Page Title

    “El Chupacabras”
    Tyler and Tommy Oliver stared at the bearded stranger sitting beside
them. Clearly he was speaking to them but they were too surprised to
answer.
    The man had already been seated when the boys and their family
boarded the jet to begin their vacation. Since greeting them with a quiet
“Hola” and a weak smile he had remained hidden behind a newspaper for
most of the trip.
    “El Chupacabras,” the man said again, nodding and smiling.
    Pointing at the drawing in Tommy’s hand he explained, “Where I come
from it is known as El Chupacabras.”
    The drawing was one of Tyler’s. It pictured a black creature, outlined in
yellow, with fangs, spikes on its head and huge red eyes with no pupils.
    Tommy, who was never shy, spoke up.
    “It’s a goatsucker.”
That is what Tyler called it and as far as Tommy was concerned his older
brother was always right. The man rubbed his beard and thought for a
moment.
    “This goatsucker, what does it do?” he asked looking at Tyler.
Self-consciously, Tyler shrugged and spoke quietly.
“I don’t know. They’re like a monster vampire.”
    “Si,” said the man. “Your goatsucker, we call it El Chupacabras.”
    “Oh,” said Tyler, surprised to meet an adult who knew of it. He had heard
of it from his friends at school and had drawn his picture based on what they
had told him. He thought for a moment then spoke.
    “El chupa…?”
    “Chup – a – cabras,” the stranger said slowly.
    Tyler repeated the word and the man nodded his approval. Tommy
looked at him.
    “Do they really suck the blood from animals?” he asked.
    “Si,” the stranger answered, “from their heads.” With a mischievous smile
he added, “Not only from animals my friend.”
    “Cool,” said Tommy.
    “Have you ever seen one?” asked Tyler.
    “No,” said the stranger, “but I have seen pictures, even a videotape of
one. It was crossing a road during a storm. It was all hunched over but you
could tell, you could see what it was.”
    “Yeah,” Tyler agreed excitedly, “My friend Chris saw that too. He’s the
one who told me about goatsuckers.”
    “El Chupacabras,” the man corrected.
    “El Chupacabras,” Tyler agreed.
    “Where are you from?” he asked.
    The stranger looked out the window of the airplane.
    “From there,” he said, pointing. “Puerto Rico.”
    Tyler and Tommy looked. There was an island to be seen. It sat like a
green gem in a silver setting.

    Across the aisle nine-year-old Paige Oliver leaned forward, listening to
ten-year-old Tyler and seven-year-old Tommy talking to the stranger seated
next to them. She sat between her mother Judy and Tom Oliver. Tom and
Judy had recently married which made him her stepfather and the boys her
stepbrothers. Paige wasn’t used to living with other children, especially boys.
Suddenly having two brothers wasn’t easy.
    Paige looked to her mother, who was also listening to the boys. She
rolled her eyes and sighed.
    “Boys,” her mother said and shrugged. “They love that creepy stuff.”
    “I know,” Paige agreed.
    “Is that all?” her mother asked.
    Paige shrugged again. “I don’t know. Sometimes it seems like they don’t
want me around.”
    “Remember honey, for eight years it’s been just them. Now here you are,”
her mother explained, as she had many times before. “It’s going to take a
little time.”
    “It’s been three months,” Paige complained, “I’m tired of trying.”
    “Stop trying and just be yourself,” Judy suggested. Looking at Paige she
sighed. “Don’t worry, this vacation will help.”
    “Will there be other children there,” Paige asked, “Just in case.”
    Tom had been listening to them. He looked at Paige.
“Do you want me to talk to the boys?”
    “No,” Paige answered, shaking her head. Looking for something to read
she pulled a travel magazine from the pocket in front of her. Leafing through
it she stopped at a map.
    Tom leaned over and pointed to their vacation destination on the map.
Belize. It was tucked in a little corner below Mexico. It looked like a tiny place.
Paige read the description aloud.
    “Belize. A Caribbean backwater once a favorite haunt of pirates, now a
popular destination for scuba diving and sport fishing. Belize is noted for its
barrier reef, the longest in the western hemisphere, its rain forest and an
abundance of Mayan ruins.”
    “That doesn’t sound bad,” her mother said.
    “Just like Disney,” Paige answered moodily. That was where she had
wanted to go.
    Before Tyler and Tommy could question their new acquaintance about
goatsuckers they were landing at Puerto Rico airport. This busy airport
bustled with people from many places speaking many different languages.
There were French-speaking women from Haiti wearing bright sunny
dresses and Spanish speaking men from Mexico, German-speaking tourists
on their way to St. Lucia and men with dreadlocks who spoke English with an
accent that tickled Tommy’s ears. They were from Jamaica.
    From Puerto Rico the Olivers went on a smaller plane to Belize City.
There the airport was much smaller – just one big building really – and not
busy at all. Here the people were relaxed. They took their time, laughing and
joking while they did what they had to do.
    From Belize City they had one more flight. This time they were on a small
propeller driven plane. Tommy got to sit up front, right next to the pilot!
    “Don’t touch a thing Fingers,” his father warned. His father often called
him that because he was always getting into things.
    With a roar – and a bump or two - the small plane took off. The children
thought it was cool but Judy was nervous. This was already more adventure
than she was used to.
    In minutes they were over the water, following a chain of small key islands
to where they would be staying. They flew low enough to see the bright
beaches and palm trees. The water was so pure that they could see schools
of fish like silver shadows and manta rays moving like big birds in the water.
When Paige saw a shark, the pilot circled around it so that all could see.
    This time when they landed the airport was even smaller. There wasn’t
even a building, just a bench to sit on!
    The final leg of their journey was by water taxi. There on those small
islands, where there are no roads, people travel back and forth by boat and
those boats are called water taxis. Wearing their life vests Tommy, Tyler and
Paige sat in the bow. Their parents sat in the stern close to the man who ran
the boat.
    The boat left the dock, slowly passing a beachfront hotel and several
homes with white washed walls and red tile roofs.
    As soon as they had left these buildings behind they began raced across
the water. Riding in the bow, the children loved the way the boat slapped the
water, sending a spray of water over their heads each time. In the back Tom
held his hat on. Judy’s hair was a marvelous mess.
    The shore they passed was mostly mangrove and palm trees, and looked
like a jungle. Occasionally, they passed a beach, or a small home. Paige
wondered what it would be like to live there.
    There weren’t any waves on shore. Instead, the waves were out on the
sea, on the other side of the boat.
    Tom yelled over the roar of the engine.
    “See those waves out there.”
    He pointed to the waves out on the sea.
    “That’s where the barrier reef is. That’s where we will snorkel.”
    “Cool,” Paige said to Tyler and Tommy, joining in their excitement.
    She settled into her seat, enjoying the ride. Watching some local children
swimming she thought, “Maybe this won’t be too bad.”
    By now their Mom and Dad were talking to the man who was piloting the
boat. Seeing some modern buildings Tom pointed and asked, “Is that where
we are staying?”
    “No sir,” the man said seriously. “That is Rataan. It is a resort that never
opened.”
    Partially hidden by palm trees the buildings looked mysterious. The
largest was shaped like a squat pyramid and the front of it looked like it was
made of glass. Between the building and the water there was a low wall and
wide steps leading to an unfinished dock.
    “So it just sits there?”
    “Si. Until the jungle takes it back,” the man answered. Then he spoke a
little more quietly. “They say smugglers and such people use it at night. It is
not a good place.”
    Not long after passing Rataan, the water taxi slowed.
    They were there!