Maybe some folks are curious about the Croatian language. I'm posting my homework for my language lessons for yesterday.

The assignment was to write a ghost story or something about a local myth from where I am from. So, I chose "Char Man", which is the most famous legend from my small town of Ojai, California. I had to write this, then tell my teacher the story without looking at my paper. And I made no mistakes! Woo hoo!

First the Croatian version then the English:

U godini 1948. bio je veliki požar šikare u Ojaiu, selu iz kojeg dolazim. Požar je spalio veliki dio doline. Nitko nije mogao ući u dolinu, zato jer je požar bio suviše veliki. Kasnije, ljudi su provjerili sve kuće na obroncima planine. Tražili su preživjelu osobu i našli su zabačenu kolibu gdje je čovjek živio s njegovim sinom. čovjek je umro u požaru i njegov sin je bio opećen. Sin je tonuo u ludilo i objesio je oca na obližnje drvo i ogulio ga je. Kasnije je pobjegao u šumu. Još obilazi šumu kao duh, izlazi noću, luduje kao luđak i plaši mještane.

In the year 1948 there was a large brushfire in Ojai, the village which I come from. The fire burned a large part of the valley. Nobody could enter the valley, because the fire was too big. Afterwards, people checked every house in the foothills. They searched for survivors and found a remote cabin where a man lived with his son. The man died in the fire and his son was burned. The son descended into madness and hung his father from a nearby tree and skinned him. Afterwards he fled into the forest. He still haunts the forest like a ghost, coming out at night, raving like a madman and scaring the locals.