The Night Marcher by Zhenghao Li of Jining, China

 The Night Marcher

by Zhenghao Li

Jining, China

Nainoa is about to graduate this summer, and there has been no news of his internship due to the pandemic. But now that the weather is getting hotter, the pandemic that has been lingering, seems to have disappeared due to the heat. This is good news, Nainoa desperately needs to find an internship to complete his graduation. He is studying acting. Nainoa was browsing the recruitment information, and suddenly a call for auditions attracted his attention from the Best Film Company for a starring role in the movie "The Night Marcher." The call was for someone who is Native Hawaiian. Nainoa decisively submitted his resume to the film company. This job was tailor-made for him. He is half of Hawaiian descent, his mother is Hawaiian. Although born in Hawaii, he came to the mainland after elementary school. The film company quickly replied to Nainoa. The interview would be in three days.

Time passed in a blink of an eye. Nainoa landed the role and was flying to Honolulu, Hawaii with the crew. On the plane, Nainoa browsed the script. The content was about a few foreign tourists hiking in the jungle of Hawaii, where they encounter a Night Marcher after dark. In the end, only his character escapes, but he goes crazy. Such a clichéd script made Nainoa lose interest. The plane was about to land, and Nainoa looked at the scenery outside the window. This island surrounded by the sea seemed blissful despite its modern cities. 

After a rest in the hotel, the crew set off. They set up a camp in the uninhabited jungle, where the filming would take place. The first round of filming was boring. Nainoa and the other actors performed in the night time setting of the jungle. When night fell, actors and crew made camp. The following night they shot the next scene in which the female lead runs into a Night Marcher while seeking out a place to go to the bathroom. Nainoa watched the actress walk out of frame for a private place. Suddenly, there was a sound of drums "boom, boom, boom", and the actress looked around blankly and saw the light of torches in the distance. The drums were getting closer and the light drew closer. The actress stood in place trying to see exactly what it was.

She could see clearly that there was a Night Marcher bent over, holding a torch with strange bones adorning his head. The actress screamed and wanted to escape, but the Night Marcher knocked her to the ground and pinched her neck with his hand. The actress shouted "Help" hoarsely, but her voice soon stopped, and the Night Marcher disappeared into the jungle. Nainoa felt a little hungry after watching the scene, so he went to the tent to get something to eat. Walking into the tent, Sam, the actor he who was cast for the role of the Night Marcher, was eating dinner. He turned around and said hello to Nainoa: "Have they started shooting my scene yet?" Nainoa was stunned: "yeah, it’s wrapped." Sam said, "You must be joking, I have been here eating, how could they film? Without me??" Nainoa shuddered, then who was performing the Night Marcher?

Nainoa and Sam walked out of the tent and saw the crew running away. The Night Marcher crouched and held a torch as it slowly drifted towards them. Only then did Nainoa notice that the Night Marcher's feet were hovering off the ground. Sam yelled in horror and then ran away quickly. Nainoa suddenly remembered the legend his mother had told. When you meet a Night Marcher, you should get out of his path and lie face down on the ground. Never look at him in the face. Nothing can stop a Night Marcher, except for Ti leaves. Nainoa immediately lay down on the ground and shouted to Sam at the same time: "Get down! Don't look at his face!" But one second later, he saw the light of multiple torches in the distance. The sound of drums and conch shells being blown was deafening, and the noise was getting louder and louder. At the same time, the screams of the crew filled Nainoa's ears. As he was lying on the ground, he could clearly hear the sound of the spear passing through his body.

The screams gradually disappeared, but Nainoa felt a hoarse voice coming from above his head, which seemed to have passed directly into his mind: "na'u". A few months later the local police found a corpse in the jungle. According to the investigation, this crew encountered a beast. Only one person survived, but that person seemed stuck in an empty stare and kept chanting "kapu, kapu..." Over and over again.

Work Cited

“Nightmarchers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Aug. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmarchers. 

“Kapu.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapu.