The story of Fog, Thunder and Hap

This tale comes from the Chumash people in southern California whose band stretches from Mt. Pinos (their center of Creation) west to Oxnard and north to where Santa Barbara is located today. They are known as the "dolphin-people."

Two boys, Fog and Thunder, decided that they were going to visit their aunt out on Santa Cruz island. They packed up and headed west until they came to the edge of the world ? known as "many waters"- the ocean. The two boys gazed out and saw the island as the wind blew away the mist.

"How will we get out to the island?" Thunder said to his friend. They continued looking out at the island. Then, at the same instant, they looked at each other and took out their flutes. At the same time, Fog played his large, bamboo flute and Thunder played his small, high-pitched flute.

The wind carried the sound and a group of men heard it up on the ridge. They walked up to the boys.

"What are you two doing here?" one of them asked.

"We want to go out to Sane Cruz island to visit our aunt," said Fog.

"But we don't know how to get out to the island," Thunder interjected.

The group of men knew that their flutes were magically charmed, from the quality of the musical notes that had carried through the wind.

"We'll take you two out to the island in our large canoe," one man said.

Then they went and brought the canoe down to the shoreline, the boys climbed in, and the mend paddled them out to the island. They climbed out and the men turned around and paddled back to the mainland.

The two boys walked up to their aunt's home and knocked on the door. She opened the door and glared at them.

"What are you boys doing out here on the island?" she demanded.

"We came out here to visit with you," Fog answered.

"Turn around and go home," she said. "Right now!"

"Why?" asked Thunder.

"Don't you know Hap is a terrible giant who will eat you both?" she said. "Go on back, right now!" Their aunt gave them a good verbal lambasting.

"We can't go back because the men dropped us off in the canoe and paddled back," Fog answered. "We are stuck out here on the island."

"Well, then, come on in and set down," said their aunt. "I'll give you sorry boys some deer meat and acorn mush." The two of them grabbed their mussel-shells and scooped up the food.

"Quickly, you two hide over here in the corner behind the furniture." Their aunt said. That's what they did.

They'd barely hidden themselves when the door was flung wide open.

"Arrrr, I smell something, and it's not deer or mush!" growled Hap, as he came through the doorway. He followed the scent, and his nose led him to the corner, where he stood looking down at the boys huddled behind the furniture.

"Please don't eat us," pleaded Thunder.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be worth the trouble," said Fog. "We are all skin and bones."

"It would be a waste," said Thunder. "We'd taste like bad medicine and make you nauseous."

"I'm not going to eat you boys," Hap said.

"You're now?" Thunder and Fog exclaimed together.

"Not yet," said Hap. "First I'm going to fatten the two of you up and put some more meat on ya!"

The two of them played their flutes, but to no avail. He led the boys to a large tipi with huge deer skin going around the poles. He fed them for three days.

"Tomorrow" Hap said finally, "I'm doing to eat you boys."

Now Hap slept with one eye open, so as to keep an eye on the boys across the lodge. Thunder took out his small flute and played it gentle. Hap's open eye began fluttering, then slowly closed shut. Carefully, Fog took out his large flute and played it softly. The magic from his flute made the large eye-holes line up near the top of the Tipi.

Then, the boys quietly filled their bed-rolls with some of the stones that surrounded the fire pit. Carefully, hardly daring to breathy lest they wake the sleeping giant, the two boys climbed the large tipi poles and pushed themselves through the eye-holes near the top. Then, they slid down the deer skin and escaped.

At dawn Hapawoke.

"Time to eat those two," he mumbled to himself.

He walked over to their bed-rolls and pulled back the animal skins. "Arrrrr," Hap shouted. He was so furious, in his temper he sucked up all the stones, chewed them up and spit out the pieces! He unlatched the doorway-flap and stormed out of the lodge. The boys saw his shadow coming towards them.

"What are we going to do?" Thunder asked aloud.

"Take out your flute!" said Fog.

Thunder played, but he was so terrified that he could barely play the notes. They scrambled over the rocks towards the edge of the island.

Hap was closing in on them as the boys reached a cliff. They watched Hap's ghastly teeth gnashing and shuddered as drool rained down on them. Fog tried playing his flute, but the site of Hap hovering over them took most of his breath away.

"Hurry," said Fog, "grab the end of my flute and pull."

Thunder pulled on the flute and it became longer. Hap bent over and opened up his mouth. The boys pushed the flute horizontally into Hap's mouth, and he closed his teeth on it.

The boys held on, one dangling from each end of the flute. Hap climbed down to the ocean and started to swim across toward the mainland. The boys continued to hold on, as they pulled themselves up to sit, horse-back style, on the top of the flute.

Hap climbed out of the ocean and whipped his head around to shake the water off. The two continued clutching the flute with their arms and legs.

Then, Hap headed towards Mt. Pinos. Fog was wondering what to do when Thunder spotted Coyote.

"Coyote, can you help us?" Thunder asked.

"Help you?" Coyote replied.

"Yeah, Coyote," said Fog. "Help us, please!"

"All right," said Coyote. "See that thorn bush up on the ridge? Grab onto it as you're passing by."

"Thanks Coyote," Fog and Thunder both shouted.

As Hap was passing by the thorn bush, they both reached out, grabbed on, and it was torn out of the ground. Now Hap was shaking his head furiously. The boys jumped to the ground, scramble to their feet, and started running.

But Hap began to breathe in, and they weren't going anywhere due to Hap's suction breath.

"Run!" shouted Fog. "Run!"

"I am running," Thunder replied. "But I'm not going anywhere."

Hap continued sucking up birds, small stones and twigs, while the boys tried to break free from his sucking action. Finally, the two of them overcame the giant's breath and jumped behind a large boulder. Holding on a pinon-tree next to the boulder, they both watched as Hap sucked up the thorn bush. It went down inside and cut him open and punctured his heart.

"Arrrrr," he roared, as he stumbled towards the boys. They jumped back behind the boulder. When he hit the ground, the tremors gave California its first earthquake. The imprint from his body created the Santa Ynez valley near Mt. Pinos.

That's how Fog and Thunder defeated Hap with the help of Coyote.

Tom McCormack is in his ninth year sharing legends and presenting teacher-student workshops on Aboriginal education and curriculum.