Foot Slapper

The boy was found dead under a tree, his body covered with the whisps and grasses lying about. Carried into the home by his father, his body was placed on the ceremonial mats and the kahuna was fetched.

Kūpina'i* had been out meandering by himself the night before. After waking up to the full moon's light in his eyes, he heard the voice of a maiden a far way off, calling to him as though in a dream. He followed her voice without reservation and came upon her as she stood under the cover of some kukui trees, the moonlight shining upon her face and breasts.

"You've come," she said, a smile crossing her mouth.

"'Ae," Kūpina'i replied. "You called me." She brought the boy toward her and meant a mischief to his person. She, the sorceress, called up a wind and pushed him close to her. Within a moment, she had removed his spirit from his body, leaving it to walk the earth, while she turned herself into an old hag and wandered off the trail, cackling and snapping her jaws as she went.

The next morning, Kūpina'i's spirit paced back and forth over his body. When his father picked him up with tears and carried him home, he thought for certain that he was doomed. The most he could wish for, he thought, would be to become an aumakua* like his grandfather, to take the form of a pueo* and protect the rest of his family. But when the kupuna came in and saw the spirit-less boy, he knew immediately what had happened.

"You hear there's a sorceress around lately?," the old man asked.

"We heard," Kūpina'i's father said. "Is this her work?"

"'Ae, it is. But I have just the thing." The priest rifled through his bags, kicked everyone out of the little hale* and set to work. He had the family pray to their guardian gods while he made a poultice for the spirit. He talked to Kūpina'i in the spirit realm, listened to what happened and brought the spirit close to the feet of the body. He put the poultice in the mouth of the boy's body, preparing it to receive it's ghost.

"You must enter at the feet," the kupuna said.

"A'ole!," said the boy. "The feet are most disgusting!"

"Yes, but they are the gateway for your spirit. Come close now." The boy reluctantly edged forward and the priest pulled him by his spirit neck, forcing his head into his body's feet. Kūpina'i began to mumble about the pain, but the old man, stronger than he let on to be, began to slap the feet of the body, forcing the spirit back into it's shell. With each slap, the spirit moved a little farther in, becoming more comfortable in his own home. After an hour, the ordeal was over.

"Mahalo, kupuna!," the resurrected boy called!

"Of course," replied the priest. And then under his breath, "Now to see about that sorceress..."

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*Kūpina'i - echo.
*aumakua - guardian gods of Hawaiian families, typically seen in the form of an animal. Ancestors are sometimes deified and become aumakua, taking the shape of the animal that guards the family.
*pueo - Hawaiian owl.
*hale - house