mom used to tell me that the legend of the Frog man had been very popular on the Apollo Island and Samoa she used to say that mother is around there didn't want their kids going out on their own unless they were with an adult and that people around there just don't go somewhere they don't know they need to be taken there first by somebody who knows the way she told me a story once about three siblings a girl and two boys who were never allowed to go outside unless their parents or another family member went
out with them one day the kids tired of this strict regime and thinking their mother was just full of superstitions decided to sneak out of their house to go see their friends who claimed they'll be hanging around an abandoned cabin near waterfall it was said there was going to be a party that day so the older brother and the sister took their younger brother and decided to find the waterfall and the dad of fishermen was gone for a few months and the mom had to go visit their poorly grandma that day the kids left around
2:00 p.m. and they went to the only waterfall they knew around the place but they didn't see any cabin and the younger sister claims she needed the location of another waterfall that was by the outskirts and the brothers followed the sister hours passed by but they still couldn't find the waterfall or the cabin and the sunset and it started to rain the siblings wanted to go back home but they couldn't find the way back and as they walked between trees the little brother began to cry when his siblings asked him what the matter was he
said there was a creature chasing them they stopped so that the older brother could take a look and that's when the creature appeared they knew who he was they have heard the stories before the maha tori was coming for them because they were lost the siblings tried to run away but the ugly looking creature hopped fast and in shock the sister didn't realize she had let go of the hand of the younger brother and by the time the two kids realized their brother was not running with them the little one had already been captured by
the monster the girl tried to go back for her little brother but the older one grabbed her hand and convinced the NGO in order to save their lives that's about the worst part of the story is that you can never move on after that and for every night the creature visits your dreams that was the story of the Maha Tori a story my mom used to tell me all the time and one of the most interesting things about mom telling me the story is that she was pretty serious about it sometimes even her eyes became
watery she sounded as if she was afraid which made the story more appealing when I was a kid I was obsessed with all the matura stories and grew up believing he was real mom was from Samoa and lived there until the age of 25 when she moved to Australia to be with my dad and dad died two years ago sadly mom followed him this year I do have an older sister but she's 15 years older than me and we were never exactly close and after my parents died I was devastated my sister Katrina and I
inherited the house and couldn't agree whether he wanted to sell it or keep it and I wanted to keep it but my sister who only cares about money couldn't wait for some cash in order for me not to deal with my sister we came to an agreement she could keep the house and did whatever she wanted with it but I got to keep every single thing that was inside the house that includes furniture documents pictures jewelry Catrina of course made me negotiate a few things but ended up agreeing the day after my mom's funeral Katrina
made me go to collect the things and I asked a couple of friends to help me out moving I checked every single place in the house grabbed everything and left quickly the main reason why I wanted these things was because they had sentimental value to me nevertheless this was not the only reason and as I said before mom would always tell me the most amazing stories including the creepy story of the maha tori and i a film producer that needed a new idea for my new indie production well I wanted mom's story mom used to
know that story perfectly and so did I but I wasn't such a good storyteller like my mom I needed her exact same words I knew mom kept different journals where she wrote things and maybe if I was lucky enough I could find something and that same night when I was home alone I came across an old chest I looked everywhere for the key and finally found it in Mom's jewelry box and when I opened the chest that found some very very old photos and many of those pictures were pictures of mom and her family in
Samoa and I recognized pretty much everyone from other pictures she showed me or from my trips to Samoa however I couldn't recognize the young boy who appeared on some family pictures it was a little curious for a bit but ended up figuring out he must have been one of my uncle's kids or something for many days I checked every single thing but couldn't find anything relevant so I had a brilliant idea I would travel to Samoa to get some information on the legend of the matauri for my relatives and so I called my cousin Tom
who was the son of my mom's brother and asked him if I could stay there for a few days he and the others agreed so I booked my flight and traveled the next weekend I got to the capital of Samoa on Friday evening however my family is located in a place near the salamu which is south so I had to travel a bit more I decided to take a bus bus was rather empty there were only maybe seven other passengers on they're enduring most of the trip I was on my own seat but then decided
to sit closer to the locals so that I could ask them some questions and I was more than sure than a couple of the older people traveling with me knew about the local legends including the Mahad Tory first i sat with an older woman conversation started pretty normal we asked each other where didn't come from where we were going you know the usual stuff however it all changed when I asked her about the legend of the mod Tory I noticed her eyes changing and she asked me why a white looking kid like me wanted to
know about it I was honestly take him back but I answered that well I was a filmmaker and was interested in knowing about the legend and she responded the motto are a legend is not for entertainment it's to be taken seriously they asked her if she could tell me her version of the story but at that moment she asked me if I could change my seat because she wanted to get some sleep well I had no other option but to say yes and move away I obviously offended her somehow when I was going back to
my seat I had a guy who was sitting two seats behind the old lady and he invited me to sit next to him he was a student who lived at the capital and he told me he had heard the conversation wanted to know what I knew about the creature and what my plans were and I told him that I was interested in doing an independent horror movie about it and then I told him what I knew of the story when I finished talking and the young man had a smirk on his face the first thing
he said was that I should stop asking people about the legend because well they did not take it well and secondly he said that my version of it was one of the most interesting ones that he has ever heard and that I should get to the bottom of it I wanted to ask him what he meant but at that exact moment the bus had arrived to SoLoMo and it was time for us to get out but before we got out he said listen everybody around here knows who the matura is everybody around here has their
own version ask your family about it he said as he got up from a seat when we got out of the bus he handed me his business card and hey if you need me one day call me minutes later after arriving to the station Tom came to pick me up Wow I hadn't seen him in at least four years so well I was very happy that Tom took me to Uncle Sappho's house where both of them sebas wife and cousin Marla and her kids live and when I got to their home everybody was just so
very nice to me I was offered delicious traditional foods and beverages myself and my family had so much to catch up on we were having such a good time speaking about a lot of things including mom so I didn't want to ruin the vibe and decided not to question my family regarding what I wanted to know well at least not for the first day or two however on the third day as I was speaking to uncle Sefo and Tom I brought up the matauri hey you know when I was a kid mom used to tell
me the story of this creature called the matauri I said and at that moment I could tell how my cousin stopped where he was and how my uncle's expression change even though he tried to hide it so what do you know about him uncle sefa asked me and so I told him the story and I also told him that I was thinking of making a movie about it and although they didn't seem too happy Tom looked blank and my uncle looked well he looked angry and pissed off even I don't think the people who lost
their brother would be very happy to know that you're getting money out of a tragedy my uncle told me what do you mean uncle Saif oh he's not a real monster he's just an old person's folks hell I said and I tried to laugh it off my uncle Sefo just walked away and when he left I was alone with Tom and I asked him what my uncle meant he said uncle and mom were the two older siblings of the matauri story I of course didn't believe at first I've never heard of mom having another sibling
Tom however was very convinced he said he could prove it to me later on when everybody was sleeping and I had so many questions and I refused to believe that the Maha Tory could be real I refuse to believe that mom hadn't told me everything about her life and the only thing I could do was wave for Tom to show me his evidence earlier in the morning probably around 1:00 in the morning Tom opened the door to my room I was still awake still thinking of the things he said earlier Tom opened his backpack and
showed me a brown folder he opened the folder and proceeded to show me some pictures there were family pictures with grandma grandpa and three kids and well I recognized them all the little boy on the pictures with the same boy who was on some of mom's pictures you know the boy I couldn't recognize and despite seeing all this evidence are refused to believe this was real we're at least that creature had been the real cause and their brother's death and as Tom left I decided to go outside and walk by the beach I just needed
to clear my mind and walk probably for an hour when I noticed that there was a pass similar to the one on the story so I decided to follow it it's such a small village and I walked for so long I was now at the outskirts of the village I couldn't help but feeling curious I wanted to wander around through the trees and find the waterfalls so I headed to an unknown place all on my own not follow the elders advice I wanted to do the exact opposite I wanted to see the creature if it
were real I walked around this unknown path for an hour and every minute I looked at my watch nothing manifested at some point my god angry and it angered me people could be so superstitious so I just started screaming I started to dare this supposed creature that steals people gets lost if you're real then show yourself I screamed at the top of my lungs but I must say that I soon found what I was looking for I started hearing this sound it sounded as if a frog was croaking and soon after that there was some
loud noises as if a giant was walking past but it wasn't that it was him the half frog half-human creature he was heavier uglier than I thought slimy and fat I ran and ran trying to escape from that repulsive thing and while I ran I never looked back I ran for thirty minutes while he was behind me trying to catch me his breathing was the ugliest thing I've ever heard and eventually I just stopped hearing him when I was certain he was not there anymore I turned back he was gone I had seen the Frog
creature the maha tori and i had survived I returned home packed my things and earlier the next day I took a plane back to Australia I could have told my family the truth but the Maha Tori had harmed them enough I can now see that my uncle in the other villagers were right it's not a good idea to entertain people through somebody else's suffering the time running away from the matauri was the scariest thing that had ever happened to me the moms story was right you never really escaped from him he's always in my dreams
and I decided to call the guy I met on the bus because I needed to know what he knows about the frog creature and the problem is is that even though I'm afraid of the creature I still want to know more I guess now I know why mom always mentioned him even on her deathbed you
