The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow

October 27, 2011
Emma Chiu

Legend of the Sleepy Hollow

Once upon a time, there was a small market town off the eastern shore of the Hudson River, which was known as the Tarry Town. Not far from this village, there was a small valley that was unusually quiet. Because of its queer silence, the people that live in Tarry Town called this valley the Sleepy Hollow.

The Sleepy Hollow was said to be bewitched and the community often had tales about the spells and the phantoms that surrounded the enchanted valley. The spirit that was known to haunt the Sleepy Hollow was the appearance of a figure on horseback without a head. This ghost was said to be a soldier that lost his head in an anonymous war. His body was buried in a churchyard, and people often claimed that they hear unusual noises and see strange things at night.

In this mythical region, there was an affable man by the name of Ichabod Crane. He was a humble fellow who worked as a schoolteacher and a singing master. Among his singing students, there was a young woman known throughout the Sleepy Hollow for her exquisite beauty; the daughter of a Dutch farmer, Katrina van Tassel.

As soon as he fell profoundly in love with the girl, his goal was to figure out how to win Katrina’s heart. It was not an east task at all, for Katrina had a numerous amount of admirers. Amongst these men was an irascible man of the name of Brom Van Brunt; who was commonly known as Brom Bones in the neighborhood because of his buff figure. He was admired for his strength and his great skills in horsemanship; and the many folks look up to him in awe. Ichabod thinks of him as an abhorrent man, yet he considers him as the biggest threat out of all the rivals he is about to face.

Brom Bones seemed to catch Katrina’s attention immediately because his horse was seen often inside the Van Tassels’ stable while other suitors whom witnessed it reported the news to their friends in despair; they were impelled to give up by Brom’s confidence and did not dare to challenge him. Although Katrina showed interest in Brom Bones, Ichabod wasn’t despondent and refused to give up on her. He still dreams of being with her and living together. Brom became jealous when he found out that Ichabod was still seeing Katrina; thus, not intimidated by him. He tried to embarrass this schoolteacher with making practical jokes by turning everything in Ichabod’s house upside-down and stopping up his chimney. These jokes seemed to be interminable; as Brom always tries to find a way to ridicule Ichabod in Katrina’s presence.

One day, an invitation was sent to Ichabod’s house for a party in the Van Tassel’s home. He was jumping with excitement and assured himself that he would make Katrina fall in love with him in the party. He wore the best clothes he possessed, and combed his hair until he thought that it was flawless. As he walked confidently into the Van Tassel’s household, he was stunned when he saw his rival, Brom Bones. As the first song started to play, Ichabod hurriedly asked Katrina to join to a dance. Dancing was part of Ichabod as well as singing, so the couple was dancing merrily inside the room while Brom Bones regarded them with jealousy.

After the dance ended, Ichabod joined the conversation with sage elders, including Old Van Tassel himself. They sat talking about the old times and mentioned the incidents happening recently. Few people mentioned that there was a woman in white who haunted the Raven Rock was heard screaming before a storm, her voice reverberated throughout the whole village and the people were terrified. But the main part of the stories, focused upon the Headless Horseman in the Sleepy Hollow, who had been heard several times in a bridge near the churchyard where he has been buried.

It was midnight when Ichabod left the party and decided to go home. He began to feel nervous when he heard the sound of the wind blowing against the branches and mistaking it for whistling; in addition he saw a white branch and mistook it for a ghost. He sighed and when he reached the place where the Headless Horseman always haunted, he saw a man riding on a horse.

Ichabod was so tremulous he shakily told his horse to gallop faster. When he looked back, he was terrified; he knew that no matter how much he entreated the ruthless spirit, he would not be satisfied until he gets what he wants. The Headless Horseman aimed his head at him, and as Ichabod tried to dodge, he fell off his horse. The next morning, a group of people found Ichabod’s horse and a shattered pumpkin not far from it.

Ichabod never came back to the Tarry Town or the Sleepy Hollow. When the people told the story, Brom Bones always wore a smile on his face. The folk questioned whether it was just Brom Bones throwing a pumpkin at Ichabod or is there really the Headless Horseman who caused Ichabod’s death. Nobody knows for sure and it will remain as one of the mysteries of the Sleepy Hollow.

The Mitt of the Memories

I looked up, and there it stood. The baseball mitt. The thing that has given me strength all these years. Plain, scratched, yet so comforting. Its level of value flies above gold and diamonds, although it’s made out of unknown material and random fur. Sophisticated handwriting was written in green ink all over the fingers and pockets. Everywhere. You really couldn’t imagine a nine-year-old kid writing poems on his baseball mitt in such a beautiful handwriting. But if you knew my little brother, Miguel, you wouldn’t have been surprised.

        He possesses big intelligent eyes that look at people as if he were examining a complicated pattern. He speaks in an adult-like manner you would think that he’s fully matured. He wasn’t just smart, everybody I knew adored him. He would laugh at lame jokes, comfort people who are emotionally hurt, and has always been there for everyone. I treasure the mitt so much because of its scent of his loving personality. As I held the mitt between my fingers, a long-ago memory crawled its way into my consciousness.                                                                                 

        Miguel loved baseball, he really did. He wasn’t like those kids that would cheer on the top of their voice just to act cool, he watched the games with such intensity that you would think that he’s on the verge of death. My parents soon noticed his passion for baseball, and offered to buy him a mitt. We looked everywhere, but left-handed mitts were uncommon, so we chose to go to a nearby town to look for more options. In the corner of the street, Miguel found a starving beggar wearing rags and homeless. He was a frail old man with a white beard and yellow teeth, missing his right arm.

        “Mister I’m sorry I can’t help you much. I left my piggy bank at home. But I really wish to help you, sir” said Miguel in his sincere voice, handing the man the five-dollar bill he had saved for a special occasion. The beggar nodded at him, shaking and with tears glistening in the sides of his cheeks. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t form his words. “Do you by any chance know where there’s a store that makes left-handed baseball mitts?” asked Miguel politely.

        “Well, see,  there’s rarely any left-handed baseball players, sonny. I love baseball myself, but I’ve never fulfilled my dream in being the baseball player in the town because of my disability, and mainly because I’m missing my right hand ” He replied. His facial expression softened when he saw Miguel scrunching his eyebrows together in disappointment.

        He hesitated for a long time and after deep thoughts, he went to a nearby tree and searched inside a pile of fallen leaves and fished out an old baseball mitt. “Mister, I’m sorry I can’t help you much. I don’t have a piggy bank or a home, but I’m the world’s number one baseball lover.” He imitated Miguel’s sincere voice, handing it to him, his eyes twinkling. “See, I don’t have a right hand, so I made the mitt myself out of scraps of clothing material. I’ve never met a kinder boy in my entire life. I’m not going to last long but even if I don’t have the money to help other people, I will rest in peace if I know that my beloved baseball mitt is safe in a caring baseball lover’s hands.” After saying that, he walked away without another word, leaving Miguel dumbfounded.

        The man was Miguel’s greatest inspiration ever since. He worked hard and studied even when other kids were having their free time. He listened at class when others students’ minds were wandering off somewhere else. He was truly inspired and collected numerous poems in the honor of the man that gave him the baseball glove. He would always carry a green pen around, and when he finds a satisfactory poem, he would write in on the mitt with his best handwriting.

        Soon, his mitt was covered with letters all over. Every time the opposing team bats, he reads one of the poems and remembers the old man who loved baseball and tried everything despite of his disabilities. Before a game, he would always pray with his baseball mitt and refused to replace the mitt with a newer, grander one even if our parents found a baseball mitt covered with diamonds.

        He remembered the old man right up until the end, even when he was literally dying from leukemia. He was suffering all the time in the field, but refused to yield his pain. He kept telling us that he was all right, when he was panting with exhaustion. When we noticed that something wasn’t going right, it was already too late. With a blink of the eye, the next thing I saw was him on a bed, barely breathing. He took two quick breaths and held them, with his face as pale as a sheet. He made a little noise that came from the back of his throat, and winced.  Soon, his body stopped twitching and lay there, motionless. The doctor's looked up from his glasses and his kind smile disappeared off of his face. He took Miguel's wrist and his brows became all muched up together and his wrinkles sunk deeper, he automatically grew older as he shook his head with a grieved expression.

        My brain didn’t react immediately after the gesture. The next thing I knew was that I was banging my fist into anything I could get my hands onto. I crashed into glass, sending shattered pieces flying everywhere. My hand was dripping blood and I didn’t hesitate when I felt my fingers crack. The wounds are still there. The hand will never mend, and neither will I feel any better.

After so long, the baseball glove still stood neatly alongside with my personal belongings inside my suitcase. His poems were still there, the scratched places didn’t fade, and the mitt is perfectly preserved and looks the same way it did five years ago. But the person who prays with this mitt is not there anymore, and will never come back again.