In the village in which I was born It was common to hear a legend
about a woman who arrived by boat next to two more men. They spoke
another language. In the beginning. The inhabitants had distrust because they were of
very white teas with other customs and traditions. They said that it was the
woman who performed strange practices, since every end of the month she dressed completely
in black. He went out with the two men at night, set up
a campfire on the slopes of the hill and danced around him singing strange songs.
I did it every month on a full moon. There was a rumor
that she was the first witch to come to the country from the old world
and that, along with the knowledge that our ancestors had, she became more
powerful to believe that she had managed to transcend the barriers of death. It
was, it was, it was. It was interesting to hear my grandfather
tell us that story a thousand times because every time he said it he added
one more detail to the story. On one occasion I asked Grandpa if they
were not afraid of that woman who managed to challenge time and not grow old.
My grandfather said yes. That' s why they treated her with respect,
looking for a way not to enrag her so that she wouldn' t
unload all her anger on some villager. Although my cousins were no longer interested
in hearing it. I was always curious to imagine it was true. My
parents didn' t believe his words. They said it was part of his
imagination, part of the things my grandfather told. It was that many years
before the Spaniards arrived in the new world, a ship arrived in the port
with unknown people. Several men and women came, although not all managed to
survive, as they brought with them viruses and unknown bacteria and the natural remedies
of the first settlers were not enough. Soon they were killed by the group
of people who arrived on the boat. None of them knew the language of
the porters, nor did our ancestors know theirs. Communication was initially complicated.
Little by little, both groups learned the language and communication was fluid, which
allowed socialization between them, in such a way that loving bonds were made between
men and women. The strange thing happened when the woman married an indigenous man.
Their relationship did not last for long, for just two years. They
were together, but then the man died. Later he had a relationship with
another man. In the same way, he died of unknown causes. Grandpa
talked every day about those Spanish travelers who first arrived on the continent. He
insisted that she of or of nombre l ría was a witch who got everything
she was looking for. Everything was fine up there. It was fun to
hear my grandfather' s stories as if they were a tale or a legend
half true and half lie. That' s how he took his stories.
Only that happened an event that changed everything due to the growth that took place
in the town because the port began to have better commercialization. People came from
different places in the Mexican Republic, even from other countries. Among those people
who arrived there was a somewhat unusual marriage settled in one of the haciendas that
were outside the village. It was a farm that was completely abandoned and in
conditions not so good. It took a lot of arrangements to make it look
good. This required the hiring of several construction workers, electric plumbers and other
employees who had the capacity to perform the work. My cousin, Juan,
was one of the masons who was working at the farm. He, like
me, went on weekends to visit grandparents. In the first week he worked
there, I asked him how he felt about the marriage to the older man
and his wife so young that they had arrived. John told me quietly that
the woman had very strange customs. It was possible that he noticed because he
had to enter his room. One of the walls was very damp, as
he removed the saltpetre from the wall and painted the whole bedroom in blue.
Celeste could see that he had many ancient objects, a standing clock that played
a pleasant melody every hour. It was made of fine wood and elaborate machinery,
but that was the least. He had a closet full of dresses the
old ones, like those of the old movies. In a glass box were
necklaces of pearls and gold he kept, as well as a locket in which
he had a lock of black orange hair, which most caught his attention,
a huge picture with gold ornaments. In it was the painting of a beautiful
woman with long black hair, extremely white tea with a viceroyal dress. He
continued to say that the painting seemed as real to him as if it were
a person, although it was not exactly that of the lady of the house,
but of someone else. For a moment she thought it could be about
her mother, because they maintained a certain resemblance and was the figure of a
mature woman. Everything my cousin told me seemed surprising because on one occasion I
saw her. When he went to the market to buy. The lady was
called car Ella was of Spanish descent, as was her husband and three children.
They had three little ones I spent most of my time with. It
was so much interest that I told Juan that if at any time Mrs Carmen
needed a domestic employee or a nanny, she would recommend me so that I
could get the job before anyone else, because I wanted to know more about
that family. It didn' t take long for her husband to get sick.
I did not know what was the real illness he presented, because at
that time I did not work in the estate, but I understood it because
the man was older. I' m sure when they got married she was
barely a child. The age difference was great. As the man got worse.
That' s when Mrs Carmen asked for a person to help her with
the care of her husband. He preferred that he had knowledge of nursing on
one to give him the injections. The serum would supply her with her medications
and all the care she needed. The sick John told me that he had
told the lady about me and that the next day I would introduce myself to
her to give me the job. He had some knowledge of first aid because
he had studied a technical career in nursing. That' s why my cousin
immediately recommended me. The next day I showed up at nine o' clock
in the morning at Mrs Carmen' s house. Since I entered the room
I could see how striking the furniture and the paintings were peculiar. I thought
it was his three children, because there were just three paintings. When I
entered Mrs Carmen' s room, she greeted me with great kindness. Immediately
I was struck by a gold ring on the index finger of his left hand.
It had a strange wave symbol with a red stone. The lady noticed
that I was captivated by her ring without asking so many questions. He gave
me the job. He told me that if I was just as responsible and
hardworking as my cousin, I didn' t need any letter of recommendation.
The job was mine, although she warned me that it was not going to
be easy because her husband was in very bad conditions. He had already taken
him with doctors from his country and also when he arrived in our country,
he went with doctors from the capital, but they did not find the cause
of his suffering and every day his life was gradually extinguished. The lady took
me to her husband. I knew I wasn' t as young as she
was, but when I saw him lying in bed, I was an old
man consumed by illness. The skin was attached to the skeleton, with extreme
paleness and almost hairless. I can' t deny I was surprised to see
him. I knew from the words of my cousin that I was not well,
that I sometimes saw him roaming the garden from the distance he worked.
I noticed the difficulty with which I walked and how sick I was, but
I didn' t imagine that at such an extreme that same day I was
left to attend to the pattern. Mrs Carmen gave me the instructions about her
medications and her diet. I went to the man' s room. He
didn' t even notice my presence. He was asleep for over five hours.
Only one sound came out of his chest. It was the only sign
that he was still alive. While the lord slept, I looked out of
the large window overlooking the inner garden of the house. I saw Mrs Carmen,
who went out for a walk with her two little ones in her hand.
She was a six- year- old girl and a four- year
- old. I thought there were three of them, but I only saw
her with two of them. The lord began to complain with a grave voice.
He asked me for water but he barely moistened his lips because he didn
' t want it anymore. It started with nausea and vomiting a black substance.
It was so fast, I didn' t get a chance to get
a container close so it wouldn' t get dirty. He had to change
his clothes. As I undressed his torso, I could see some marks on
his chest and back. They were strange symbols that were marked with an ink.
When the crisis was over, the man held me by the hand with
the little strength I had with a barely understandable voice. He told me to
help me. Please help me. Of course I am, sir I'
m here to support you in everything you need. I answered him. He
didn' t let me go and kept saying the same thing. It was
so much his insistence that it was necessary that Zafara me by his hand,
that he pressed me tightly immediately, fell asleep. When they gave me seven
o' clock in the afternoon, I said goodbye to my shoulder, but
I think he didn' t even realize my presence, because all the time
he was sunk in a deep sleep. Before I left, I took the
last look at that poor man. He was truly in deplorable conditions. I
didn' t think he had much time to live. I said goodbye to
Mrs Carmen and went home. As I walked down the path to my home.
I couldn' t stop thinking about him He was a living corpse.
Although his words resonated in my mind, I still had the doubt why he
had asked me for my help in the morning, very early before the sun
announced his presence. My mother knocked on the door of my room. He
told me that my cousin, Juan, had gone looking for me immediately.
I got up and told him to come in. He was upset. He
told me that the gentleman had become very ill and that Mrs Carmen asked me
to leave as soon as possible to take care of him, because only I
could inject and put the serum on him. Without hesitation for a minute.
I got dressed and went with my cousin to Mrs Carmen' s house.
I can' t deny that that house, with the darkness of the night,
looked different. I went straight to the gentleman' s room. In
fact, the man had very open eyes and tried to remove something nonexistent with
his hands. Mrs Carmen, as soon as she saw me, smiled gratefully.
He asked me to take care of him and he left. I tried
to reassure the man by supplying one of the painkillers the doctor had prescribed,
but as soon as he saw me, he grabbed me again from my hand
and did not release it. Again he asked me for help, I no
longer answered him, because it seemed that he did not understand with compassion.
I changed it because it had a bad smell. I found it strange because
the day before I had changed it. As I took his clothes off,
I could notice his extreme thinness without saying anything. I did everything I needed.
In a few minutes he fell asleep deeply, which gave me the opportunity
to go out for a while to walk around the house. Although I knew
there were two children in the house, I hardly saw them. I only
occasionally heard his laughs around the house, but very rarely I could see them.
That morning, the lady asked me to go talk to her to tell
me she needed my services at night. If she was in my position,
she asked me to stay and take care of her husband because during the night
she needed medicine and support. He offered me a big paycheck, which I
couldn' t refuse. I only asked him to give me a chance to
warn my family and go get a change of clothes, as I was not
ready to stay day and night. The lady told me that it was not
necessary, I had already told my cousin to tell my family and my clothes.
I didn' t have to worry I had a lot in the closet
I could use the one I needed. From that day on I stayed full
time at the lady' s house The first night I felt strange in a
house that was not my own. Sir was asleep most of the time.
Since I couldn' t sleep, I stood by the window to the horizon.
There was no moon, so it was not possible to see anything,
just an extended blackness. Suddenly I heard the sound of someone outside in the
yard. No matter how hard I tried my eyesight. I couldn' t
see anything until I saw a woman dressed in white. I could only see
his clothes. I assumed it was Mrs Carmen. I carefully opened the window
to the balcony. That way it would have a little visibility, as only
a pale light gave its flash from the corridor. It was when I realized
that she was Mrs Ca walking towards the back door of the house to the
room, the sound of the gnashing of the wood came. When I opened
the gate I immediately lost sight of her I no longer saw her return,
because the lord began to cough in a way that almost drowned. I picked
him up so he wouldn' t drown, but he started throwing up blood.
When the lord was able to re- establish himself from the episode so
strong he had, it gave me the impression that he regained some sense,
because before I gave him the injection with his hand, he told me to
stop and he could speak slowly and with a trembling voice, but I came
to understand what he meant me, no longer do it. He asked me
not to give him the medicine to let him rest. I knew I was
leaving very soon and I wanted to do it. Conscious was all he could
tell me, as he opened his eyes as he looked toward the window.
There was someone there. I can' t describe exactly what I saw because
it was very dark, but it was a floating spectrum that only lasted a
few seconds and left. The man got very nervous and started screaming. He
didn' t have the strength to do it with a loud voice and began
to pull off the little hair he had left, although he had promised him
that he would no longer inject it. I had to do it because he
got deranged and didn' t want the lady to wake up and scold me
for not giving him her meds in time. Within a few minutes he fell
deeply asleep with that noise that he made when breathing the dream. I had
been absent because of the mixed feelings I had. Besides, that' s
when I could think about what I' d seen. I walked out of
the gentleman' s room with the candlelight I was walking down the halls.
I didn' t understand why I had the instinct to go into the room.
Better. I wouldn' t have done it because those huge paintings that
were hanging on the walls were empty. I could no longer see them,
because the noise of the lock indicated that someone was coming from outside. I
turned off the candle and hid behind the clock. When I saw her,
she was Mrs Carmen, dressed in a white nightgown and with her hair,
she looked so different. I was sure it was her, because I sensed
the scent of her perfume. As soon as the lady retired to her chamber
I took advantage to do the same. Before I did, I looked again
at the paintings, and the people were already in their respective painting. It
was so much fear that I was left paralyzed for a few seconds without being
able to move. At that moment I noticed that the woman in the painting
blinked and made a slight smile. I couldn' t take that anymore I
ran into Mr Tremenda' s room. When I saw Mrs Carmen inside the
room, she stared at me without asking me anything, I told her I
was going out for a drink of water. It was only a few seconds
when I left the gentleman alone. She didn' t answer me, she
just felt and left. I checked the Lord' s vital signs he was
afraid that she would have done something to him, but He did not keep
sleeping deeply because of the sedative I injected him with. I didn' t
want to be in that house anymore. They had very strange customs and I
didn' t feel safe. The next day I' d tell Mrs Carmen
that I could work during the day, but I wasn' t going to
do it at night. If I agreed, I kept working with her.
If I wouldn' t leave. As for daylight, he lit up the
room, went out to talk to the lady. She' s in the
room reading a book, with her hair picked up, with her characteristic elegance,
she didn' t look like the same woman the night before. I
told him I couldn' t keep working at night, contrary to what I
expected. She smiled and didn' t even ask me for an explanation.
He told me he was fine. I just wanted to ask one last favor,
to stay that night to take care of the lord because I couldn'
t find someone else to supply me the next day. I wouldn' t
do it anymore. I didn' t want to stay a minute longer when
the shadows of the night became present, because that house became something sinister.
But I also owed my cousin Juan the favor and he couldn' t look
bad. I replied that I would, although it would only be that night.
Mrs Carmen smiled gratefully, got up and went to her room. In
the morning I was looking for my cousin Juan. I wanted him to tell
me what else he had noticed about the lady, but for some strange reason
I couldn' t find him in the distance. He listened to the workers
lifting the fence of wood while the masons made the mixture for the fence.
But my cousin didn' t see him anywhere. I couldn' t keep
looking for him anymore because the lord came out of his deep sleep. He
asked me for some water. With little strength left, he grabbed my hand
and did not release it carefully. I pulled it out. I approached her
ear and told her that I knew something bad was going on in the house,
but I couldn' t know what. I wouldn' t have said
that to the man because he opened his eyes disproportionately and wanted to talk,
but the words didn' t come out of his mouth. Just a few
sounds, as if Mrs Carmen realized that. He went into the room.
Unannounced, he touched the forehead and face of Mr Smiling. He told her
that today was the special day and left the room immediately after the lady left.
He was very restless. You could tell he wanted to tell me something,
but it wasn' t possible. His forces were no longer enough.
Most of the day he was asleep. I was afraid that night would come,
but I had no choice. I decided not to leave the gentleman'
s room at all. I' d stay there and take care of him
and protect him. When the darkness of the night was total, I began
to hear murmurs in other rooms of the house, as if there were more
people inside. He had promised me not to go out at all and I
fulfilled it after midnight. The murmurs were louder. The lord began to get
restless. He was moving a lot. He tried to talk without getting it
within a few minutes. She died before going to Mrs Carmen to tell her
about her husband' s death. I swelled to pray one last prayer for
that man, for all the time I felt compassion for him. I asked
for the rest of his soul. When I heard a strange sound, I
saw the silhouette of a young man. It seemed to be the soul of
the lord because I could distinguish the same sad look. He stayed for a
few seconds looking at his body and looked at me. I was petrified from
fear. I couldn' t move out to tell Mrs Carmen, but it
wasn' t necessary because she came in with her long loose black hair carrying
a bottle with her. I have no idea how he did it, but
I saw when the lord' s spirit got inside the glass container, she
covered it up, missed a cork and left. I didn' t know
what to do or think. The only thing that occurred to me was to
stay still inside the room, next to the man' s body, where
his factions were relaxing outside the room. I was able to distinguish screams and
murmurs from more women. I didn' t want to think anymore, but
I was pretty sure they were the people inside the paintings. It would be
a lie if I said I could sleep that night. Every time I looked
at the Lord, disturbing thoughts came to my mind. I thought that at
any moment he could get up and go out to meet Mrs Carmen, but
then I remembered that she put her spirit into a bottle and I was afraid
that that woman would approach me, because the same thing could happen to me.
Only after two hours did the silence become present. Everything was completely calm.
I could tell when the lady approached the door I heard her heels walking
on the wooden floor stood for a few seconds. It was the longest time
I had inside that house when I heard his steps were moving away. I
was able to breathe calmly because even my breath was contained in fear that he
would realize that I was awake as soon as dawn or I left the room
to go home. In the hallway I met Mrs Carmen. She looked brighter
and prettier. I could swear I was younger. He gave me my corresponding
salary and I walked away from that house that I had never intended to return
to. On the way back I met my cousin Juan. As soon as
I saw him I ran to hug him. I told him that the lord
had died and that Mrs Carmen was very strange. Juan asked me to calm
down. He said he understood me very well. Spending all night with a
corpse was not pleasant at all. Besides, I interrupted him to tell him
that he had seen him die and so did his soul. Juan listened to
me attentively, although he noticed that he did not understand me at all.
I left Mrs Carmen' s hacienda with a bad taste in my mouth.
Before I went home, I went to my grandfather' s house. I
had a need to talk to him. My grandfather was watering the plants in
his garden. He saw me in the distance and smiled. I ran to
hug him. He missed my hug almost crying. I told her that Mrs
Carmen was a witch who was right. When she told me about that woman
who came into town many years ago, Mrs Carmen was probably another one.
My grandfather was surprised by what I told him. He asked me to tell
him every single detail. Then he kept thinking for a few minutes to tell
me everything was possible. That woman could be a descendant of the same woman
who told me. She just told me to be very careful with Mrs Carmen
and stay away from her. At Mrs Carmen' s house, her husband
' s funeral was held. As was the custom, very few people attended,
since the lady was very little related to the inhabitants. I kept out
of fear, but it didn' t all end there. Mrs Carmen went
on with her life. I can' t say that I know what she
did after her husband' s death, because I preferred to stay away from
her, but over the months she married a young man from a neighboring village.
Everything was done with great discretion in the village. He was said to
be younger than her. I cannot deny that I was curious to meet him
at a time when I went to the village square, Mrs Carmen was going
to r his arm. It was strange that he went out and showed up.
With the passing of the days in the village the rumor began to spread
that Mrs Carmen' s husband had become ill and that he was asking for
the services of someone who could help. From that time when I learned about
that man' s illness, he was rarely seen until, once I went
to do a job very close to Mrs Carmen' s estate, I could
not contain myself and went to the main gate. From there you could see
the inner courtyard of the house. It was surprising to see him in a
pitiful state. He looked so thin. I left the house fleeing the place
with the latent fear, thinking that she could realize my presence in her house,
I walked away as quickly as I could ever return to the place.
Story written and adapted by Adriana Cuevas a