Chapter 1
“So this is one of the many stories my mother has passed down to my siblings and i when we were very young im gonna say i was about 9-10 years old and they took place in central america, El salvador to be precise. My grandma one day was suppose to meet up with a friend to go to another friends wake( back then people would stay all night mourning at the wake with the deseased). My grandma was waiting for her friend where they had agreed to meet which happened to be near a little river/creek. She sees this woman from far away all in white and my grandma says it looked just like her friend. Her name was mary. So she starts following this woman calling out for her thinking its her friend… She followed her by the river and then kept calling out for her but no answer… It starts getting creepy when this woman is going towards these trees away and away and my grandmother started catching up but as she was getting closer to her she started to feel what she says her shoulders were big her head felt big and she couldnt move anymore… She was close enough to see this womans face that was covered by a veil and she said the woman face was a skull… My grandma somehow came out of her shock and ran and fast as she could. She said she felt as if she was running slow and wasn’t getting away fast enough… These stories always gave me the chills but have always been facinating. She states it was the llorona or the weeping woman because she was walking by the river. They passed it and headed towards some trees…
“This happened to me when I was about 11 years old. It was the 90’s. I have lived my whole life in El Paso, Texas. The culture is rich in folklore and religious beliefs. Many Hispanic families have stories of the paranormal. One legend popular is the legend of the “Weeping Woman” aka La Llorona. The legend of La Llorona (pronounced “LAH yoh ROH nah”), Spanish for the Weeping Woman, has been a part of Hispanic culture in the southwest since the days of the conquistadores. The tall, thin spirit is said to be blessed with natural beauty and long flowing black hair. Wearing a white gown, she roams the rivers and creeks, wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave.
No one really knows when the legend of La Llorona began or, from where it originated. Though the tales vary from source to source, the one common thread is that she is the spirit is of a doomed mother who drowned her children and now spends eternity searching for them in rivers and lakes.
One night it just like any other night I lived in a trailer with my mom and dad. My youngest brother was staying with my aunt this night. I feel asleep watching Jay Leno as usual and when I woke up I was on the sofa in my living room. The time was 4:00 am which illuminated from the stove in the kitchen. The television was off and normally I had a light on but this time it was pitch black. I woke up and I heard a horrible screaming that was coming from far in the distance. The screaming was coming from a ditch that was a few feet away from my home. I heard it and I thought I was hearing things. I asked myself “am I dreaming”? Then I started to hear the animals outside howling and whimpering. These animals that I speak of are cats and dogs. As the screaming got closer the animals continued to cry. The screaming was something I have never experienced ever before. It sounded like I was in a big hallway and a woman was screaming her guts out down that hallway. Then in all the screaming I started to make out words. These words being said by whoever this was at 4am screaming their guts out shocked me. The woman said, “¡Ay, mis hijos!” (Oh, my children!).
In a huge panic I quickly got up from the sofa and ran to the kitchen which was right next to where I was asleep. I turned the closest light and looked around. The screaming didn’t stop. In fact the screaming only got louder and closer. I questioned my sanity at that moment. Was I going crazy or hearing things? Then I thought to myself “this is real and the animals are responding to it in a negative way.” So I did what any other 11 year old boy would do in a moment like this. I ran to my mom and dads’ room. I reached for my mom and shook her awake wildly. She woke up slowly and to my amazement the screaming faded away as she woke awake. I thought to myself “what the heck is going on?” I told my mother “mom do you hear that screaming and crying lady?” My mom was half asleep as she said, “go back to sleep it is most likely just your imagination.” I told her, “no this is real please listen don’t you hear her?” My mom quickly just said, “you are dreaming so go back to sleep it’s going to be ok”. By then the screaming had faded long away like if whoever was screaming knew that an adult is awake.
I was terrified as I returned to the living room and quickly turned on the television as I left most of the lights on as well. I didn’t go back to sleep until the sun came up. I couldn’t believe what I heard and witnessed. I was treated like a crazy person whenever I told my story. It got so bad that I kept my experience to myself. To this day I don’t care what people think of my experience. I know what I heard. A couple of years later it happened to me again. ”
