Ghost of the Missing Heart

By John Shockley
Special to The Advertiser

The Waianae coast is an enchanted place with stories wafting like the evening breeze from the heiaus above the rugged coastline.

It was in the old days when the road to Kaena Point was still passable and fishermen who wanted to be alone could camp at Yokohama Beach in peace.

The autumn had come and I parked where the sand ended and the rocky coast began. I was hoping to catch Ulua and the poles were set as the tip of the sun hit the horizon leaving the sky flashing green and the clouds pink with lightning edges.

I sat back in my beach chair and the first star appeared in the darkening sky.

"Eh, you get kau kau?"

I nearly jumped out of my chair. It was a thin Kanaka with ragged clothes, dark skin, and gray hair. I noted that he spoke the Old Style Pidgin, like my grandfather spoke long time ago, when he sold bananas from his Kaneohe farm in Honolulu.

"Try wait, I get some stuff in my cooler."

"No fish?"

"Not yet."

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Just then, the bell on one of the smaller poles rang out and I reeled in a Menpachi, a red night fish with big eyes.

"It's my first fish, but, eh, I give 'em to you."

I gave it to the man who smiled. He sat down immediately and cut open the fish with an ancient shark's tooth knife and began to eat right in front of me.

He finished all of it, went to the water and washed his hands and returned to where I sat. He squatted down and moved his wet finger in the sand drawing a picture of a man.

"Eh, boy, you see one man la dis in da dark.Beware! He comes out on dis night and hunts for a heart for replace da one dat was torn out. Watch close! No go moe-moe until you see mahenalani rise to light da sky.den, you safe!"

He looked up and I flinched. Through his dark face, his eyes sparkled and he told me this chilling tale.

In ancient times, there was a young fisherman named Kaunu, who had become famous for killing a huge mano, a huge shark that menaced this area. He was happy, but alone, until one day he met a beautiful girl walking along the sand. His heart was stopped by her beauty and her voice was like music to him. He had fallen in love.

His father saw what was happening.

"Eh, you know who dat is? She da daughter of the cruel kahuna from da heiau of human sacrifice. Da kahuna went go make one kapu to keep his daughter from seeing any commonars. You go see her, da kahuna goin' kill you dead."

Kaunu was not afraid for his love for the kahuna's daughter was stronger than any kapu. She loved him too, but she feared her father and would only come to the beach after dark when there was no moonlight to betray her meetings with her young fisherman lover.

One night, the lover's rendezvous when on too long and the full autumn moon had risen, lighting the sky before they parted. By morning the kahuna was told of their romance.

Warriors came to the fisherman's hut the next morning and dragged him to the heiau, as the whole village gathered. They strapped the young man down and the kahuna brought out his ceremonial keo spear. The penalty for breaking the kahuna's kapu was always death.

The young man was stretched out onto the altar for sacrifice.

"I no scared. My heart will always be filled with love for your daughter."

"Oh, yeah? I show you!"

Angered, the kahuna cut out the man's heart and flung it into the ocean.

"Dat night, da body of da young man when go disappeared from da heiau. Dey say, he come back on the anniversary of his death to look for one heart to put back insai his chest. Eh, boy, tonight is da night he is supposed to come back. No go moe-moe until da mahenalani, until da moon, go shine bright!"

I stared out at the sea thinking about the story and then looked up, but the figure of the old man was gone, faded into the darkness.

"Eh, crazy old Kanaka just telling me stories. Neva mind."

Stars filled the black sky and the water was calm. There was no wind from the mountains, so the crickets and a distant pueo, a screech owl, could be heard in the night. I felt the warmth of sleep drifting over my eyes.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

My big pole was almost bent double. The line sang out. Big Fish. Reel 'em in. Fighting, then oh! Ahh, the line cut. In the blackness of the night the Ulua had run and cut the line on the coral reef.

Neva mind. New hook, re-bait, and cast it far out to sea. Sitting there and staring out at the night sky brought on a dreamy state and a deep urge for slumber that I'd never felt before.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The reel was singing again, as I grabbed the pole. Snap! Nothing.

It was now late at night and the wind from the mountains sounded like a low moan. I was tired and was aching to sleep, but the words of the old kanaka rung through my mind. "No go moe-moe until da mahenalani.no go moe-moe."

"DING! DING! DING!"

My biggest pole was bent double and I ran to grab it before it was pulled of its stake and dragged into the sea. The reel was spinning out a hundred yards of line and I had the drag set for maximum. The reel was cooking and running out of line. Just before the end of the line the fish turned and I reeled line back like a maniac.

The pole bent again and another heavy rush ran the reel out again. Once
again the weight deadened and I toiled to crank more line back in. One final
lunge and I was reeling in something big through the surf.

A huge mano, a huge shark washed up on the sand and wiggled faintly as I dragged it from the water. I was exhausted. I fell to the sand after the shark was secured. I couldn't help it. I fell into a deep sleep.

From the mountains came a moan and a hellish figure arose from the Hao bushes. "I want your heart! I need your heart!" I was paralyzed as the apparition approached. He left no footprints on the sand, but swept over me
like a frigid breeze. His eyes were wild lights and he had claws for hands.

I screamed, but no sound came from my throat. His fingers were like daggers that ripped through my shirt. In a dark arch, he stood over me ready to plunge a knife into my chest. With my last breath I gasped: "Mano."

A pueo screeched and brushed by with a hapless mouse struggling in his talons.

The spirit's fiery eyes looked at the shark lying dead beside me. He plunged the knife into the shark's body, tore out its heart, and at that instant, the clouds rolled back to reveal the rising full moon. I passed out.

I awoke in the dim morning light to the high tide. My chest was burning. Deep bloody scratches lay under my shredded shirt. I rolled to my side in drowsy pain and I thought I heard the laughter of a young couple as they
faded behind the thick Hao bushes.

It had to be a dream. The shark was gone. Maybe the scratches on my chest were from a fall in the night. Then, I looked up to see an old shark's tooth knife covered in blood that stood like a marker in the dry sand. It was the first day of November many years ago, but not too long ago, to be forgotten