(Note:  “Mr Miacca” is a genuine creepy folktale as told by genuine creepy folk.)

October 1995

Natalie only had herself to blame.  The book had a picture on the front cover of a giant old man eating children in pies and burgers.  That should have been a good enough warning that, well, the book was going to have a story in it about a man who ate children.  But that story, ‘Mr Miacca’, had really bothered her.

The worst thing was that the story never called Mr Miacca a giant, or a troll, or a monster.  He was always just “Mr Miacca,” as if he was a normal person who everyone knew ate children.  The other worst thing was that the only thing you had to do for him to catch you was go round the corner from where you lived.  That was all the boy in the story had done.  His mother had told him not to go too far from home, and he’d only just got round the corner.  How did he even manage to go to school, if those were the rules?  Was it different if an adult was with you, or was he trapped on the same street for every moment of his life?  How old did you have to be before you didn’t count as a child anymore and Mr Miacca wouldn’t eat you?  Had anyone ever tried to stop him?  What had happened to them when they did?

Natalie was still thinking about it the following day, when her mother took her and her sisters shopping in Glamis Road after school.  She must have been to Glamis Road a thousand times, but this time she eyed it suspiciously from the car window.  Everywhere she looked, she could see places where Mr Miacca might hide, ready to jump out and capture you if you took one step too far away from your parents.

The boy in the story had been caught just past the corner of the road where he lived, and, oddly enough, the corner of the road where Natalie lived was exactly as far as she was allowed to ride her bike on her own.  That couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Natalie?” asked Mum, at the parking-ticket machine, “Are you with us?”

“Yeah,” said Natalie.  She was with them, alright.  She was going to stick to her mum and sisters like glue.

“You looked lost in your own little world for a minute,” said Mum with a laugh.  She got the ticket out of the machine, and handed it and the keys to Natalie’s older sister.  “Andrea, do me a favour and lock up the car for me, alright?”

Natalie watched Andrea all the way to the car and back.  It was probably OK.  She was still in Mum’s sight.  Besides, Andrea was going to be thirteen in a few months- for all Natalie knew, she might already be past Mr Miacca’s age limit.  Still…

Andrea came back, and Natalie relaxed.  She’d probably un-relax in a few minutes, when Andrea insisted on going into a different shop to the rest of them like she always did, but things were OK for now.

“Are you still alright for tomorrow, Andrea?” asked Mum, leading them all out of the car park.  From here, Natalie could hear the sounds of pigeons cooing.  When she was Stephanie’s age, Natalie had heard that mournful “oo-oo-oo” sound and wondered if it was wolves, howling in the distance, waiting for their chance to come down from the hills and feast on unsuspecting townsfolk.  Stephanie herself didn’t seem too worried, though.  She was just trotting along, smiling up at Mum, all curly hair and chubby cheeks, like she didn’t have a care in the world.  Steph wouldn’t last five minutes against Mr Miacca.

Andrea shrugged.  “I guess.”

Mum turned to Natalie and Steph.  “I’m going to be late home from work tomorrow, so I thought Andrea could walk you two home from Girls’ Brigade.”

Natalie didn’t like the sound of that.  Even if Andrea was above the age limit, walking home with her couldn’t be as safe as walking home with an adult, could it?  Yeah, she’d babysat them a couple of times, but they’d all been in the house then, not out on the street.

The other worst thing about the story was that, at the end of it, Mr Miacca was still around.  The boy who was the main character managed to outwit him and get away (twice, actually), but Mr Miacca didn’t die or lose his powers or anything.  He just didn’t get to eat that particular boy.

Mum turned to Natalie and Stephanie.  “Now, do you promise to be good for Andrea?  Do exactly as she says?  Just like you would for me?”

Steph nodded.

“Yeah,” said Natalie.  In the story, the boy’s mother warned him in the first line not to go any further than the corner of their street.  Not listening to her had been his first mistake.

“Good,” said Mum, “She won’t be telling you to do things just to be mean, you know.  It will be because she wants to keep you safe.”

“I know,” said Steph happily, and she carried on skipping.  If Mr Miacca came along right now, she wouldn’t know what hit her.  Natalie shivered.

“Just do as she says, and you’ll all be fine,” said Mum with a smile.  But even then, even before everything that happened, Natalie was pretty sure that wasn’t true.

(To Be Continued)