's hope not," Ann said, slipping into her wet suit.

"I guess we'll find out after our dive."

Ztaw Hlaing came over to them, accompanied by one of the villagers.

"It looks like everything is ready," the Bogyo said.

"Good," said Robert, "Then we're going to make our dive. We have enough oxygen for up to three hours, but I don't think it will take us that long to see what's down there. Wish us luck."

In spite of the tropical heat, the water in the part of the Irrawaddy was surprisingly cool; it felt quite refreshing when they dived in. Robert led the way, taking Ann towards a steep drop in the river; it looked to be nearly twenty or thirty feet deep!

There were numerous small fish, which quickly darted away as Ann swam through the murky depths. Somehow, that seemed to reassure her that this was safe, and that she wasn't going to be devoured by some mythical river creature.

Robert continued to lead her down into the depths, searching along the mud and rocks that lined the river bed for any sign of his giant catfish. He nodded and gestured her towards his right. Focusing in with her camera, Ann saw that there were indeed large catfish sitting motionless on the bottom, pale and mottled so that they blended in with the river bed. Some of them approached two or three feet, but none approaching the size of the monster that Robert mentioned.

Dutifully, Ann began to film them, scanning her camera across the river bed to try and capture as much of the scenery as possible. She almost missed it when her camera went past a huge shape, not thinking that it could be a fish. But then, it moved. Ann looked over towards the spot again and saw a truly gigantic catfish. At nearly twelve feet, it was considerably larger than any of its brethren. In fact, it almost reminded her of a shark, both in terms of size and general body shape. Ann froze, hoping not to attract its attention. Slowly, she turned and tried to attract Robert's attention. Unfortunately, the gigantic goonch had already seen her. With blinding speed, the colossal fish darted up from the bottom of the river and made a bee line towards Ann. She desperately tried to get out of its way, only narrowly avoiding being hit head on by the monstrous fish.

Seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye, Robert turned around to see the huge dark shape. His eyes went wide. In all of his travels, filming documentaries about supposedly mythical creatures, he had never encountered anything so terrifying or real before. The enormous goonch turned and, seeing new prey, began to swim towards Robert.

Panicked by the sight of the huge catfish charging through the water straight towards him, Robert tried to swim towards the shore. He never had a chance, and the goonch quickly grabbed him from behind, sucking him in with his huge mouth.

Ann saw the whole thing. Much to her horror, her long time partner was sucked into the goonch's mouth alive. She cried as she saw his torso gruesomely sticking out of the creature's mouth, grasping and clutching for anything to try and escape from it. The goonch lunged forward and swallowed another gulp of water, sucking the rest of Robert into its mouth. And then it turned around and headed back towards the same spot where it was originally resting.

It swam right past Ann, passing within almost a foot of her. She could feel the strong currents as the gigantic fish went by. She wanted to turn and try to swim away, but she was literally frozen by fear, her muscles being tensed up. And then she noticed something strange; it seemed that the fish didn't notice her.

Movement! It had to be movement. This horrific giant goonch was attracted by movement. Terrified, she closed her eyes and tried not to move, or even breath. Mere seconds seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but Ann stood dead still, waiting for the fish to pass by. Eventually, she saw the goonch's tail swing past her, and it was gone.

Ann waited a minute, and then slowly turned around. Despite the relatively low visibility of the muddy river water, she could see the mottled gray catfish resting on a bed of rocks not more than fifteen or twenty feet away from her. Taking a deep breath, she slowly started to swim towards the surface, hoping that her movements wouldn't attract its attention. She tried to swim slowly and gently, not making any sudden disturbances.

Occasionally turning around to make sure that the monster catfish wasn't disturbed, Ann made her way back towards the surface. It seemed that she was actually going to get out alive after all. And then, cruel fate intervened. The video camera began to slip out of her hands. Ann quickly grabbed at it, but she missed, and the heavy piece of equipment sank towards the bottom of the river, hitting the mud and rocks.

Alerted by the sudden vibrations, the giant goonch sped through the water, gulping in both the video camera and even some of the smaller catfish. Ann panicked, and began to swim. Her heart was racing as she tried to escape from the huge man-eating catfish. However, her struggles only served to attract the creature's attention. The fish swam towards her, and just as she got into the shallow waters near the shore, it caught her by the ankle, its mouth closing down tightly.

As the goonch began to pull her into the depths, some primal part of Ann's brain kicked in and she turned around and punched the catfish on the nose. It opened its mouth and she was able to pull her foot out, quickly squirming towards the shallow waters where she hoped this colossal fish wouldn't be able to follow her.

Exhausted and nearly out of breath, Ann reached the surface, dropping her mask and wildly gestured for help. She was still almost waist deep in water, but the fish seemed far too big to follow her, and she thought she might still be able to limp back towards the shore.

"There's a man-eating fish," she cried out, "It got Robert!"

Bogyogke Ztaw Hlaing stood there impassively.

"Are you all right," he called back.

"It twisted my ankle," she said, "But... I think I can make it from here."

"And the film," Ztaw Hlaing asked.

"What?"

"Did you capture it on film," he asked.

"I... well, yes I did... but I dropped the camera and..."

"Good," the Bogyo replied as he reached down and pulled his revolver out of its holster.

Ann's eyes went wide at the sight of this.

al_Ussa
al_Ussa
273 Followers
12