The Jersey Devil

Mr. Leeds was an Englishman from across the sea. In the New Jersey Pine Barrens he would soon be. Here he settled down with a local wife. He wanted many children for a fruitful life. Mrs. Leeds gratefully accepted the man’s wedding ring. This couple was blessed with many offspring. The children they had amounted to a dozen. However, with a thirteenth, their troubles would begin. “My baby-making days are going on the shelf. If I have another child, may it be the devil himself.” These words Mrs. Leeds said she would later regret. What happened next was not easy to forget. A boy baby was born as child number thirteen. However, its presence became a horrible scene. This boy had goat’s feet, bat wings, and horns like a devil. The baby’s grotesque appearance looked inherently evil. At the moment of birth, it gave a shrilling cry. The creature left its bedding and began to fly. It flapped its wings and flew out the chimney. The horrified couple never again saw this baby. Periodically, this “Jersey Devil” appears in the night. Its mere presence to witnesses causes great fright. Some believe in the creature, and others say it is folklore. After three hundred years, it comes around some more.