The Melon Head Illustration

An illustration will be added shortly.

When she approached me about doing the illustrations for the cryptid guidebook she was compiling, I let her know up front that I was no Rembrandt. My style was simple, and while I could draw animals easily enough, I had trouble drawing human beings. Part of my unique style was to give people short snouts as opposed to noses or mouths. After she assured me that it wouldn’t be an issue since most of the humanoid cryptids were described as being ape-like, I agreed to the commission. Each workday morning I brought my art supplies to her studio, took my seat at the large desk, and began the day’s work. With each entry I would read or summarize the description she had written, ask her if she had any additional instructions on how she wanted the described cryptid to look, draw an image based on the information provided, show her the draft, and color the image upon her approval. I looked forward to each day. It was fun, challenging work and my benefactor was a pleasant lady to look for.

The only unusual incident occurred while I was illustrating the chapter on North American cryptids. I was working my way through the M’s and came to an entry concerning creatures called “Melon Heads”. Giving a brief summary instead of reading the whole article, I announced, “Okay, we’re up to ‘Melon Heads’. They’re legendary beings and urban legends in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Connecticut, generally described as small humanoids with bulbous heads. Also known as wobbleheads, they occasionally emerge from hiding places to attack people.”

I waited for her input, but there was only silence. I turned to look at her. She was staring ahead with a somewhat frightened look on her face, as if some horrible image had been brought to mind. This concerned me because she hadn’t had a reaction like that so far, no matter how horrible the cryptid or its activities were said to be. “Ma’am?” I called. She met my gaze and I asked, “Are you all right?”

She cleared her throat. “I’ll be all right, thank you.”

“Obviously this one will be humanoid with a big head, but what else?”

She paused for a moment before replying, “Make it look like a lost child. Like a waif.”

I was surprised by the request, but I got to work. I drew a small, thin body with a large, round head. I started on the face, but a then a thought struck me. “What about its eyes? What kind of expression should it have?”

“Give it an angry but sad expression, like it’s been hurt.”

I finished the cryptid’s face, added some tufts of hair on its head, and clothed it in a pair of ragged shorts. When I showed her the draft, she stared at it fearfully for a moment before softly telling me to go ahead and color it.

I gave the melon head pale skin, and after coloring in its other features I handed the page over to her. This time she sat for several seconds staring at my simple illustration in fright. She shuddered as she handed it back to me. “That’s good.” She cleared her throat again. “It’s past noon. Why don’t we break for lunch? You can get something from out if you’d like.”

“Sounds good to me.”

She arose from her chair and exited the room. I re-read the entry before leaving the studio. I couldn’t see why this cryptid would have such an effect on her, and I realized that there must be something that had been omitted. Since there were a few restaurants close to the local library, I decided to do some investigating during my lunch break.

Within fifteen minutes I was sitting at a library computer. I found an article on Melon Heads, started reading through it, and froze at what I read. After finishing the article, I consulted some books on local legends, which confirmed the Internet article. According to most stories, the melon heads were once children with hydrocephalus. They were wards of either an orphanage or an asylum, but instead of receiving proper treatment and care, they were subjected to cruel experiments by an evil doctor. After suffering both physical and emotional abuse, they killed the doctor, escaped into the woods, and became feral mutants who engaged in cannibalism and inbreeding. With my vivid imagination, horrifying images sprang into my mind. I felt a shudder go through me as I replaced the books.

As I reflected on what I had just learned, I understood why someone would be creeped out by the story of the Melon Heads. Then a chilling question entered my mind. This was one of the areas in which melon heads were said to have been sighted. What exactly had my benefactor seen, or what had she experienced, to make her frightened at the mere mention of their name?

This story of an illustrated humanoid was written by Raidra.