Week 2 Story: The Rakshasas of Texas

Hey all! This story is now part of my Storybook on a separate website! Check it out: Travelling MansPants!

Rakshas by Jacob Atienza

Ah he who dreams shall never give up...

Daddy: "The end. Good night darlin'."

Little 6 year old: "Wait. Daddy did you forget, it's Friday, so I get one more story."

Daddy: "Oh aren't you clever trying to get one more story out of your old man. Okay, but this is the last one for tonight."

The dad sits back down on the bed and pulls his daughter close and begin the story. 

Daddy: "Let's see where do I start, ah there once were rakshasas that roamed the earth and cared about nobody except themselves. They were everywhere and the scary part was that nobody knew when a rakshas was nearby because they were able to become another person."

Little 6 year old: "Do you mean they were like a clone?"

Daddy: "Exactly. Well, as it goes long time ago in a place south of the Red River was a small country called Texas. That was nicknamed the country of the Rakshas. Anyone who dared to venture into the land never came back for another meal. The rakshasas took on the forms of humans to trick humans into coming back to their country, saying that there were endless mines of gold and diamonds and servants to work, so they wouldn't have to. Blinded by greed and the thought of never having to work again men and women both would go with the rakshasas." 

Little 6 year old: "But don't you say never to trust strangers, then how come are those people going with the rakshasas?"

Daddy: "Hold on, hold on I'm getting there. These rakshasas aren't just taking the shapes of random people, they study who the humans are always talking to and become that person. There was this one particular human named Gibbs, we don't know if the Gods sent her or she was just a girl like you. Gibbs was out venturing one day in the grocery store with her mom and dad, she asked if she could go look through the candy isle and her dad said no. She was upset and tried to convince her mom next, but she refused to let Gibbs by herself for the fear that a rakshas will take her, because in this world it was getting harder to trust others. Frustrated and upset that her parents were still treating her as a little girl, even though her 15th birthday was coming up, Gibbs snuck away and ventured to the candy isle. There she saw the cute boy she had a crush on since 7th grade, but never had the nerves to talk to him, so when she saw him approach she thought she was dreaming. Little did she know he was a rackshas disguised as the boy she liked. Now let me also tell you rakshasas have this ability to capture people with their eyes and command them to do things they would normally not do. The boy started talking to Gibbs and soon they were walking out of the grocery store, and inside Gibbs' parents were frantically searching for her. Back then they did not have cars the rakshasas had birds that would convert to a veman. Gibbs soon arrived to Texas and could not believe what she was seeing. She saw people of all ages playing in fields, but little did she know it was all an illusion that would fade in a few hours."

Little 6 year old: "Daddy what about her parents?"

Daddy: "You see when they couldn't find her in the store, they asked the people there to see if they had seen her. Back then there were no security cameras or cell phones. One person said he had seen a girl kind of like Gibbs, brown hair, blue eyes, and about 5'5' go outside with a boy. Now her parents were left in confusion, trying to figure out who this boy could be, Gibbs had never mentioned a boy before. Her parents went on a search to find more out about this boy with the person. When the person found the boy in a park nearby, he went to question the boy, but the boy said he just came out of his house. Her parents immediately knew she was taken by a rakshas. 
     The daughter woke up and discovered that she was not at home and was in confusion until the boy (rakshas) walked in. Her gut was saying something is wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was yet. She asked the boy if he could take her back to the grocery store now, but he said that it was not possible. Now Gibbs was starting to get scared, because she knew her parents fear was becoming true, she had been captured by a rakshas. Rakshasas are smart they can sense all emotions of humans and they can smell fear a mile away. Gibbs knew she had to get back home, but being the sweet girl she was, she thought about the possibility of other people being trapped in Texas. So she decided she would escape that night somehow. So at night when everyone went to sleep she crept through the house trying to look for a way out, one door she opened she found had a bunch of other doors with a big key on the outside of each door. Slowly she crept into the hall and opened a door and found humans! After everyone was released they made their way to the fields. Now only if they could find someway to cross the Red River and get back home. There was a wise woman in the group of humans who could sense if there was a stream or river nearby, they thought of how they all got there and remembered the birds. 
     The rakshas who had brought Gibbs soon found that she was not in the room and then checked and saw that all of his prisoners were gone. He woke the whole village and they headed to the fields. But unfortunately for them they were all too late, the bird was already too high for them to reach for and soon one by one they started turning to ash. Long ago a sage had cursed the rakshasas and said "The day someone escapes your clutches and takes all of the village's prisoners, shall be the last of the rakshasas in Texas."

To be continued...

Author's Note: So the original story also had rakshasas, but they were females who persuaded men to stay on their island so that they could feast on the men later on. In the that story one a man discovers that his wife is actually a man-eater and informs his fellow shipmates the next day, few believe and others don't. Those who believed him escaped soon with the help of a winged horse, and those that stayed behind we eaten as dinner that night by the rakshasas. In my story I chose to switch things up a little bit. I had it take place a few decades back, Texas is the modern Lanka, and the rakshasas are pretty much the same except with a few more abilities. I really just started typing and this is the product. 

Bibliography. "Goblin City"from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. Web source.

Veman - what the gods, goddesses, deities, and demons or India used to use to travel