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In the village in which I was
born It was common to hear a legend

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about a woman who arrived by boat
next to two more men. They spoke

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another language. In the beginning.
The inhabitants had distrust because they were of

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very white teas with other customs and
traditions. They said that it was the

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woman who performed strange practices, since
every end of the month she dressed completely

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in black. He went out with
the two men at night, set up

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a campfire on the slopes of the
hill and danced around him singing strange songs.

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I did it every month on a
full moon. There was a rumor

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that she was the first witch to
come to the country from the old world

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and that, along with the knowledge
that our ancestors had, she became more

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powerful to believe that she had managed
to transcend the barriers of death. It

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was, it was, it was. It was interesting to hear my grandfather

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tell us that story a thousand times
because every time he said it he added

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one more detail to the story.
On one occasion I asked Grandpa if they

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were not afraid of that woman who
managed to challenge time and not grow old.

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My grandfather said yes. That'
s why they treated her with respect,

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looking for a way not to enrag
her so that she wouldn' t

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unload all her anger on some villager. Although my cousins were no longer interested

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in hearing it. I was always
curious to imagine it was true. My

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parents didn' t believe his words. They said it was part of his

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imagination, part of the things my
grandfather told. It was that many years

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before the Spaniards arrived in the new
world, a ship arrived in the port

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with unknown people. Several men and
women came, although not all managed to

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survive, as they brought with them
viruses and unknown bacteria and the natural remedies

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of the first settlers were not enough. Soon they were killed by the group

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of people who arrived on the boat. None of them knew the language of

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the porters, nor did our ancestors
know theirs. Communication was initially complicated.

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Little by little, both groups learned
the language and communication was fluid, which

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allowed socialization between them, in such
a way that loving bonds were made between

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men and women. The strange thing
happened when the woman married an indigenous man.

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Their relationship did not last for long, for just two years. They

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were together, but then the man
died. Later he had a relationship with

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another man. In the same way, he died of unknown causes. Grandpa

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talked every day about those Spanish travelers
who first arrived on the continent. He

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insisted that she of or of nombre
l ría was a witch who got everything

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she was looking for. Everything was
fine up there. It was fun to

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hear my grandfather' s stories as
if they were a tale or a legend

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half true and half lie. That' s how he took his stories.

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Only that happened an event that changed
everything due to the growth that took place

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in the town because the port began
to have better commercialization. People came from

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different places in the Mexican Republic,
even from other countries. Among those people

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who arrived there was a somewhat unusual
marriage settled in one of the haciendas that

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were outside the village. It was
a farm that was completely abandoned and in

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conditions not so good. It took
a lot of arrangements to make it look

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good. This required the hiring of
several construction workers, electric plumbers and other

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employees who had the capacity to perform
the work. My cousin, Juan,

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was one of the masons who was
working at the farm. He, like

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me, went on weekends to visit
grandparents. In the first week he worked

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there, I asked him how he
felt about the marriage to the older man

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and his wife so young that they
had arrived. John told me quietly that

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the woman had very strange customs.
It was possible that he noticed because he

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had to enter his room. One
of the walls was very damp, as

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he removed the saltpetre from the wall
and painted the whole bedroom in blue.

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Celeste could see that he had many
ancient objects, a standing clock that played

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a pleasant melody every hour. It
was made of fine wood and elaborate machinery,

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but that was the least. He
had a closet full of dresses the

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old ones, like those of the
old movies. In a glass box were

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necklaces of pearls and gold he kept, as well as a locket in which

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he had a lock of black orange
hair, which most caught his attention,

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a huge picture with gold ornaments.
In it was the painting of a beautiful

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woman with long black hair, extremely
white tea with a viceroyal dress. He

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continued to say that the painting seemed
as real to him as if it were

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a person, although it was not
exactly that of the lady of the house,

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but of someone else. For a
moment she thought it could be about

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her mother, because they maintained a
certain resemblance and was the figure of a

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mature woman. Everything my cousin told
me seemed surprising because on one occasion I

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saw her. When he went to
the market to buy. The lady was

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called car Ella was of Spanish descent, as was her husband and three children.

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They had three little ones I spent
most of my time with. It

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was so much interest that I told
Juan that if at any time Mrs Carmen

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needed a domestic employee or a nanny, she would recommend me so that I

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could get the job before anyone else, because I wanted to know more about

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that family. It didn' t
take long for her husband to get sick.

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I did not know what was the
real illness he presented, because at

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that time I did not work in
the estate, but I understood it because

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the man was older. I'
m sure when they got married she was

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barely a child. The age difference
was great. As the man got worse.

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That' s when Mrs Carmen asked
for a person to help her with

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the care of her husband. He
preferred that he had knowledge of nursing on

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one to give him the injections.
The serum would supply her with her medications

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and all the care she needed.
The sick John told me that he had

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told the lady about me and that
the next day I would introduce myself to

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her to give me the job.
He had some knowledge of first aid because

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he had studied a technical career in
nursing. That' s why my cousin

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immediately recommended me. The next day
I showed up at nine o' clock

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in the morning at Mrs Carmen'
s house. Since I entered the room

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I could see how striking the furniture
and the paintings were peculiar. I thought

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it was his three children, because
there were just three paintings. When I

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entered Mrs Carmen' s room,
she greeted me with great kindness. Immediately

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I was struck by a gold ring
on the index finger of his left hand.

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It had a strange wave symbol with
a red stone. The lady noticed

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that I was captivated by her ring
without asking so many questions. He gave

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me the job. He told me
that if I was just as responsible and

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hardworking as my cousin, I didn' t need any letter of recommendation.

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The job was mine, although she
warned me that it was not going to

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be easy because her husband was in
very bad conditions. He had already taken

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him with doctors from his country and
also when he arrived in our country,

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he went with doctors from the capital, but they did not find the cause

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of his suffering and every day his
life was gradually extinguished. The lady took

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me to her husband. I knew
I wasn' t as young as she

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was, but when I saw him
lying in bed, I was an old

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man consumed by illness. The skin
was attached to the skeleton, with extreme

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paleness and almost hairless. I can' t deny I was surprised to see

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him. I knew from the words
of my cousin that I was not well,

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that I sometimes saw him roaming the
garden from the distance he worked.

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I noticed the difficulty with which I
walked and how sick I was, but

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I didn' t imagine that at
such an extreme that same day I was

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left to attend to the pattern.
Mrs Carmen gave me the instructions about her

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medications and her diet. I went
to the man' s room. He

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didn' t even notice my presence. He was asleep for over five hours.

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Only one sound came out of his
chest. It was the only sign

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that he was still alive. While
the lord slept, I looked out of

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the large window overlooking the inner garden
of the house. I saw Mrs Carmen,

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who went out for a walk with
her two little ones in her hand.

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She was a six- year-
old girl and a four- year

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- old. I thought there were
three of them, but I only saw

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her with two of them. The
lord began to complain with a grave voice.

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He asked me for water but he
barely moistened his lips because he didn

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' t want it anymore. It
started with nausea and vomiting a black substance.

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It was so fast, I didn' t get a chance to get

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a container close so it wouldn'
t get dirty. He had to change

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his clothes. As I undressed his
torso, I could see some marks on

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his chest and back. They were
strange symbols that were marked with an ink.

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When the crisis was over, the
man held me by the hand with

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the little strength I had with a
barely understandable voice. He told me to

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help me. Please help me.
Of course I am, sir I'

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m here to support you in everything
you need. I answered him. He

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didn' t let me go and
kept saying the same thing. It was

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so much his insistence that it was
necessary that Zafara me by his hand,

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that he pressed me tightly immediately,
fell asleep. When they gave me seven

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o' clock in the afternoon,
I said goodbye to my shoulder, but

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I think he didn' t even
realize my presence, because all the time

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he was sunk in a deep sleep. Before I left, I took the

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last look at that poor man.
He was truly in deplorable conditions. I

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didn' t think he had much
time to live. I said goodbye to

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Mrs Carmen and went home. As
I walked down the path to my home.

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I couldn' t stop thinking about
him He was a living corpse.

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Although his words resonated in my mind, I still had the doubt why he

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had asked me for my help in
the morning, very early before the sun

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announced his presence. My mother knocked
on the door of my room. He

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told me that my cousin, Juan, had gone looking for me immediately.

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I got up and told him to
come in. He was upset. He

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told me that the gentleman had become
very ill and that Mrs Carmen asked me

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to leave as soon as possible to
take care of him, because only I

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could inject and put the serum on
him. Without hesitation for a minute.

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I got dressed and went with my
cousin to Mrs Carmen' s house.

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I can' t deny that that
house, with the darkness of the night,

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looked different. I went straight to
the gentleman' s room. In

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fact, the man had very open
eyes and tried to remove something nonexistent with

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his hands. Mrs Carmen, as
soon as she saw me, smiled gratefully.

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He asked me to take care of
him and he left. I tried

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to reassure the man by supplying one
of the painkillers the doctor had prescribed,

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but as soon as he saw me, he grabbed me again from my hand

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and did not release it. Again
he asked me for help, I no

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longer answered him, because it seemed
that he did not understand with compassion.

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I changed it because it had a
bad smell. I found it strange because

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the day before I had changed it. As I took his clothes off,

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I could notice his extreme thinness without
saying anything. I did everything I needed.

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In a few minutes he fell asleep
deeply, which gave me the opportunity

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to go out for a while to
walk around the house. Although I knew

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there were two children in the house, I hardly saw them. I only

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occasionally heard his laughs around the house, but very rarely I could see them.

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That morning, the lady asked me
to go talk to her to tell

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me she needed my services at night. If she was in my position,

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she asked me to stay and take
care of her husband because during the night

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she needed medicine and support. He
offered me a big paycheck, which I

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couldn' t refuse. I only
asked him to give me a chance to

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warn my family and go get a
change of clothes, as I was not

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ready to stay day and night.
The lady told me that it was not

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necessary, I had already told my
cousin to tell my family and my clothes.

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I didn' t have to worry
I had a lot in the closet

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I could use the one I needed. From that day on I stayed full

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time at the lady' s house
The first night I felt strange in a

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house that was not my own.
Sir was asleep most of the time.

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Since I couldn' t sleep,
I stood by the window to the horizon.

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There was no moon, so it
was not possible to see anything,

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just an extended blackness. Suddenly I
heard the sound of someone outside in the

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yard. No matter how hard I
tried my eyesight. I couldn' t

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see anything until I saw a woman
dressed in white. I could only see

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his clothes. I assumed it was
Mrs Carmen. I carefully opened the window

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to the balcony. That way it
would have a little visibility, as only

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a pale light gave its flash from
the corridor. It was when I realized

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that she was Mrs Ca walking towards
the back door of the house to the

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room, the sound of the gnashing
of the wood came. When I opened

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the gate I immediately lost sight of
her I no longer saw her return,

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because the lord began to cough in
a way that almost drowned. I picked

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him up so he wouldn' t
drown, but he started throwing up blood.

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When the lord was able to re- establish himself from the episode so

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strong he had, it gave me
the impression that he regained some sense,

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because before I gave him the injection
with his hand, he told me to

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stop and he could speak slowly and
with a trembling voice, but I came

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to understand what he meant me,
no longer do it. He asked me

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not to give him the medicine to
let him rest. I knew I was

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leaving very soon and I wanted to
do it. Conscious was all he could

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tell me, as he opened his
eyes as he looked toward the window.

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There was someone there. I can' t describe exactly what I saw because

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it was very dark, but it
was a floating spectrum that only lasted a

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few seconds and left. The man
got very nervous and started screaming. He

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didn' t have the strength to
do it with a loud voice and began

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to pull off the little hair he
had left, although he had promised him

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that he would no longer inject it. I had to do it because he

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got deranged and didn' t want
the lady to wake up and scold me

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for not giving him her meds in
time. Within a few minutes he fell

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deeply asleep with that noise that he
made when breathing the dream. I had

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been absent because of the mixed feelings
I had. Besides, that' s

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when I could think about what I' d seen. I walked out of

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the gentleman' s room with the
candlelight I was walking down the halls.

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I didn' t understand why I
had the instinct to go into the room.

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Better. I wouldn' t have
done it because those huge paintings that

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were hanging on the walls were empty. I could no longer see them,

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because the noise of the lock indicated
that someone was coming from outside. I

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turned off the candle and hid behind
the clock. When I saw her,

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she was Mrs Carmen, dressed in
a white nightgown and with her hair,

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she looked so different. I was
sure it was her, because I sensed

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the scent of her perfume. As
soon as the lady retired to her chamber

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I took advantage to do the same. Before I did, I looked again

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at the paintings, and the people
were already in their respective painting. It

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was so much fear that I was
left paralyzed for a few seconds without being

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able to move. At that moment
I noticed that the woman in the painting

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blinked and made a slight smile.
I couldn' t take that anymore I

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ran into Mr Tremenda' s room. When I saw Mrs Carmen inside the

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room, she stared at me without
asking me anything, I told her I

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was going out for a drink of
water. It was only a few seconds

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when I left the gentleman alone.
She didn' t answer me, she

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just felt and left. I checked
the Lord' s vital signs he was

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afraid that she would have done something
to him, but He did not keep

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sleeping deeply because of the sedative I
injected him with. I didn' t

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want to be in that house anymore. They had very strange customs and I

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didn' t feel safe. The
next day I' d tell Mrs Carmen

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that I could work during the day, but I wasn' t going to

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do it at night. If I
agreed, I kept working with her.

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If I wouldn' t leave.
As for daylight, he lit up the

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room, went out to talk to
the lady. She' s in the

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room reading a book, with her
hair picked up, with her characteristic elegance,

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she didn' t look like the
same woman the night before. I

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told him I couldn' t keep
working at night, contrary to what I

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expected. She smiled and didn'
t even ask me for an explanation.

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He told me he was fine.
I just wanted to ask one last favor,

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to stay that night to take care
of the lord because I couldn'

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t find someone else to supply me
the next day. I wouldn' t

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do it anymore. I didn'
t want to stay a minute longer when

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the shadows of the night became present, because that house became something sinister.

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But I also owed my cousin Juan
the favor and he couldn' t look

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bad. I replied that I would, although it would only be that night.

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Mrs Carmen smiled gratefully, got up
and went to her room. In

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the morning I was looking for my
cousin Juan. I wanted him to tell

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me what else he had noticed about
the lady, but for some strange reason

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I couldn' t find him in
the distance. He listened to the workers

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lifting the fence of wood while the
masons made the mixture for the fence.

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But my cousin didn' t see
him anywhere. I couldn' t keep

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looking for him anymore because the lord
came out of his deep sleep. He

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asked me for some water. With
little strength left, he grabbed my hand

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and did not release it carefully.
I pulled it out. I approached her

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ear and told her that I knew
something bad was going on in the house,

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but I couldn' t know what. I wouldn' t have said

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that to the man because he opened
his eyes disproportionately and wanted to talk,

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but the words didn' t come
out of his mouth. Just a few

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sounds, as if Mrs Carmen realized
that. He went into the room.

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Unannounced, he touched the forehead and
face of Mr Smiling. He told her

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that today was the special day and
left the room immediately after the lady left.

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He was very restless. You could
tell he wanted to tell me something,

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but it wasn' t possible.
His forces were no longer enough.

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Most of the day he was asleep. I was afraid that night would come,

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but I had no choice. I
decided not to leave the gentleman'

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s room at all. I'
d stay there and take care of him

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and protect him. When the darkness
of the night was total, I began

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to hear murmurs in other rooms of
the house, as if there were more

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people inside. He had promised me
not to go out at all and I

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fulfilled it after midnight. The murmurs
were louder. The lord began to get

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restless. He was moving a lot. He tried to talk without getting it

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within a few minutes. She died
before going to Mrs Carmen to tell her

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about her husband' s death.
I swelled to pray one last prayer for

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that man, for all the time
I felt compassion for him. I asked

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for the rest of his soul.
When I heard a strange sound, I

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saw the silhouette of a young man. It seemed to be the soul of

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the lord because I could distinguish the
same sad look. He stayed for a

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few seconds looking at his body and
looked at me. I was petrified from

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fear. I couldn' t move
out to tell Mrs Carmen, but it

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wasn' t necessary because she came
in with her long loose black hair carrying

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a bottle with her. I have
no idea how he did it, but

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I saw when the lord' s
spirit got inside the glass container, she

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covered it up, missed a cork
and left. I didn' t know

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what to do or think. The
only thing that occurred to me was to

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stay still inside the room, next
to the man' s body, where

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his factions were relaxing outside the room. I was able to distinguish screams and

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murmurs from more women. I didn' t want to think anymore, but

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I was pretty sure they were the
people inside the paintings. It would be

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a lie if I said I could
sleep that night. Every time I looked

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at the Lord, disturbing thoughts came
to my mind. I thought that at

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any moment he could get up and
go out to meet Mrs Carmen, but

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then I remembered that she put her
spirit into a bottle and I was afraid

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that that woman would approach me,
because the same thing could happen to me.

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Only after two hours did the silence
become present. Everything was completely calm.

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I could tell when the lady approached
the door I heard her heels walking

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00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:10.200
on the wooden floor stood for a
few seconds. It was the longest time

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00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:15.480
I had inside that house when I
heard his steps were moving away. I

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00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:21.759
was able to breathe calmly because even
my breath was contained in fear that he

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would realize that I was awake as
soon as dawn or I left the room

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to go home. In the hallway
I met Mrs Carmen. She looked brighter

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and prettier. I could swear I
was younger. He gave me my corresponding

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salary and I walked away from that
house that I had never intended to return

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to. On the way back I
met my cousin Juan. As soon as

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I saw him I ran to hug
him. I told him that the lord

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had died and that Mrs Carmen was
very strange. Juan asked me to calm

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00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:00.359
down. He said he understood me
very well. Spending all night with a

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00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:06.599
corpse was not pleasant at all.
Besides, I interrupted him to tell him

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00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:11.079
that he had seen him die and
so did his soul. Juan listened to

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me attentively, although he noticed that
he did not understand me at all.

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I left Mrs Carmen' s hacienda
with a bad taste in my mouth.

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Before I went home, I went
to my grandfather' s house. I

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had a need to talk to him. My grandfather was watering the plants in

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his garden. He saw me in
the distance and smiled. I ran to

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hug him. He missed my hug
almost crying. I told her that Mrs

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Carmen was a witch who was right. When she told me about that woman

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who came into town many years ago, Mrs Carmen was probably another one.

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My grandfather was surprised by what I
told him. He asked me to tell

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00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:57.920
him every single detail. Then he
kept thinking for a few minutes to tell

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00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:03.240
me everything was possible. That woman
could be a descendant of the same woman

319
00:26:03.319 --> 00:26:08.319
who told me. She just told
me to be very careful with Mrs Carmen

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and stay away from her. At
Mrs Carmen' s house, her husband

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' s funeral was held. As
was the custom, very few people attended,

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since the lady was very little related
to the inhabitants. I kept out

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of fear, but it didn'
t all end there. Mrs Carmen went

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00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:33.640
on with her life. I can' t say that I know what she

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00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:38.359
did after her husband' s death, because I preferred to stay away from

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her, but over the months she
married a young man from a neighboring village.

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Everything was done with great discretion in
the village. He was said to

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be younger than her. I cannot
deny that I was curious to meet him

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at a time when I went to
the village square, Mrs Carmen was going

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00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:03.799
to r his arm. It was
strange that he went out and showed up.

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With the passing of the days in
the village the rumor began to spread

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00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:12.240
that Mrs Carmen' s husband had
become ill and that he was asking for

333
00:27:12.359 --> 00:27:15.960
the services of someone who could help. From that time when I learned about

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00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:21.880
that man' s illness, he
was rarely seen until, once I went

335
00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:25.640
to do a job very close to
Mrs Carmen' s estate, I could

336
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:32.799
not contain myself and went to the
main gate. From there you could see

337
00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:37.119
the inner courtyard of the house.
It was surprising to see him in a

338
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:41.319
pitiful state. He looked so thin. I left the house fleeing the place

339
00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:45.799
with the latent fear, thinking that
she could realize my presence in her house,

340
00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:51.839
I walked away as quickly as I
could ever return to the place.

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Story written and adapted by Adriana Cuevas
a