Basic Information
Type/Species: Sea Serpent
Origin: American Folklore
About Sea Serpent of Spoonville Beach
The people at Spoonville Beach often used sea serpent "sightings" to boost business when it was bad. Someone would ask, "Business hasn't been so good lately, has it?" Then someone else would say, "No, it hasn't." Then they'd send someone out in a row boat for a few hours and that person would come back telling everyone about a sea serpent that they saw. The papers would print the story, and tourists would come to the beach, just because someone said they'd seen a sea serpent. [1]
Business wasn't so good for Spoonville, and, like always, someone brought this up. Moe Kopple, who ran a large restaurant, asked Sam McGeever to go out in a rowboat. He did so, and returned with yet another sighting of a sea serpent off the shores of the beach. [1]
As always, people became excited. Moe noticed that Sam had gotten much better at fabricating the sightings of sea serpents - he was much more convincing now than before. Moe left the crowded beach, and Sam followed him. He told him all about the sea serpent - the size, the color, the shape - and Moe simply shook his head in disbelief. [1]
Since Moe didn't believe him, and Sam thought he could get away from the sea serpent again, Sam begged him to go. After much convincing and trouble, Moe agreed to go out to sea with him to see if he could see this sea serpent. [1]
The next day, Moe and Sam went out to the rowboat with a third companion. Moe mocked Sam while they were leaving, saying that sea serpents didn't exist. However, when they approached the serpent (which they could see from afar) Moe turned pale. The creature had bellowing smoke, green scales, and red, bloodshot eyes. It was huge in size and quite scary. With all their might, they rowed back to shore. [1]
After seeing the creature, Moe's perspective changed. He asked Sam to not report any more sightings of sea serpents, since now there was a real one. He was afraid that people wouldn't come to the beach and swim in the water if there was a real sea serpent there. He also was afraid that people would get bored of sea serpents, should there be a real one. Sam was disheartened by Moe's decision. He really enjoyed reporting sea serpents - real or no. [1]
Sam, although told not to by Moe, got into his rowboats a few days later. When the third companion asked him where he was going, he simply said that he was going out to sea. Again, he was warned not to go out because of the sea serpent, but he told the companion that he wasn't going to tell anyone. He wanted to go, so he went. [1]
Neither Sam nor the rowboat was ever seen again.
Physical Description
The sea serpent is described as a huge creature with red, bloodshot eyes. The scales were said to be green, and smoke was said to billow out of its nostrils. [1]
Footnotes
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
