June 26, 2024
Vecina Psicopata Me Pedía Que Entrara A Su Casa Historias De Terror - REDE

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¡ Rápido ! Suscríbete y activa la campanita.
Se parte de la comunidad REDE.
ENVIAME TUS HISTORIAS A: relatosdesclasificados@gmail.com
SÍGUEME EN FANPAGE: https://bit.ly/33H3Og3
SÍGUEME EN INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/3dgiBmd
WEBVTT
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The smiling neighbor. This story begins
when I was about seven years old.
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All our lives we had lived in
Mexico City, but for reasons of work
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my dad was moved to this other
city. When we arrived from that long
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journey to our new home, we
were all very tired. I started helping
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my parents get our belongings out of
the car. It seems to me that
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at my fifth exit from the new
house I could see something. The curtain
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across the street had moved. It
was as if the moment I turned around,
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they would quickly shut it down so
I wouldn' t realize that they
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' d been watching me. That
didn' t get so weird. I
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just took a few more things and
went in and when I came out again.
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The curtains were already open. There
was also a strange woman standing at
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the window. I know that when
we' re kids we see things that
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are much more exaggerated or bigger than
they are, and this makes you afraid
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of things that for most adults don' t make sense. But being the
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grown- up I am now,
I know there was a fair reason to
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fear that woman, and it was
just not normal. I don' t
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mean that he had a paranormal appearance
or that he had some deformity. She
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was an older woman, perhaps about
sixty years old. His face was a
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little wrinkled. He wore thick round
lenses. Her wrinkled skin seemed to stick
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to the bones and seemed to have
very light brown hair. But the strangest
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thing about that woman was that she
was smiling. It seemed like the person
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I was smiling at was me like
trying to welcome me to that neighborhood at
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the time. That smile he gave
was not erased from his face, not
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even because I didn' t give
it back to him. It made me
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feel so uncomfortable that I ran into
the house and told my parents. I
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don' t remember exactly how I
explained it, but I do remember Mom
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coming out of the house a little
upset. What surprised me the most was
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that this woman was still exactly where
she was when I entered the house.
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He was still in the same pose
In fact, if not because he blinked
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and looked like he was breathing.
You could almost say that I was dissected
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at the time I thought my mom
didn' t notice how strange that woman
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was, because she greeted her very
naturally and that woman didn' t return
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the greeting to my mom kept smiling. As I mentioned before, I,
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at the time I thought Mom didn' t notice it, but then,
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when we talked about it, she
told me that she became a strange woman.
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As the days passed, what could
be seen from the window of my
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room, which was on the second
floor, was that woman looking out the
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window smilingly. Sometimes I felt like
I was staring at my room and I
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remember when I told my brother,
he agreed with me and said that he
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also felt something like that lady was
watching him in a very constant way and
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that he didn' t understand why
he smiled that way. And as soon
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as we started making friends with other
kids in the neighborhood, we realized something
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else. Everyone out there knew her
and confirmed that she was almost always smiling
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and that her character was very kind. And we were also told that the
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woman very often invited the neighborhood children
to her house to eat cookies or sweets.
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No one ever accepted. Everyone out
there was very convinced that this woman
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was not good and that under that
façade of kindness was someone bad, but
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no one could prove it. As
I mentioned earlier, all this has been
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going on for many years. I
think that in order for me to be
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better understood, what I will do
will be to tell all the events that
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I came to live having contact with
this woman, and is that the first
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strange memory that I have about her, apart from seeing her constantly smiling through
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her window as I saw all those
passing through the street. It was once
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that I had gone to buy a
couple of things at the corner store.
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I was coming back when I saw
a stone that was very round and it
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seemed like a ball back then for
some reason, I had become obsessed with
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the subject of baseball and started throwing
it. I was just throwing it a
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couple meters in front of me,
I was picking it up and doing it
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again, but at some point it
occurred to me to throw it with all
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my might in the opposite direction to
the one I was walking, because I
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wanted to see how far I could
throw it without turning around to see if
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anyone was coming behind me. I
just held her with all my might and
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turned her over and threw her away. To my surprise, I realized very
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late that that smiling neighbor was walking
perhaps about two or three meters away.
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She was smiling. As he walked
he saw that he had been like this
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all the time and did not erase
that smile, not even when the stone
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that I had thrown passed him by
rubbing practically the glasses that he wore.
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He didn' t even seem to
notice. It was as if I hadn
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' t realized that I was about
to hit her, because she didn'
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t move or make any effort to
stop the rock that I had thrown,
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which was a sizeable one so I
wouldn' t see it, I was
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just moving forward as if nothing had
happened without stopping smiling at me. At
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that moment I was very scared and
ran home. I was very scared,
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but I couldn' t tell anyone, as I was afraid my parents would
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scold me. I even remember that
a few minutes after I got home and
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looked out the window of my room
I came to see that woman. Since
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he doubled the street, I could
still see how he walked to the same
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step I had seen him without erasing
that smile even a moment when I was
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a little older to go out and
play with my friends on the street without
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much supervision. I remember well that
this also started to happen a lot,
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as long as we played near his
house. He would come out with a
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bowl of candy or cookies and invite
us in. None of us ever accepted,
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for, as I said before,
we were somewhat afraid of that lady.
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I also remember once telling my mom
that this lady offered us sweets and
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invited us over to her house.
I feel like at that time my mom
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didn' t give it the importance
it needed, as it' s not
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normal for an adult to be inviting
a lot of kids to come over to
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her house. My mother' s
answer that comes to my memory is that
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she told me that I should only
be educated and continue to deny myself,
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but always trying not to make her
feel bad. And that' s because,
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while we all politely rejected her,
once she went back into her house.
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Most of us laughed or joked about
how terrible it would be to accept
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those sweets, as they were always
the same. We assumed they were expired,
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since no one ever accepted them.
My next meeting with her was about
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ten years old. Near the neighborhood
there was a millet of several hectares and
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on one side of it there was
a huge blackberry tree. The owner of
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the milpa didn' t mind that
the children went to collect all the blackberries
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that fell from the tree as long
as we didn' t damage the crops
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in blackberries season, we went practically
every day and in one of these days,
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when we arrived at that place,
we realized that it was completely flooded.
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Apparently, they had left the irrigation
system open for a long time and
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now everything was full of water.
It was so wet that if you tried
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to put a foot in there for
a day, at least fifteen centimeters in
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the mud, making it almost impossible
to walk around while we were all cursing
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our luck, because we could no
longer go to the tree that day and
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probably not the following days. We
heard someone yelling at us trying to get
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our attention. When we turned around, we realized that at the bottom was
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this woman, as she always was, she was smiling as she moved her
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hands trying to get our attention and
as soon as we were all seeing her,
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she began to say that she was
trapped and that she needed help crossing.
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She was a senior woman and we
knew it was our duty to try
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to help her to a certain extent. At first we didn' t know
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what to do, but she told
us she just needed someone to help her
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so she wouldn' t fall as
she advanced. After discussing it for a
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moment, they sent me to help
her. It took me a long time
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to get to the other end of
the Milpa, but I finally got it
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all along. She was just standing
there smiling. I remember the moment I
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stood in front of her and told
her to come by, she put her
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hand on my shoulder and started walking
as we moved on. I felt a
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couple of things. First, his
breathing was very heavy. Da Segundo,
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every time I turned to see her, she was smiling from ear to ear.
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And thirdly, it seemed that at
every step we were left. She
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fit more and more her nails on
my shoulder, to the point where I
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felt that she was hurting me,
but being a child and having the fear
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so great that she had that woman, I didn' t dare say anything
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and just kept moving forward until we
got out of that millet. Once we
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were outside, she told me she
was very grateful to me, I even
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remember kissing my cheek and saying things
that made me feel very uncomfortable. After
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that, he invited me back home
to eat candy and watch TV, but
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I refused again to tell him it
was time for me to come home because
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my parents had told me I had
to be home early. She told me
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it didn' t have to be
that day, that it could be anyone
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else. I told him he was
fine and I' d let him know
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what day he could. But that
was a big mistake. After that day,
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practically every day I saw myself walking
anywhere, she stopped me and wondered
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if I already knew what day I
would go to her house. I always
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told them I wasn' t sure
yet and I used to use the pretext
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of school jobs or other things.
She was always disappointed, but she never
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erased that huge smile that characterized her. This is not something I can say
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that she was responsible for, but
I think it' s worth emphasizing here
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because I feel it' s all
weird. They remember that the Milpa was
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all flooded, as one of the
close friends of the owner of the Milpa
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went to visit him at his house
to see if he had been responsible for
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leaving the harvest. So, being
so flooded, anything I' d planted
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would have drowned. They say what
he found was his friend' s lifeless
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body. They do not know how
he died, but many claimed that he
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had not been of a natural cause, because he had a very strange grimace.
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That man' s friend mentioned that
he was in perfect health. There
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was never a great investigation, but
whenever I think, I can' t
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help but wonder if the fact that
we found that woman in that land trapped
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near that man' s house had
anything to do with it. When she
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was eleven, that woman opened a
kind of cheap kitchen, but unlike any
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normal economic kitchen, she did not
open an establishment as such. He just
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stuck a lot of ads and also
offered, house by house his services to
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all the neighbors, offering to bring
the food personally to each person who requested
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it. For some it might be
something comfortable, but the truth is that
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no one, or at least no
one close to me, decided to buy
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him anything. One day as I
was returning from school, I found her
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walking around with a basket and she
stopped me to talk to me. He
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asked me again when I would be
free to go home. Even though it
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had been a long time since I
had said I would, I made up
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an excuse that by that time was
no good. I was just saying the
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first thing that came to mind.
After that, she told me she was
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glad to see me because she wanted
to give me food she had prepared from
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the basket. He pulled out a
unisel charola with what seemed to be spaghetti
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and pork loin in red sauce.
He offered it to me with great insistence.
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At first I was suspicious to accept
it, and I also wondered why
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she had that dish prepared, and
she told me that my mom had already
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paid for it, because they wouldn' t be home and left me that
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food. I accepted the charola and
I left. As I walked away,
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she yelled at me something like that
I expected her to enjoy it and that
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in a moment I would leave the
glass of water that went with the food.
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I just sat down and went straight
home to my surprise. When I
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opened the door, I realized that
woman was right because there was no one
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there. I thought he must be
telling the truth. A few moments after
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that, she knocked on my door
and brought the glass of tamarind water.
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He gave it to me and this
time he didn' t stay to talk.
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He just mentioned to me that I
should eat it at that time or
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not to cool it down. I
just said yes and said goodbye to her.
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I was grateful that she wasn'
t insistent or that she didn'
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t want to pass. Yeah,
I thought I' d get something to
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eat, but in all that situation, I still didn' t get any
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good. I left it all on
the table. I thought I could do
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it later and warm it up in
the microwave, if it cooled down,
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because the more I saw that food
if it looked quite appetizing. I went
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to do my homework and then I
was playing on my computer for a long
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time, entertaining myself to the point
that I completely forgot I should eat.
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It was around five o' clock
in the afternoon when my stomach began to
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growl a lot. I got up
and went to the kitchen to heat my
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food in the microwave. I just
put it all on a plate and put
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it in when it was about a
minute before the microwave stopped. I heard
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my dad' s truck parked in
front of the house. I looked up
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and saw that they were all coming
down. I also realized that my brother
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looked weird, was very pale and
walked so slow that he was dragging his
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feet. Even my mom was helping
him walk. I hastened to open the
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door to find out what had happened. When they entered the house and asked
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him what he had, my mom
said that no one knew, as they
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had been called from my brother'
s school. This one had gotten really
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bad from one moment to the next. I had a stomach infection so bad
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I couldn' t get out of
the bathroom. On top of that,
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it was so dangerous that it melted
in a very short time and if they
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00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:23.159
had not arrived at the hospital quickly, the consequences would have been severe.
203
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My dad kept insisting that it had
been something he ate, but my brother
204
00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.600
insisted that he had only eaten the
sandwich my mom had prepared for him.
205
00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:38.399
My mom was even saying she was
gonna throw away all the ham that was
206
00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:44.480
in the fridge for anything. The
truth was that at the time my brother
207
00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:49.320
was too tired to give any explanation. I remember while we were talking,
208
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.080
the microwave made that beep that it
throws when it' s finished heating up.
209
00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:59.200
At that moment, my mom looked
at me and told me that I
210
00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:03.160
should probably have because they had not
left me anything to eat. I said
211
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yes, but I was warming up
the food I had told the neighbor to
212
00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:12.359
bring me. My mom looked at
me very strangely and told me she didn
213
00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:17.200
' t know what she was talking
about, because she had never asked for
214
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.240
anything. To the neighbor I explained
everything that had happened while they were gone
215
00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:25.559
and my dad trying not to make
the matter bigger, said that probably that
216
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:32.240
neighbor had seen that we left the
house very quickly. He imagined that they
217
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:37.079
would not have had time to warn
or prepare some food and that was why
218
00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:41.960
he had taken the trouble at the
time. That made enough sense to everyone.
219
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.240
I walked into the microwave and when
I took out the dish we were
220
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all disgusted. Seeing him from the
flesh, he seemed to be moving some
221
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:53.759
fly larvae. We didn' t
even understand how they could stay alive after
222
00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:59.839
all that time in the microwave.
At the time, we weren' t
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00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.519
disgusted and threw away our food.
Even when I saw the glass of water
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that had given me a few hours
ago, I realized that I had hair
225
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.640
floating inside the glass again. My
parents didn' t care. They just
226
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said that that woman was probably very
dirty when it came to cooking. They
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00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.759
were grateful that I hadn' t
eaten, as they would then have two
228
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:32.000
intoxicated instead of one. As soon
as my brother was well and was able
229
00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:36.920
to think a little bit about that
day, he mentioned something else that was
230
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.799
in the bag where Mom put her
lunch for school, that day when she
231
00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.920
almost died from poisoning. Besides the
sandwich, the bottle of water and the
232
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juice that Mom used to give us, there was another thing, an amaranth
233
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bar. Interestingly, it wasn'
t packed in a plastic packaging, but
234
00:18:55.480 --> 00:19:00.920
it was just badly wrapped in that
transparent plastic used in the kitchen. He
235
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.279
also told me that as he walked
to school that day he ran into that
236
00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:10.079
smiling neighbor and she started talking to
him about her cheap food service and how
237
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.720
she could prepare lunch for school.
If I told his mom, my brother
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says he can' t say for
sure, but at the time he had
239
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:25.759
the bag with his lunch in his
hand and feels that that woman might have
240
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:30.559
put that in, especially because,
after asking my mom, she swore that
241
00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.960
day she never put a a amaranth
bar on her. Every time I remember,
242
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.440
I am very aware that the next
morning after this, when the neighbor
243
00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:44.680
saw me leave the house, as
if nothing was missed much it was as
244
00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:51.440
if I could not believe that I
was well. I even remember trying to
245
00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:55.839
walk fast. She reached me through
the second door of her house and came
246
00:19:56.039 --> 00:20:00.839
out to ask me if I had
liked the food. I didn' t
247
00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.880
know what to answer and I said
yes. She did not erase her smile,
248
00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:11.160
she told me that good, that
I liked it and that I could
249
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.519
prepare more whenever I wanted. I
told him I was fine and I left
250
00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.119
there, but never again. My
brother or I got close enough to her
251
00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:26.759
to get anything in our backpacks or
pockets. The next thing happened when I
252
00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.240
was thirteen. Someone came to live
with her was, apparently, her niece
253
00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:34.960
or something, so she started attending
our school I' ll call her Julia
254
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:41.279
Aclaro, who' s not a
real man. At first I was very
255
00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:47.599
quiet and reserved to the point that
we all thought I was just as strange
256
00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:52.000
as your aunt, but as the
days went by she showed us that no
257
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.440
and indeed, she behaved like someone
quite normal and you could say that I
258
00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:02.359
started to be interested. We even
got a little close. At some point
259
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:07.079
I couldn' t stand the curiosity
anymore and asked him why he was living
260
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with the neighbor. She replied that
one day her father, with whom she
261
00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:17.720
had lived all her life, as
her mother had died one day. He
262
00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.079
just left also said that he was
getting weird because he hadn' t taken
263
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.559
any of his stuff. But they
knew she was gone, because from her
264
00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:32.720
phone she had called her aunt,
who was my neighbor, to tell her
265
00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.519
that she could not take care of
her and that she would, please,
266
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.119
take care of her. I had
the messages and all this. She was
267
00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:45.720
very sad, as she had never
imagined that her father would abandon her from
268
00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:51.279
one moment to the next. On
that occasion she also told me that she
269
00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.960
was not happy living with her aunt, because she was a very strange woman.
270
00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.440
I was about to tell her how
strange I had lived next to that
271
00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:03.119
mo woman, but she kept talking
and didn' t let me tell her
272
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.240
anything. He told me that all
the time he encouraged him to invite friends
273
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.480
to his house. He said he
even seemed to be upset when he came
274
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:17.480
home and didn' t bring any
friends. It was almost as if it
275
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.759
were his obligation. Besides that,
she mentioned that this woman was sleepwalking and
276
00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:26.200
that from the first day she came
to live with her, she told her
277
00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:29.920
that from ten o' clock in
the night she had to close her door.
278
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.960
All right,' cause sometimes she' s asleep, she' s
279
00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:37.279
doing things she wouldn' t like
to see. This already scared her a
280
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:41.400
lot, especially because she told me
that at night she heard her walls being
281
00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:47.440
whipped or she said rude things out
loud. It was a very strange thing,
282
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.720
because during the day she was a
fairly quiet and friendly woman, who
283
00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.279
was always smiling and who did not
miss any bad words under any circumstances.
284
00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:03.079
It was almost as if at night
he became a completely different person. The
285
00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:07.400
truth is, at the time I
didn' t know how to react.
286
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:12.559
I just told her something like that
must be horrible, but I couldn'
287
00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:18.640
t help her anymore. A while
later something else happened that doesn' t
288
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:21.880
have much to do with me.
Apparently, one of Julia' s closest
289
00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:25.880
friends I' d done the whole
time I' d been there, had
290
00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:32.160
insisted enough on going to this neighbor' s house to hang out. At
291
00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:36.519
first, when I was told the
story, I saw nothing strange about it,
292
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:41.119
as she did not live nearby and
probably did not know the background of
293
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:45.759
how strange the neighbor was. Then
I could deduce that he did it with
294
00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:52.279
all intent of seeing something strange and
that he had surely heard someone tell about
295
00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.759
how strange that woman was. After
that visit to the house, the next
296
00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.240
morning. That girl had a story
she heard from anyone who asked and even
297
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:06.319
who didn' t, and she
knew very soon when she got to that
298
00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:11.119
house that something was wrong when she
came in. That woman received her in
299
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:17.559
a disturbing way, practically pulling her
arm in to get her in. He
300
00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.240
also mentioned that the house looked strange. The walls seemed to have been white
301
00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:27.279
at some point, but they were
too dirty and had some stains that might
302
00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:33.480
well be blood or other fluids.
Nor did the noises help to calm the
303
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:38.319
nerves and the decoration was the worst. That woman had at least fifty photographs
304
00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:44.720
of herself distributed throughout the house.
According to the girl she was always with
305
00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:48.799
the same pose staring and with a
big smile. If it wasn' t
306
00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:55.759
because he had different clothes on each
of the photographs, he could swear he
307
00:24:55.799 --> 00:25:00.519
just photographed the same over and over
again. It was very disturbing, because
308
00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:04.119
you felt like I was watching you
all the time. The girl also mentioned
309
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:08.759
that they went to Julia' s
room, which seemed to be the only
310
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.400
place in the house that was clean. Everything else. It was dusty and
311
00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:18.759
smelled of moisture as if the dirty
clothes had been left piled up for months.
312
00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:22.960
When he thought of going to the
bathroom, he realized that it was
313
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:30.000
the source of the plague, a
huge pile of totally wet laundry. It
314
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:33.400
almost reached the roof and the roof
of the bathroom seemed to be full of
315
00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:38.599
mold. The washbasin keys were so
full of czarro that it was impossible to
316
00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:44.160
turn them to run the water.
The worst thing was when he came out
317
00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.359
of the bathroom and saw the woman
standing practically at the door, smiling at
318
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.839
him with the same pose as in
his photographs. The girl asked him if
319
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.720
he was offered anything, to which
the woman replied no, and then asked
320
00:25:56.839 --> 00:26:00.680
him if he was having fun at
the same time as offering him lemon water.
321
00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:07.119
At first, the girl refused,
as the experience in the house gave
322
00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:12.279
her no confidence to ingest anything from
that place. The woman practically dragged her
323
00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:17.839
into the kitchen, where she found
a disaster even worse than in the bathroom.
324
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:23.640
The girl described how the refrigerator seemed
to have been taken straight out of
325
00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:29.599
a dumpster, dripping something thick out
of the freezer and with an unpleasant smell.
326
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:34.000
The table was full of dishes and
dirty dishes that didn' t seem
327
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:40.559
to have been cleaned in months with
some pots, even having fly larvae,
328
00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.440
and that woman acted like all that
was the most normal thing in the world.
329
00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.559
The girl couldn' t take it
anymore and ran out of that house
330
00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:53.599
without further explanation. That story,
heard from an adult' s perspective,
331
00:26:55.160 --> 00:26:59.480
would be a clear warning signal to
help that poor girl get out of her
332
00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:04.359
neglect and neglect. But for high
school students it wasn' t like that.
333
00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:10.799
The rumor spread very quickly and very
soon. I had half a school
334
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:14.839
bullying her and telling her that I
was going to give her something because of
335
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:19.240
the conditions she lived in only one
of the girls in her previous group of
336
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:23.839
friends and I were the only ones
who stayed by her side trying to support
337
00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:29.880
her at that time of difficulty.
She explained to us that she had tried
338
00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.480
to clean the house before, but
that she always told her that there was
339
00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:38.680
no need and that everything was perfectly
tidy. He seemed upset if he tried
340
00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:45.240
to lift or clean anything, and
eventually stopped trying. On one occasion I
341
00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:49.960
asked her if she had any other
relatives she could come with, to which
342
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:56.279
she replied no. Her grandparents had
died and her mother' s family had
343
00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:02.200
completely separated from her after her birth. The woman was his father' s
344
00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:06.599
only sister. I had nowhere else
to go This lasted about two or three
345
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:11.279
months before one day without saying anything, she didn' t get to school
346
00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:15.640
or the next few days. At
first I thought maybe she was sick.
347
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:21.440
After all, he didn' t
live in the best conditions so he wouldn
348
00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:25.640
' t get sick. Quite often, but after three weeks, something inside
349
00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:29.200
of me told me that I was
not well and that I should ask for
350
00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:33.359
her. I knew it was the
right thing to do, but it was
351
00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:37.920
hard for me to go and touch
that woman directly for everything I had lived
352
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:42.400
with her over the years I had
been living with. It took me some
353
00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:48.799
time to encourage myself there, but
as I realized that I didn' t
354
00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:51.599
seem to come back I built up
courage. I didn' t go straight
355
00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:56.920
home one day as I came back
from school and saw the neighbor walking.
356
00:28:56.519 --> 00:29:00.559
After he asked me again when he
was free to go home, I asked
357
00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:07.559
him about Julia. At first she
was very quiet staring at me, even
358
00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:11.279
the first time I saw that the
smile was erased for a few seconds.
359
00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:18.119
After that she smiled again and told
me she was with her father. A
360
00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:22.359
little surprised and also happy for her. I asked him if he was back.
361
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:26.519
She felt and after that she said
goodbye to me very dryly, almost
362
00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:32.000
as if she didn' t want
me to ask any more questions. The
363
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:36.400
fact that she left without saying goodbye
to me made me feel strange and a
364
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:41.160
little sad, but at the same
time I also felt very good for her
365
00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:45.119
that I had left that strange woman' s house and I didn' t
366
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:51.440
think much about it anymore. I
was sixteen by then if some other things
367
00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:57.000
related to that woman occurred to me, but I must say that it would
368
00:29:57.079 --> 00:30:02.039
be more or less the same thing
that I have already told you just when
369
00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:06.720
I was that age. Something else
happened. One night around three in the
370
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:11.920
morning, while I was sleeping,
I heard something very strange. It was
371
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:15.839
like a very strong blow that happened
every few seconds. At first I thought
372
00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:19.519
it was inside my house because of
how loud it was heard, but very
373
00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:25.240
soon I realized it was coming from
outside strange. I looked out the window
374
00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:30.160
and it took me almost nothing to
see the origin of the sound through the
375
00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:33.279
public lighting. It was very clear
that the neighbor was standing in her window
376
00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:38.720
more or less as usual, smiling
and staring at the street, but this
377
00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:45.319
time she was doing something else.
Every once in a while he dropped his
378
00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:48.400
head against the glass. It didn' t look like it hurt, but
379
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.640
you did hear that the blow was
too strong. At first I didn'
380
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:56.680
t know what to do. I
didn' t seem to be paying attention
381
00:30:56.759 --> 00:31:02.759
to myself and almost immediately remembered that
Julia gave me that she had told me
382
00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.160
that she was sleepwalking and doing very
strange things during the night. I just
383
00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:10.720
went back to bed and tried to
sleep, thinking it would eventually stop.
384
00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:17.200
At some point I swear I heard
clearly the sound of a slamming glass I
385
00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:21.480
looked again, but she was no
longer there. Nor was it possible to
386
00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:25.519
see if the glass was broken.
I just lay down again and it didn
387
00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:30.759
' t take long to fall asleep
the next morning. I didn' t
388
00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:34.079
see the woman all day. When
I came out I noticed that the glass
389
00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:37.880
in his window was too tight.
Usually, whenever he was on his way
390
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:44.440
to school. She was watching me
and when I came back I found her
391
00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:48.000
walking down the same street as me. I never knew where I was going
392
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:52.960
or if I only did it to
run into me, but it wasn'
393
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:56.279
t something I wanted to know and
I didn' t see it all that
394
00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:00.720
day It got weird, but it
didn' t matter when the days passed
395
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:05.319
and the same thing happened. It
became strange to me because there was no
396
00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:09.640
movement that came from his house either. It was almost as if it was
397
00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:15.200
abandoned and very soon all the neighbors
noticed it and no one gave it importance.
398
00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:21.079
It wasn' t like we could
ignore that there was a nauseous smell
399
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.880
coming out of it over the weeks. The smell came to the point that
400
00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:30.440
since you went around the street you
could smell it. People could no longer
401
00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:36.799
ignore it and, after playing for
a long time without success, called on
402
00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:40.480
the authorities to take care of the
matter. To everyone' s horror,
403
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:45.519
that woman had died inside her house
and the smell came from her dead body
404
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:52.200
breaking down. For everyone, it
was shocking to have had a corpse in
405
00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:58.079
the neighborhood for so long, as
it was in such bad condition that even
406
00:32:58.119 --> 00:33:00.680
after they took him away, the
smell r rrodone out of his house for
407
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:07.279
a long time. This was especially
shocking to me because I could only remember
408
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:14.160
the last night I had seen her. I started having some nightmares where she
409
00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:19.200
died because of one of the many
blows she hit against the window. Then
410
00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:24.720
she passed out and no one helped
her. At the age of eighteen,
411
00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:30.720
we were already taking the entrance exams
for the University. A guy from my
412
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:37.000
group of friends invited us all to
camp. It was basically setting up tents
413
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:42.960
in his backyard and sleeping outside.
Our parents didnâ t have much trouble
414
00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:46.240
accepting it and soon we found ourselves
planning everything we would do that night.
415
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:52.039
By that time, the smell of
that house was gone and it was completely
416
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:58.160
abandoned. When the day came,
we all went and we were having a
417
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:02.799
great time, but suddenly, the
subject began to be diverted to paranormal events
418
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:07.920
and different horror stories that we had
heard from moment to moment. The conversation
419
00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:13.960
turned to that neighbor how strange it
had been to grow up next to a
420
00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:19.800
person like that. We also began
to wonder if the story that girl told
421
00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:23.599
when we were in high school about
the horrible state of the house was real.
422
00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:29.639
After talking about it for a long
time, the boy who lived in
423
00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:32.159
the house where we were proposed to
go and see if he was still the
424
00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:37.880
same. We knew it wouldn'
t be hard to get in because their
425
00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:39.840
fences weren' t too high.
I almost immediately refused and told them that
426
00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:45.079
that house was right in front of
mine and if my parents saw me,
427
00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:50.400
I would be in trouble, but
everyone seemed very excited to go and see
428
00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:54.719
what was inside. It seemed like
the perfect opportunity and, besides, very
429
00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:59.599
soon most of us would get out
of there. At first, I refused,
430
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:05.800
but they pressed so hard that in
the end I couldn' t resist
431
00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:08.239
and accompanied them. As I mentioned
earlier, it wasn' t a problem
432
00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:13.239
to get in. One of my
colleagues was lighting up with the flashlight on
433
00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:16.920
his phone. We were walking through
what had been that woman' s yard.
434
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:22.519
There was a lot of weed.
We walked to the door and realized
435
00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:29.960
it was locked. At that moment
I saw my perfect opportunity to tell them
436
00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:35.800
that it would be best to return
as we could not enter, but my
437
00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:39.599
best friend, named David, began
to break one of the windows of the
438
00:35:39.639 --> 00:35:44.320
window so that we could open it
from the inside. This was big enough
439
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:46.679
for us to get through. And
that' s how we got in.
440
00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:52.840
As soon as we were inside,
our noses flooded with a disgusting smell.
441
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:59.400
It was something like death and moisture. Almost immediately we covered our noses and
442
00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:05.360
even several of us began to have
arcades. I was just about to suggest
443
00:36:05.400 --> 00:36:10.079
we go back. When David started
moving forward, we all followed him,
444
00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:15.760
as he was the only one who
was lighting and I guess we didn'
445
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:19.039
t want to run out of that
shelter of light. One of my friends
446
00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:23.280
in the group, named Samuel,
took out his phone and started recording saying
447
00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:29.119
that maybe we could catch a ghost. We all told him to stop talking
448
00:36:29.239 --> 00:36:34.239
nonsense and we kept moving forward.
I remember even I mentioned that I shouldn
449
00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:37.719
' t record. We couldn'
t have any evidence that we had gone
450
00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:44.320
there, but he didn' t
listen to me and he kept saying he
451
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:45.760
wouldn' t show it to anyone. We soon realized that the story the
452
00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:51.639
girl had told about the house being
made a position was short of what that
453
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:57.719
place really was. Of course,
after a little over a year, the
454
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:00.880
place was full of dust because of
the s or two that it was,
455
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:06.440
but all the garbage and stale food
remains, as well as a huge pile
456
00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:10.760
of wet clothes and dirty frets.
The place was infested with rats and cockroaches.
457
00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:15.960
Every room seemed to be worse than
the one before. As soon as
458
00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:21.840
we entered the kitchen, we saw
that refrigerator was not very large, rather
459
00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:27.480
it was very old and it smelled
very bad at that time to break the
460
00:37:27.639 --> 00:37:31.320
tension, I remember well that David
began to make jokes regarding that he was
461
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:34.480
going to open the freezer, from
which he seemed to be draining something.
462
00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:38.239
I told him not to because if
it' s already closed, it smells
463
00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:43.840
bad. I didn' t want
to imagine how gross it would be if
464
00:37:43.960 --> 00:37:47.400
he thought to open that door.
Almost everyone agreed with me, but after
465
00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:52.320
joking about the idea for a while, it seemed that everyone wanted to see
466
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:58.639
what that freezer had and more and
more they agreed that I should open it
467
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:04.199
and without thinking about it. David
opened that door twice to this day.
468
00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:08.840
I can' t describe the smell
of that freezer. Just imagine the worst
469
00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:15.000
thing that' s ever solid and
multiply it, and I assure you,
470
00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:17.760
it' s not even coming,
for even the eyes have burned us with
471
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:22.920
the plague. In addition, the
door served as a sort of containment,
472
00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:28.119
because, at the time of opening
it, a lot of what appeared to
473
00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:32.800
be brown water began to fall and
after that, a bag with something inside
474
00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:37.280
hit the floor. It was so
full of blood, rotten and tied so
475
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:42.440
that it was not possible to see
what it was. It just seemed to
476
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:46.199
be the size of a small watermelon. None of us wanted to find out
477
00:38:46.199 --> 00:38:52.199
what it was. The smell was
so unbearable that at that time we all
478
00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:54.760
agreed that it was time to get
out of there, if we didn'
479
00:38:54.840 --> 00:39:00.719
t want to throw up because of
the strong aroma that was already flooding every
480
00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:07.159
corner of the place, we started
to practically run away from there, when
481
00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:09.280
we were about to leave, something
caught my attention. It was a white
482
00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:15.880
door, which had some stickers from
a band that Julia liked. I don
483
00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:19.719
' t know what happened to me, but instead of walking to the door,
484
00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:23.159
like everyone else, I stray to
that door. Many told me to
485
00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:29.679
leave because the smell was practically unbearable, but I didn' t listen to
486
00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:32.559
them. I guess for not wanting
to leave me they just followed me.
487
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.280
I turned the door knob and this
one had no insurance. It opened and,
488
00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:44.679
as soon as David was close enough
to me, that room was completely
489
00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:51.280
illuminated, and that room was very
different from the whole house. Of course
490
00:39:51.400 --> 00:39:54.679
it was all full of dust and
some insects, but it didn' t
491
00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:59.480
look messy at all and not just
that. The bed was stretched and s
492
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.559
and all of Julia' s things
were there the school backpack, her books,
493
00:40:04.280 --> 00:40:07.880
things that she would certainly, if
she had carried at that time,
494
00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:15.159
I stayed petrified. I couldn'
t understand how his stuff was still there.
495
00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:19.559
If he had supposedly moved from this, I don' t remember,
496
00:40:20.519 --> 00:40:24.360
but David later told me that he
tried to pull me to leave, but
497
00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:29.239
I didn' t move. The
only thing that got me out of that
498
00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:31.239
trance was a voice that was heard
at the end of the hall. You
499
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:37.760
are the ones we all recognized right
away, as we had listened to her
500
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:44.480
a number of times during our childhood, saying exactly the same words, asking
501
00:40:44.559 --> 00:40:47.000
if we wanted to go in and
eat candy and watch TV. At the
502
00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:53.760
same time as we heard steps approaching
repeating that question over and over again we
503
00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:58.440
all shouted and ran. It was
like an adrenaline rush, as I don
504
00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:02.519
' t remember exactly what happened.
All I know is that when I was
505
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:06.239
able to react, we were already
back in our friend' s yard.
506
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:10.280
I don' t think any of
us could sleep that night. I don
507
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:15.920
' t remember us talking about it
either, except as soon as it dawned,
508
00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:19.559
we all went back to our homes. Over the next few days we
509
00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:23.400
started talking about what we should do. Most people didn' t want to
510
00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:28.719
say anything because first we had a
video that was very blurry. At that
511
00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:32.400
time, the definition of phones was
not good and besides, we all ran
512
00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:37.239
and there was only a big stain
on the bottom that could well go through
513
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:42.920
lighting. Besides, we weren'
t supposed to be there, so everyone
514
00:41:43.159 --> 00:41:49.000
agreed that we should just shut up. But I didn' t want to,
515
00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:52.599
and I could only think that Julia' s things were still in that
516
00:41:52.599 --> 00:42:00.199
house. After a long time I
went to visit my parents and that house
517
00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:05.480
was exactly the same. I'
ve always felt guilty for not doing more
518
00:42:05.519 --> 00:42:10.440
about it. I don' t
know if I can do anything right now,
519
00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:16.639
especially because I basically don' t
have any proof in my heart I
520
00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:21.840
hope I' m wrong and Julia' s okay, that she had a
521
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:22.639
very good reason not to take all
those things I saw that day. But
522
00:42:22.920 --> 00:42:28.280
the truth is, I' ve
been trying to track her down for a
523
00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:30.800
long time without any success. It' s like he' s disappeared to
524
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:37.079
date. I don' t know
if that neighbor had any kind of psychopathy
525
00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:39.280
or if she had only one serious
mental problem. I guess I' ll
526
00:42:46.280 --> 00:42:53.639
never know through the walls. My
name is Claudia. I am currently thirty
527
00:42:53.840 --> 00:42:58.239
- one years old and I would
like to relate something that happened to me
528
00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:00.480
when I was a child. She
was just very much my mom and I
529
00:43:00.519 --> 00:43:07.519
often passed it to myself because she
had two jobs. We were forced to
530
00:43:07.599 --> 00:43:13.199
move constantly, always looking for a
more accessible place to live, and it
531
00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:16.400
was in one of these searches that
we came to that horrible place. Usually,
532
00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:22.599
my mom always tried to find places
that were not only cheap, but
533
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:28.519
also safe, because I stayed alone
for a long time. But this time
534
00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:34.079
there was a big difference. The
neighborhood we were in was not good and
535
00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:40.039
the little apartment my mom could rent
was practically falling. There was a good
536
00:43:40.079 --> 00:43:45.480
reason for this. Recently I had
been sick of an intoxication that kept me
537
00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:50.880
hospitalized in the hospital for many days. This left my mother heavily indebted to
538
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:55.360
virtually all the people I knew and
even had to borrow from the bank in
539
00:43:55.400 --> 00:44:01.440
order to pay for my medicines.
For that way he had to be economizing
540
00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:07.679
as much as possible to get out
of that financial hole as quickly as he
541
00:44:07.679 --> 00:44:12.719
could. I didn' t understand
this, I even remember that I told
542
00:44:12.760 --> 00:44:16.039
my mom many times that I didn' t want to stay there and that
543
00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:19.840
I liked it better where we lived
before. She explained to me that we
544
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:24.000
couldn' t afford it anymore and
she also promised me that we wouldn'
545
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:28.239
t be there long. To tell
you the truth, we were there longer
546
00:44:28.280 --> 00:44:31.320
than anywhere else, because, being
one of the cheapest rents I had to
547
00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:37.079
pay, it was the one I
could keep the most. I remember that
548
00:44:37.199 --> 00:44:42.239
first day, the only thing I
could notice was how horrible the place was.
549
00:44:42.920 --> 00:44:46.280
Several of the spotlights were melted.
It smelled a lot of moisture and,
550
00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:52.039
if that were not enough, the
walls had quite large cracks. I
551
00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:55.760
' m not overreacting with this.
If you hit directly some of the cracks,
552
00:44:55.920 --> 00:45:00.440
you could see the apartment that was
stuck to ours. For obvious reasons,
553
00:45:00.679 --> 00:45:05.559
it couldn' t be seen very
clearly, but I think you can
554
00:45:05.639 --> 00:45:08.519
give an idea of how horrible the
state of that place is. At that
555
00:45:08.599 --> 00:45:15.159
time I had not completely healed myself. I still had to take some medicine.
556
00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:21.079
Besides the intoxication. He had some
breathing problems, so he must have
557
00:45:21.159 --> 00:45:25.880
been inside the house as long as
possible. For the first five days everything
558
00:45:25.960 --> 00:45:30.639
was more or less normal, of
course I hated being there, but gradually
559
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:37.519
I was beginning to resign. Besides, being a dangerous neighborhood, my mom
560
00:45:37.559 --> 00:45:42.760
was forbidden to talk to anyone,
it didn' t matter if it was
561
00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:47.440
the neighbors. During the first few
days I fulfilled this rule, but on
562
00:45:47.719 --> 00:45:52.079
the sixth day something curious happened.
Upon waking up I realized that on the
563
00:45:52.119 --> 00:45:57.159
wall that was attached to my bed
and in which there was one of the
564
00:45:57.159 --> 00:46:01.320
biggest cracks stood out a small paper
that appeared to be from a notebook sheet.
565
00:46:02.480 --> 00:46:07.480
I didn' t know how I
got there, but the truth is
566
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:10.159
I didn' t give it too
much importance at the time. Only with
567
00:46:10.199 --> 00:46:15.079
the curiosity I had at that age
of nine did I pull it out and
568
00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:21.039
open it. I was very surprised
because there was something written in it said
569
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:25.000
oh neighbor fascinated by what had happened. All I could think of was peeking
570
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:30.360
out of the crack to try to
see on the other side. It should
571
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:35.159
be noted that the first rift I
mentioned in which another apartment was seen was
572
00:46:35.239 --> 00:46:38.280
on a different wall. Therefore,
the apartment that remained towards the wall of
573
00:46:38.320 --> 00:46:45.519
my room was another, which was
right behind ours. As I looked out
574
00:46:45.639 --> 00:46:51.000
I realized that on the other side
it looked very dark. At first,
575
00:46:51.119 --> 00:46:54.960
I didn' t give it any
importance, because I thought the crack might
576
00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:59.719
well get smaller as it progressed and
it was impossible to see on the other
577
00:46:59.719 --> 00:47:05.320
side. But still. At that
time, the idea of exchanging messages with
578
00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:09.199
whoever was on the other side seemed
so great to me that I rushed to
579
00:47:09.239 --> 00:47:15.239
write mine, too, tore a
piece of sheet from one of my notebooks,
580
00:47:15.480 --> 00:47:22.239
answered the greeting and put it back
in trying to get it deep enough
581
00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:27.480
for me to receive it. Seconds
later I began to see how another role
582
00:47:27.519 --> 00:47:30.920
began to emerge from that crack.
He was telling me his name and age.
583
00:47:30.239 --> 00:47:34.920
His name was Ruby and he was
eight years old. He also asked
584
00:47:35.039 --> 00:47:38.800
me for my data, so excited, I answered his questions and did the
585
00:47:38.840 --> 00:47:44.239
same. I think we' ve
been exchanging notes for about an hour.
586
00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:49.679
We didn' t really have much
personal information at the time. Basically we
587
00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:54.079
were just talking about our favorite color, the different types of candy or food
588
00:47:54.159 --> 00:48:00.400
we liked and what games we liked
to play that kind of conversation of children
589
00:48:00.400 --> 00:48:06.480
' s own. I even remember
that at some point I got so bored
590
00:48:07.199 --> 00:48:10.559
writing when she sent me one more
note, wondering if I liked to jump
591
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:14.880
the rope, I got a little
closer to the crack and, instead of
592
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.360
sending a note, I said yes. I thought I' d hear your
593
00:48:19.440 --> 00:48:22.079
answer, but there was only silence
on the other side. At first I
594
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:27.239
thought you hadn' t heard me. That was more strange, since the
595
00:48:27.480 --> 00:48:32.920
walls were so thin in those apartments
that you basically heard the conversations of everyone
596
00:48:34.039 --> 00:48:39.239
who lived there. I decided to
try it a second time, but I
597
00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:45.519
got the same result thinking I was
listening. I asked him another question this
598
00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:50.360
time, although it wasn' t
personal, it was an invitation, as
599
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.119
I asked him if he didn'
t want to come to my house to
600
00:48:54.199 --> 00:49:00.000
play some board games he had.
I didn' t get any answers from
601
00:48:59.760 --> 00:49:01.519
a few light taps to the wall
and asked if he was listening to me.
602
00:49:02.119 --> 00:49:07.559
Nothing was heard on the other side, but seconds later they pushed another
603
00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:12.039
note through the crack, picked it
up and opened it. This one was
604
00:49:12.119 --> 00:49:17.320
a little weird. It said my
parents punished me and I can' t
605
00:49:17.400 --> 00:49:21.360
talk at the time, being nine
years old, I didn' t care.
606
00:49:22.079 --> 00:49:27.840
Of course it did, as I
had never heard such punishments. Of
607
00:49:27.880 --> 00:49:32.079
course my mom had punished me before, but she never resorted to forbidding me
608
00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:37.719
from speaking. I wrote again if
you' d like to come to my
609
00:49:37.800 --> 00:49:43.760
house and play with me, and
I sent it to you She told me
610
00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:46.519
that her parents never let her out
of their house and that, besides,
611
00:49:47.199 --> 00:49:49.320
I didn' t know if my
mom would like us to be friends.
612
00:49:49.920 --> 00:49:53.480
I told her that my mom probably
wouldn' t mind if we were friends,
613
00:49:54.519 --> 00:50:00.039
but she insisted and made me promise
to ask her. When Mom arrived,
614
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:05.039
I decided to ask her. At
first. Mom was a little surprised,
615
00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:08.000
because, as I mentioned earlier,
I was forbidden to talk to the
616
00:50:08.599 --> 00:50:13.880
neighbors and I didn' t know
how I had met this child. But
617
00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:16.920
when I explained to her that her
name was Ruby and that she lived in
618
00:50:16.960 --> 00:50:22.519
the apartment next door, as well
as the fact that we had been exchanging
619
00:50:22.599 --> 00:50:27.199
notes through the walls, my mom
understood everything and told me that she was
620
00:50:27.519 --> 00:50:30.920
fine and that she could be friends
with Ruby if she wanted to. I
621
00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:34.599
was glad about that and even told
my mom I was going to tell her.
622
00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:39.519
I ran to my room and wrote
a note telling her that my mom
623
00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:45.280
agreed that we were friends This time
I didn' t get any answers.
624
00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:52.880
I figured maybe she was busy.
The next morning, when I woke up,
625
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:55.480
I realized that there was another part
in the crack, I took it
626
00:50:55.760 --> 00:51:00.000
out and read that Ruby told me
that she had told her parents if we
627
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:06.480
could be friends, but that her
parents had said no. She also told
628
00:51:06.599 --> 00:51:09.960
me she' d really like to
be my friend. We could keep talking.
629
00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:14.199
I agreed. I must admit,
I do. I felt a little
630
00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:17.440
bad about the fact that Ruby'
s parents didn' t want me to
631
00:51:17.519 --> 00:51:22.599
be friends with their daughter when they
didn' t know us remembering, I
632
00:51:22.719 --> 00:51:29.280
hadn' t seen anyone walk in
or out of that apartment once, but
633
00:51:29.360 --> 00:51:34.719
I didn' t think much about
it we kept talking about that day and
634
00:51:34.719 --> 00:51:38.400
also the days that followed. I
am very aware that my questions were too
635
00:51:38.400 --> 00:51:44.440
basic, as I was telling her, but she asked much more elaborate questions
636
00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:49.880
and answers. You could say that
because of that I realized to one at
637
00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:54.599
my young age that her life was
very different from mine. I think that
638
00:51:54.599 --> 00:51:59.760
' s the first time I'
ve ever known her to be abused by
639
00:51:59.760 --> 00:52:05.599
her parents. He talked to me
about punishments that didn' t make much
640
00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:08.880
sense like cold showers when it was
too cold or putting a hot spoon in
641
00:52:08.920 --> 00:52:13.599
his mouth every time he told lies. Despite having this information, I didn
642
00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:16.239
' t know what to do with
it. I didn' t tell my
643
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:22.480
mother, because I thought she was
scared. Maybe she wouldn' t let
644
00:52:22.599 --> 00:52:25.159
me be her friend anymore. I
didn' t want that to happen,
645
00:52:25.360 --> 00:52:31.559
because during our conversations, Ruby told
me that she didn' t have any
646
00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:36.159
friends because her parents wouldn' t
let her talk to other children. He
647
00:52:36.440 --> 00:52:39.199
also told me that, now that
I had come to live there, I
648
00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:45.840
was very happy to be able to
meet someone. We' ve been talking
649
00:52:45.880 --> 00:52:49.880
like that for many days. We
got to the point where she couldn'
650
00:52:49.920 --> 00:52:52.679
t tell me a lot of things
I didn' t know anymore. Usually,
651
00:52:52.920 --> 00:52:57.079
I was the one who told her
more things like my day to day
652
00:52:57.119 --> 00:53:00.000
at school or things that I had
gone to do with my hand Mom.
653
00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:04.519
I thought my mom didn' t
care about this peculiar friendship I had with
654
00:53:04.639 --> 00:53:09.559
Ruby, but it turned out that
she did care. One day she told
655
00:53:09.599 --> 00:53:15.000
me that she had talked to the
neighbor who lived downstairs and she had told
656
00:53:15.079 --> 00:53:19.440
her that some children would come together
to play in the afternoon. In some
657
00:53:19.480 --> 00:53:22.760
houses, this was because, as
unsafe as the neighborhood was, they did
658
00:53:22.760 --> 00:53:28.199
not like that they were outside,
but that I was welcome to join them.
659
00:53:29.360 --> 00:53:32.239
I said yes. And the next
thing my mom said was what puzzled
660
00:53:32.280 --> 00:53:37.800
me. He told me that now
that he already had friends, he could
661
00:53:37.840 --> 00:53:42.960
put Ruby aside. I asked her
why she was telling me that, but
662
00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:47.880
my mom didn' t tell me
any more soon after she went to work
663
00:53:49.159 --> 00:53:52.039
and that conversation didn' t go
on anymore. But he told me the
664
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:55.760
time and the number of apartments the
children would be in and after telling Ruby
665
00:53:55.800 --> 00:54:01.159
I was going there, I left
at first I was a little nervous not
666
00:54:01.280 --> 00:54:06.280
to like them, but the truth
is that they all behaved very nice and
667
00:54:06.639 --> 00:54:09.159
very soon. He was already part
of the group. We watched movies,
668
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:15.480
played several board games and even set
up a fort in one of them'
669
00:54:15.599 --> 00:54:19.880
s living room. She was fine, but at some point I mentioned Ruby,
670
00:54:21.199 --> 00:54:23.320
telling them I was sad that her
parents wouldn' t let her out.
671
00:54:23.880 --> 00:54:28.760
I also told them that maybe if
I went to their house personally and
672
00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:30.679
explained to them, they could let
her out. Get out for a while.
673
00:54:31.320 --> 00:54:36.920
But all the children there looked at
me confused and asked me who Ruby
674
00:54:37.039 --> 00:54:40.800
was. I explained it to them
was the girl who lived on the side
675
00:54:40.800 --> 00:54:45.159
of my apartment. They all looked
at me very strangely and told me that
676
00:54:45.239 --> 00:54:51.559
the ones we were there at the
time were the only children we lived in
677
00:54:51.559 --> 00:54:57.119
those apartments. I immediately replied no. I explained to them about the notes
678
00:54:57.159 --> 00:55:00.320
on the walls and how we'
ve been talking for a long time now.
679
00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:04.920
Stranged, Miguel, the boy who
lived in the apartment we were in
680
00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:09.519
at the time, asked me curious
exactly the number of apartment I lived in.
681
00:55:10.719 --> 00:55:15.679
I told him and Stranger told me
that no one lived in the apartment
682
00:55:15.800 --> 00:55:22.360
back. Almost immediately I replied that
this could not be possible because I had
683
00:55:22.440 --> 00:55:28.039
been talking to Ruby, but he
insisted. He told me that his dad
684
00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:32.480
was very close to the owner of
those apartments and that he had heard many
685
00:55:32.519 --> 00:55:38.280
times that all the people who came
to that apartment did not last long living
686
00:55:38.400 --> 00:55:42.760
there and that place had been empty
for a long time. I replied again
687
00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:46.800
that it was not true and even
told him that if I wanted to go
688
00:55:46.880 --> 00:55:52.519
to my house and try to talk
to Ruby. At that time all the
689
00:55:52.639 --> 00:55:59.039
intrigued children agreed and very soon we
all moved to my apartment. When I
690
00:55:59.159 --> 00:56:02.239
arrived there was already a continuous Ruby
station in one of the cracks. This
691
00:56:02.320 --> 00:56:07.599
surprised very few, as when I
opened it and the note said to warn
692
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:12.480
him. When I returned, many
believed that it was I who had written
693
00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:16.079
it. Almost immediately I took my
pencil, wrote it down and put it
694
00:56:16.159 --> 00:56:22.280
in the crack to answer me.
We were waiting for about two minutes before
695
00:56:22.320 --> 00:56:29.280
a new note started coming out of
the crack. Needless to say, everyone
696
00:56:29.320 --> 00:56:35.440
was very excited. I got out
and read that note just said it'
697
00:56:35.599 --> 00:56:39.440
s not just true. I figured
I' d heard the fuss of all
698
00:56:39.599 --> 00:56:45.119
the kids out there in the room. I didn' t care much about
699
00:56:45.199 --> 00:56:47.199
that and I just wrote to him
that I didn' t and sent it
700
00:56:47.199 --> 00:56:51.960
back to him. This time it
took longer to answer me and when he
701
00:56:51.960 --> 00:56:55.039
did, he just said he didn' t like the other kids and said
702
00:56:55.039 --> 00:57:00.519
goodbye. For those moments everyone was
very surprised, but Miguel was still confused,
703
00:57:01.119 --> 00:57:07.199
as he claimed that there was no
one living in the apartment at the
704
00:57:07.199 --> 00:57:10.599
Back. We all even left my
home and looked out the windows of the
705
00:57:10.719 --> 00:57:16.639
other apartment. These were covered by
thick curtains and they almost didn' t
706
00:57:16.760 --> 00:57:21.360
let us see anything. I did
I came to see what place. If
707
00:57:21.400 --> 00:57:25.840
it looked very empty it had no
furniture and it didn' t look like
708
00:57:25.840 --> 00:57:30.440
there was anyone living there either.
I don' t know how to explain
709
00:57:30.519 --> 00:57:36.039
it, but I think we can
all realize when one place is being inhabited
710
00:57:36.159 --> 00:57:37.360
by another person, it seemed that
no one had lived there in a long
711
00:57:37.360 --> 00:57:43.039
time. It was only the bit
I could see through an opening of the
712
00:57:43.039 --> 00:57:47.800
curtain. That didn' t tell
me much. We all ran back to
713
00:57:47.800 --> 00:57:52.599
my apartment and tried to get back
to Ruby, but she didn' t
714
00:57:52.599 --> 00:57:58.280
answer me anymore. Even the other
children also wanted to do it and wrote
715
00:57:58.320 --> 00:58:01.199
their own notes, putting them in
the grim, but they were not successful
716
00:58:01.199 --> 00:58:07.960
either. We were all confused there
about getting notes from an apparently empty department,
717
00:58:07.920 --> 00:58:12.639
either, it was like we could
do a lot on that day.
718
00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:16.159
Later, about ten o' clock
that night that same day, I saw
719
00:58:16.760 --> 00:58:22.480
how a new note began to emerge
from the crack. I got up and
720
00:58:22.480 --> 00:58:27.519
opened it, but I realized it
wasn' t ruby. Rather, it
721
00:58:27.599 --> 00:58:31.280
was one of the notes the children
had written to try to communicate with her.
722
00:58:31.760 --> 00:58:37.199
Pretty soon I saw how the other
three started coming out. I wrote
723
00:58:37.280 --> 00:58:42.519
an apology telling her that she was
already alone and that she regretted that they
724
00:58:42.719 --> 00:58:45.559
had written to her, when she
didn' t want to talk to them
725
00:58:45.559 --> 00:58:50.559
right away. She answered me by
telling me she was fine. For that
726
00:58:50.679 --> 00:58:54.519
point. I was already a little
thoughtful about this friendship and also about the
727
00:58:54.639 --> 00:59:01.239
fact that I had been told that
this apartment was empty I wrote a new
728
00:59:01.679 --> 00:59:07.079
note this time a little longer,
telling him what Miguel had said and also
729
00:59:07.199 --> 00:59:10.440
what he had seen. She took
a long time to answer me. I
730
00:59:10.480 --> 00:59:15.000
thought I wouldn' t do it
anymore, but suddenly I saw a note
731
00:59:15.039 --> 00:59:21.880
again on the wall The jalé wasn' t an answer or at least not
732
00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:25.559
one I was expecting, since all
it did was ask me how I went
733
00:59:25.599 --> 00:59:30.320
to school. I replied that well
and again I tried to answer the question
734
00:59:30.440 --> 00:59:37.559
by telling him if his parents had
forbidden him to talk about it. But
735
00:59:37.800 --> 00:59:40.480
instead, what he answered was another
question about how my day had gone.
736
00:59:43.199 --> 00:59:46.159
It was almost like she wasn'
t reading what I was asking her.
737
00:59:46.960 --> 00:59:52.440
I was so confused at the time
that I just stopped answering him and it
738
00:59:52.480 --> 00:59:57.199
wasn' t like Ruby insisted either. We just stopped talking for that day.
739
00:59:57.840 --> 01:00:00.639
I remember as soon as my mom
came to work, I asked her
740
01:00:00.719 --> 01:00:06.280
if she knew the apartment next door
was empty. To my surprise, she
741
01:00:06.320 --> 01:00:10.880
answered me naturally that she did.
He had been told it had been empty
742
01:00:10.960 --> 01:00:15.639
for a long time. That was
one of the main reasons why I hadn
743
01:00:15.880 --> 01:00:22.079
' t bothered her with the rift
in my room, as I knew no
744
01:00:22.159 --> 01:00:25.559
one would try to spy on her. Even more upset by the fact that
745
01:00:25.559 --> 01:00:30.519
my mom knew, I asked her
then how it was possible that Ruby was
746
01:00:30.599 --> 01:00:37.079
communicating with me my mom rubbed her
face for a moment, almost as if
747
01:00:37.159 --> 01:00:40.679
she had no energy to talk to
me at that time. But he still
748
01:00:40.760 --> 01:00:46.360
did it and explained to me very
calmly and empatheticly that Ruby was imaginary and
749
01:00:46.440 --> 01:00:51.840
that she was a little worried that
she would have taken this whole Ruby subject
750
01:00:51.920 --> 01:00:57.840
so far because she was a little
older to have imaginary friends. But he
751
01:00:57.840 --> 01:01:02.199
thought that for the first few days
he had not been able to leave and
752
01:01:02.199 --> 01:01:06.360
neither had he known anyone. Then
I had invented it so I wouldn'
753
01:01:06.360 --> 01:01:08.400
t feel so lonely. I said
it wasn' t like that. I
754
01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:13.559
even showed her some notes so she
would realize that Ruby' s lyrics and
755
01:01:13.760 --> 01:01:19.159
my lyrics looked very different, but
she told me it was me and she
756
01:01:19.239 --> 01:01:24.079
also told me not to pretend,
because I knew perfectly well that Ruby was
757
01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:30.239
not real, but I kept insisting. She came to the point that my
758
01:01:30.239 --> 01:01:35.079
mom, seriously, was worried that
I couldn' t distinguish between reality and
759
01:01:35.119 --> 01:01:42.360
what she thought was pure fantasy.
I frustrated, took a sheet and wrote
760
01:01:42.400 --> 01:01:45.320
to put it back in the crack, but nothing happened. I told my
761
01:01:45.400 --> 01:01:52.159
mom to wait, because Ruby always
answered me. After fifteen minutes, she
762
01:01:52.159 --> 01:01:57.639
told me that she was very tired
and that we would continue that conversation the
763
01:01:57.639 --> 01:02:00.840
next day. But just as I
was about to take my gaze away from
764
01:02:01.360 --> 01:02:06.800
that crack to its astonishment and my
relief a note began to come out of
765
01:02:06.800 --> 01:02:13.159
it. I smiled thinking that it
fully checked Ruby' s existence and that
766
01:02:13.280 --> 01:02:17.639
the apartment was not empty, but
Mom was terrified without giving me time,
767
01:02:19.119 --> 01:02:23.039
took the note and opened it.
I read it. It was written in
768
01:02:23.119 --> 01:02:28.400
red ink on it. I'
ll kill your mother. I did not
769
01:02:28.519 --> 01:02:32.039
understand why I had written that,
as ruby had never said anything that could
770
01:02:32.159 --> 01:02:37.559
be considered aggressive or threatening. My
mom approached the crack to see through it.
771
01:02:39.440 --> 01:02:44.480
I was about to tell her that
nothing was visible, when suddenly Mom
772
01:02:44.519 --> 01:02:50.840
jumped back. He practically pulled my
arm and we both got out of the
773
01:02:50.840 --> 01:02:54.920
apartment. Even Mom started screaming to
wake up the other neighbors and very soon
774
01:02:55.000 --> 01:03:00.440
several of them came out to see
what had happened. Mom told them there
775
01:03:00.519 --> 01:03:05.880
was someone inside. They called the
owner and he opened the door. What
776
01:03:05.920 --> 01:03:08.559
I will tell next is not something
that I lived, as they did not
777
01:03:08.599 --> 01:03:15.800
let me pass, but my mom
later told me exactly what they saw when
778
01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:19.840
they came in, as because of
my young age I do not remember much.
779
01:03:19.880 --> 01:03:22.360
After what I already told, my
mom, along with two of the
780
01:03:22.360 --> 01:03:28.800
neighbors, came in to see me
surprised that my mom could have seen something,
781
01:03:29.440 --> 01:03:34.679
as it looked dark inside. According
to my mom, when you came
782
01:03:34.719 --> 01:03:37.800
in you could even smell that no
one had lived there for a long time.
783
01:03:37.440 --> 01:03:42.280
The neighbors asked her how she knew
there was someone in that apartment,
784
01:03:42.960 --> 01:03:46.719
to which she told them a little
bit about the notes. He said they
785
01:03:46.719 --> 01:03:52.800
were moving cautiously towards the room,
which was stuck with mine, but when
786
01:03:52.800 --> 01:03:58.800
they got there, they realized it
was empty. They all began to say
787
01:03:59.239 --> 01:04:03.519
that perhaps mons knew the situation interpreted
and that sometimes children could have a wild
788
01:04:03.599 --> 01:04:10.920
imagination. But my mom wasn'
t willing to leave the subject. He
789
01:04:11.039 --> 01:04:15.400
even told them that she had seen
clearly how someone pushed a note from that
790
01:04:15.639 --> 01:04:20.559
place into our apartment. The moment
my mom said that, she says something
791
01:04:20.920 --> 01:04:27.840
was heard as if a little boy
happened behind them they lit up with the
792
01:04:27.880 --> 01:04:32.599
flashlight, but they didn' t
see anyone. He says they also heard
793
01:04:32.679 --> 01:04:38.599
as if a girl was laughing.
He said it was very clear that he
794
01:04:38.679 --> 01:04:42.679
was running and in time they felt
they were going to catch up. It
795
01:04:42.800 --> 01:04:47.159
was like the girl was faster they
couldn' t even see her. They
796
01:04:47.239 --> 01:04:53.119
realized that I was only leading them
out and they thought that the girl would
797
01:04:53.239 --> 01:04:58.800
run away too for those of us
who were outside we saw everyone leave.
798
01:04:59.559 --> 01:05:03.400
All of these were waiting for an
explanation or to get the one who had
799
01:05:03.440 --> 01:05:08.400
been living in that apartment out of
hiding. The truth was that they looked
800
01:05:08.440 --> 01:05:12.679
at the outsiders with the same face
because they wondered if they hadn' t
801
01:05:12.760 --> 01:05:17.400
seen the girl leave, but no
one saw anything. After that they told
802
01:05:17.440 --> 01:05:21.920
everyone what they had heard, but
the outsiders agreed that they had not seen
803
01:05:21.960 --> 01:05:27.440
anyone but them leave that place and
that being able to escape on the other
804
01:05:27.480 --> 01:05:31.280
hand would be impossible, as the
only place to escape would be jumping out
805
01:05:31.360 --> 01:05:36.480
the window and it was at least
five meters and the only other exit was
806
01:05:36.519 --> 01:05:44.280
the one on the side where everyone
was waiting for them. That night was
807
01:05:44.360 --> 01:05:49.440
basically marked as the day my mom
got confused and alerted everyone. But for
808
01:05:49.519 --> 01:05:55.239
my mom there was never the slightest
doubt that there was something sinister in that
809
01:05:55.239 --> 01:05:59.760
place. We didn' t even
stay in that apartment. That night we
810
01:05:59.800 --> 01:06:03.199
only stayed in the living room of
one of the neighbors. The next morning
811
01:06:03.280 --> 01:06:11.280
we picked up all our stuff and
left. At that time I tried to
812
01:06:11.320 --> 01:06:15.480
ask Mom what exactly she had seen, but she never wanted to tell me.
813
01:06:16.159 --> 01:06:23.000
I guess it was because I didn' t want to be scared when
814
01:06:23.119 --> 01:06:25.519
I was older about 15 years old. She did come to confess to me
815
01:06:25.639 --> 01:06:30.119
what she saw that day, and
she told me that indeed, she saw
816
01:06:30.159 --> 01:06:35.039
a girl in there looking very thin
and malnourished. His hair was thin and
817
01:06:35.079 --> 01:06:41.199
very thin. She said she was
at the bottom of the room looking straight
818
01:06:41.280 --> 01:06:45.760
into the crack, almost as if
she were aware that she was looking at
819
01:06:45.760 --> 01:06:50.320
her. She also told me that
as soon as she saw her, there
820
01:06:50.400 --> 01:06:55.960
was no doubt to her that that
girl was dead and that she was a
821
01:06:55.960 --> 01:07:00.800
ghost. He said that at the
time he had been very afraid that she
822
01:07:00.880 --> 01:07:05.360
wanted to take me and that was
why he had made such a scandal,
823
01:07:05.840 --> 01:07:09.559
since it was the only way to
guarantee a safe place to spend that night.
824
01:07:10.559 --> 01:07:14.880
But that day, deep down,
she knew that they would not find
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01:07:14.920 --> 01:07:21.559
anything, since what she had seen
did not belong to this world. Stories
826
01:07:21.639 --> 01:07:24.960
written and adapted by Lisa Hernández
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00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:11.599
The smiling neighbor. This story begins
when I was about seven years old.
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All our lives we had lived in
Mexico City, but for reasons of work
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my dad was moved to this other
city. When we arrived from that long
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journey to our new home, we
were all very tired. I started helping
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my parents get our belongings out of
the car. It seems to me that
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at my fifth exit from the new
house I could see something. The curtain
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across the street had moved. It
was as if the moment I turned around,
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they would quickly shut it down so
I wouldn' t realize that they
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' d been watching me. That
didn' t get so weird. I
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just took a few more things and
went in and when I came out again.
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The curtains were already open. There
was also a strange woman standing at
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the window. I know that when
we' re kids we see things that
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are much more exaggerated or bigger than
they are, and this makes you afraid
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of things that for most adults don' t make sense. But being the
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grown- up I am now,
I know there was a fair reason to
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fear that woman, and it was
just not normal. I don' t
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mean that he had a paranormal appearance
or that he had some deformity. She
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was an older woman, perhaps about
sixty years old. His face was a
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little wrinkled. He wore thick round
lenses. Her wrinkled skin seemed to stick
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to the bones and seemed to have
very light brown hair. But the strangest
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thing about that woman was that she
was smiling. It seemed like the person
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I was smiling at was me like
trying to welcome me to that neighborhood at
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the time. That smile he gave
was not erased from his face, not
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even because I didn' t give
it back to him. It made me
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feel so uncomfortable that I ran into
the house and told my parents. I
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don' t remember exactly how I
explained it, but I do remember Mom
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coming out of the house a little
upset. What surprised me the most was
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that this woman was still exactly where
she was when I entered the house.
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He was still in the same pose
In fact, if not because he blinked
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and looked like he was breathing.
You could almost say that I was dissected
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at the time I thought my mom
didn' t notice how strange that woman
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was, because she greeted her very
naturally and that woman didn' t return
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the greeting to my mom kept smiling. As I mentioned before, I,
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at the time I thought Mom didn' t notice it, but then,
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when we talked about it, she
told me that she became a strange woman.
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As the days passed, what could
be seen from the window of my
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room, which was on the second
floor, was that woman looking out the
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window smilingly. Sometimes I felt like
I was staring at my room and I
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remember when I told my brother,
he agreed with me and said that he
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also felt something like that lady was
watching him in a very constant way and
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that he didn' t understand why
he smiled that way. And as soon
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as we started making friends with other
kids in the neighborhood, we realized something
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else. Everyone out there knew her
and confirmed that she was almost always smiling
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and that her character was very kind. And we were also told that the
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woman very often invited the neighborhood children
to her house to eat cookies or sweets.
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No one ever accepted. Everyone out
there was very convinced that this woman
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was not good and that under that
façade of kindness was someone bad, but
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no one could prove it. As
I mentioned earlier, all this has been
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going on for many years. I
think that in order for me to be
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better understood, what I will do
will be to tell all the events that
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I came to live having contact with
this woman, and is that the first
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strange memory that I have about her, apart from seeing her constantly smiling through
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her window as I saw all those
passing through the street. It was once
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that I had gone to buy a
couple of things at the corner store.
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I was coming back when I saw
a stone that was very round and it
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seemed like a ball back then for
some reason, I had become obsessed with
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the subject of baseball and started throwing
it. I was just throwing it a
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couple meters in front of me,
I was picking it up and doing it
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again, but at some point it
occurred to me to throw it with all
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my might in the opposite direction to
the one I was walking, because I
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00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.360
wanted to see how far I could
throw it without turning around to see if
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anyone was coming behind me. I
just held her with all my might and
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turned her over and threw her away. To my surprise, I realized very
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late that that smiling neighbor was walking
perhaps about two or three meters away.
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She was smiling. As he walked
he saw that he had been like this
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all the time and did not erase
that smile, not even when the stone
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that I had thrown passed him by
rubbing practically the glasses that he wore.
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He didn' t even seem to
notice. It was as if I hadn
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' t realized that I was about
to hit her, because she didn'
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t move or make any effort to
stop the rock that I had thrown,
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which was a sizeable one so I
wouldn' t see it, I was
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just moving forward as if nothing had
happened without stopping smiling at me. At
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that moment I was very scared and
ran home. I was very scared,
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but I couldn' t tell anyone, as I was afraid my parents would
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scold me. I even remember that
a few minutes after I got home and
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looked out the window of my room
I came to see that woman. Since
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he doubled the street, I could
still see how he walked to the same
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step I had seen him without erasing
that smile even a moment when I was
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a little older to go out and
play with my friends on the street without
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much supervision. I remember well that
this also started to happen a lot,
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as long as we played near his
house. He would come out with a
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bowl of candy or cookies and invite
us in. None of us ever accepted,
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for, as I said before,
we were somewhat afraid of that lady.
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I also remember once telling my mom
that this lady offered us sweets and
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invited us over to her house.
I feel like at that time my mom
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didn' t give it the importance
it needed, as it' s not
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normal for an adult to be inviting
a lot of kids to come over to
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her house. My mother' s
answer that comes to my memory is that
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she told me that I should only
be educated and continue to deny myself,
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but always trying not to make her
feel bad. And that' s because,
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while we all politely rejected her,
once she went back into her house.
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Most of us laughed or joked about
how terrible it would be to accept
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those sweets, as they were always
the same. We assumed they were expired,
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since no one ever accepted them.
My next meeting with her was about
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ten years old. Near the neighborhood
there was a millet of several hectares and
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on one side of it there was
a huge blackberry tree. The owner of
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the milpa didn' t mind that
the children went to collect all the blackberries
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that fell from the tree as long
as we didn' t damage the crops
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in blackberries season, we went practically
every day and in one of these days,
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when we arrived at that place,
we realized that it was completely flooded.
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Apparently, they had left the irrigation
system open for a long time and
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now everything was full of water.
It was so wet that if you tried
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to put a foot in there for
a day, at least fifteen centimeters in
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the mud, making it almost impossible
to walk around while we were all cursing
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our luck, because we could no
longer go to the tree that day and
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probably not the following days. We
heard someone yelling at us trying to get
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our attention. When we turned around, we realized that at the bottom was
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this woman, as she always was, she was smiling as she moved her
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hands trying to get our attention and
as soon as we were all seeing her,
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she began to say that she was
trapped and that she needed help crossing.
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She was a senior woman and we
knew it was our duty to try
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to help her to a certain extent. At first we didn' t know
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what to do, but she told
us she just needed someone to help her
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so she wouldn' t fall as
she advanced. After discussing it for a
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moment, they sent me to help
her. It took me a long time
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to get to the other end of
the Milpa, but I finally got it
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all along. She was just standing
there smiling. I remember the moment I
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stood in front of her and told
her to come by, she put her
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hand on my shoulder and started walking
as we moved on. I felt a
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couple of things. First, his
breathing was very heavy. Da Segundo,
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every time I turned to see her, she was smiling from ear to ear.
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And thirdly, it seemed that at
every step we were left. She
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fit more and more her nails on
my shoulder, to the point where I
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felt that she was hurting me,
but being a child and having the fear
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so great that she had that woman, I didn' t dare say anything
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and just kept moving forward until we
got out of that millet. Once we
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were outside, she told me she
was very grateful to me, I even
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remember kissing my cheek and saying things
that made me feel very uncomfortable. After
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that, he invited me back home
to eat candy and watch TV, but
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I refused again to tell him it
was time for me to come home because
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my parents had told me I had
to be home early. She told me
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it didn' t have to be
that day, that it could be anyone
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else. I told him he was
fine and I' d let him know
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what day he could. But that
was a big mistake. After that day,
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practically every day I saw myself walking
anywhere, she stopped me and wondered
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if I already knew what day I
would go to her house. I always
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told them I wasn' t sure
yet and I used to use the pretext
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of school jobs or other things.
She was always disappointed, but she never
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erased that huge smile that characterized her. This is not something I can say
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that she was responsible for, but
I think it' s worth emphasizing here
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because I feel it' s all
weird. They remember that the Milpa was
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all flooded, as one of the
close friends of the owner of the Milpa
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went to visit him at his house
to see if he had been responsible for
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leaving the harvest. So, being
so flooded, anything I' d planted
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would have drowned. They say what
he found was his friend' s lifeless
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body. They do not know how
he died, but many claimed that he
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had not been of a natural cause, because he had a very strange grimace.
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That man' s friend mentioned that
he was in perfect health. There
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was never a great investigation, but
whenever I think, I can' t
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help but wonder if the fact that
we found that woman in that land trapped
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near that man' s house had
anything to do with it. When she
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was eleven, that woman opened a
kind of cheap kitchen, but unlike any
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normal economic kitchen, she did not
open an establishment as such. He just
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stuck a lot of ads and also
offered, house by house his services to
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all the neighbors, offering to bring
the food personally to each person who requested
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it. For some it might be
something comfortable, but the truth is that
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no one, or at least no
one close to me, decided to buy
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him anything. One day as I
was returning from school, I found her
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walking around with a basket and she
stopped me to talk to me. He
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00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:15.480
asked me again when I would be
free to go home. Even though it
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had been a long time since I
had said I would, I made up
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an excuse that by that time was
no good. I was just saying the
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first thing that came to mind.
After that, she told me she was
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glad to see me because she wanted
to give me food she had prepared from
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the basket. He pulled out a
unisel charola with what seemed to be spaghetti
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and pork loin in red sauce.
He offered it to me with great insistence.
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At first I was suspicious to accept
it, and I also wondered why
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she had that dish prepared, and
she told me that my mom had already
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paid for it, because they wouldn' t be home and left me that
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food. I accepted the charola and
I left. As I walked away,
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she yelled at me something like that
I expected her to enjoy it and that
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in a moment I would leave the
glass of water that went with the food.
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I just sat down and went straight
home to my surprise. When I
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opened the door, I realized that
woman was right because there was no one
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there. I thought he must be
telling the truth. A few moments after
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00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:28.600
that, she knocked on my door
and brought the glass of tamarind water.
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He gave it to me and this
time he didn' t stay to talk.
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He just mentioned to me that I
should eat it at that time or
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not to cool it down. I
just said yes and said goodbye to her.
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I was grateful that she wasn'
t insistent or that she didn'
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t want to pass. Yeah,
I thought I' d get something to
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00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.279
eat, but in all that situation, I still didn' t get any
183
00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:54.600
good. I left it all on
the table. I thought I could do
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00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.600
it later and warm it up in
the microwave, if it cooled down,
185
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because the more I saw that food
if it looked quite appetizing. I went
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to do my homework and then I
was playing on my computer for a long
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time, entertaining myself to the point
that I completely forgot I should eat.
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It was around five o' clock
in the afternoon when my stomach began to
189
00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.240
growl a lot. I got up
and went to the kitchen to heat my
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00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:28.919
food in the microwave. I just
put it all on a plate and put
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00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:33.679
it in when it was about a
minute before the microwave stopped. I heard
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00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:39.080
my dad' s truck parked in
front of the house. I looked up
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and saw that they were all coming
down. I also realized that my brother
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00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:48.080
looked weird, was very pale and
walked so slow that he was dragging his
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00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:52.960
feet. Even my mom was helping
him walk. I hastened to open the
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00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:58.360
door to find out what had happened. When they entered the house and asked
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00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:02.480
him what he had, my mom
said that no one knew, as they
198
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:07.480
had been called from my brother'
s school. This one had gotten really
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bad from one moment to the next. I had a stomach infection so bad
200
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I couldn' t get out of
the bathroom. On top of that,
201
00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:19.559
it was so dangerous that it melted
in a very short time and if they
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00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:23.159
had not arrived at the hospital quickly, the consequences would have been severe.
203
00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:30.039
My dad kept insisting that it had
been something he ate, but my brother
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00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.600
insisted that he had only eaten the
sandwich my mom had prepared for him.
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00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:38.399
My mom was even saying she was
gonna throw away all the ham that was
206
00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:44.480
in the fridge for anything. The
truth was that at the time my brother
207
00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:49.320
was too tired to give any explanation. I remember while we were talking,
208
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.080
the microwave made that beep that it
throws when it' s finished heating up.
209
00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:59.200
At that moment, my mom looked
at me and told me that I
210
00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:03.160
should probably have because they had not
left me anything to eat. I said
211
00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:07.000
yes, but I was warming up
the food I had told the neighbor to
212
00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:12.359
bring me. My mom looked at
me very strangely and told me she didn
213
00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:17.200
' t know what she was talking
about, because she had never asked for
214
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.240
anything. To the neighbor I explained
everything that had happened while they were gone
215
00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:25.559
and my dad trying not to make
the matter bigger, said that probably that
216
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:32.240
neighbor had seen that we left the
house very quickly. He imagined that they
217
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:37.079
would not have had time to warn
or prepare some food and that was why
218
00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:41.960
he had taken the trouble at the
time. That made enough sense to everyone.
219
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.240
I walked into the microwave and when
I took out the dish we were
220
00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:49.240
all disgusted. Seeing him from the
flesh, he seemed to be moving some
221
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:53.759
fly larvae. We didn' t
even understand how they could stay alive after
222
00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:59.839
all that time in the microwave.
At the time, we weren' t
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00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.519
disgusted and threw away our food.
Even when I saw the glass of water
224
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that had given me a few hours
ago, I realized that I had hair
225
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.640
floating inside the glass again. My
parents didn' t care. They just
226
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:21.720
said that that woman was probably very
dirty when it came to cooking. They
227
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.759
were grateful that I hadn' t
eaten, as they would then have two
228
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:32.000
intoxicated instead of one. As soon
as my brother was well and was able
229
00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:36.920
to think a little bit about that
day, he mentioned something else that was
230
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.799
in the bag where Mom put her
lunch for school, that day when she
231
00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.920
almost died from poisoning. Besides the
sandwich, the bottle of water and the
232
00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:49.440
juice that Mom used to give us, there was another thing, an amaranth
233
00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:55.079
bar. Interestingly, it wasn'
t packed in a plastic packaging, but
234
00:18:55.480 --> 00:19:00.920
it was just badly wrapped in that
transparent plastic used in the kitchen. He
235
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.279
also told me that as he walked
to school that day he ran into that
236
00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:10.079
smiling neighbor and she started talking to
him about her cheap food service and how
237
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.720
she could prepare lunch for school.
If I told his mom, my brother
238
00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:21.160
says he can' t say for
sure, but at the time he had
239
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:25.759
the bag with his lunch in his
hand and feels that that woman might have
240
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:30.559
put that in, especially because,
after asking my mom, she swore that
241
00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.960
day she never put a a amaranth
bar on her. Every time I remember,
242
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.440
I am very aware that the next
morning after this, when the neighbor
243
00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:44.680
saw me leave the house, as
if nothing was missed much it was as
244
00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:51.440
if I could not believe that I
was well. I even remember trying to
245
00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:55.839
walk fast. She reached me through
the second door of her house and came
246
00:19:56.039 --> 00:20:00.839
out to ask me if I had
liked the food. I didn' t
247
00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.880
know what to answer and I said
yes. She did not erase her smile,
248
00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:11.160
she told me that good, that
I liked it and that I could
249
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.519
prepare more whenever I wanted. I
told him I was fine and I left
250
00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.119
there, but never again. My
brother or I got close enough to her
251
00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:26.759
to get anything in our backpacks or
pockets. The next thing happened when I
252
00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.240
was thirteen. Someone came to live
with her was, apparently, her niece
253
00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:34.960
or something, so she started attending
our school I' ll call her Julia
254
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:41.279
Aclaro, who' s not a
real man. At first I was very
255
00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:47.599
quiet and reserved to the point that
we all thought I was just as strange
256
00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:52.000
as your aunt, but as the
days went by she showed us that no
257
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.440
and indeed, she behaved like someone
quite normal and you could say that I
258
00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:02.359
started to be interested. We even
got a little close. At some point
259
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:07.079
I couldn' t stand the curiosity
anymore and asked him why he was living
260
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with the neighbor. She replied that
one day her father, with whom she
261
00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:17.720
had lived all her life, as
her mother had died one day. He
262
00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.079
just left also said that he was
getting weird because he hadn' t taken
263
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.559
any of his stuff. But they
knew she was gone, because from her
264
00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:32.720
phone she had called her aunt,
who was my neighbor, to tell her
265
00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.519
that she could not take care of
her and that she would, please,
266
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.119
take care of her. I had
the messages and all this. She was
267
00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:45.720
very sad, as she had never
imagined that her father would abandon her from
268
00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:51.279
one moment to the next. On
that occasion she also told me that she
269
00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.960
was not happy living with her aunt, because she was a very strange woman.
270
00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.440
I was about to tell her how
strange I had lived next to that
271
00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:03.119
mo woman, but she kept talking
and didn' t let me tell her
272
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.240
anything. He told me that all
the time he encouraged him to invite friends
273
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.480
to his house. He said he
even seemed to be upset when he came
274
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:17.480
home and didn' t bring any
friends. It was almost as if it
275
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.759
were his obligation. Besides that,
she mentioned that this woman was sleepwalking and
276
00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:26.200
that from the first day she came
to live with her, she told her
277
00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:29.920
that from ten o' clock in
the night she had to close her door.
278
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.960
All right,' cause sometimes she' s asleep, she' s
279
00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:37.279
doing things she wouldn' t like
to see. This already scared her a
280
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:41.400
lot, especially because she told me
that at night she heard her walls being
281
00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:47.440
whipped or she said rude things out
loud. It was a very strange thing,
282
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.720
because during the day she was a
fairly quiet and friendly woman, who
283
00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.279
was always smiling and who did not
miss any bad words under any circumstances.
284
00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:03.079
It was almost as if at night
he became a completely different person. The
285
00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:07.400
truth is, at the time I
didn' t know how to react.
286
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:12.559
I just told her something like that
must be horrible, but I couldn'
287
00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:18.640
t help her anymore. A while
later something else happened that doesn' t
288
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:21.880
have much to do with me.
Apparently, one of Julia' s closest
289
00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:25.880
friends I' d done the whole
time I' d been there, had
290
00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:32.160
insisted enough on going to this neighbor' s house to hang out. At
291
00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:36.519
first, when I was told the
story, I saw nothing strange about it,
292
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:41.119
as she did not live nearby and
probably did not know the background of
293
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:45.759
how strange the neighbor was. Then
I could deduce that he did it with
294
00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:52.279
all intent of seeing something strange and
that he had surely heard someone tell about
295
00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.759
how strange that woman was. After
that visit to the house, the next
296
00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.240
morning. That girl had a story
she heard from anyone who asked and even
297
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:06.319
who didn' t, and she
knew very soon when she got to that
298
00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:11.119
house that something was wrong when she
came in. That woman received her in
299
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:17.559
a disturbing way, practically pulling her
arm in to get her in. He
300
00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.240
also mentioned that the house looked strange. The walls seemed to have been white
301
00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:27.279
at some point, but they were
too dirty and had some stains that might
302
00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:33.480
well be blood or other fluids.
Nor did the noises help to calm the
303
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:38.319
nerves and the decoration was the worst. That woman had at least fifty photographs
304
00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:44.720
of herself distributed throughout the house.
According to the girl she was always with
305
00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:48.799
the same pose staring and with a
big smile. If it wasn' t
306
00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:55.759
because he had different clothes on each
of the photographs, he could swear he
307
00:24:55.799 --> 00:25:00.519
just photographed the same over and over
again. It was very disturbing, because
308
00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:04.119
you felt like I was watching you
all the time. The girl also mentioned
309
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:08.759
that they went to Julia' s
room, which seemed to be the only
310
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.400
place in the house that was clean. Everything else. It was dusty and
311
00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:18.759
smelled of moisture as if the dirty
clothes had been left piled up for months.
312
00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:22.960
When he thought of going to the
bathroom, he realized that it was
313
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:30.000
the source of the plague, a
huge pile of totally wet laundry. It
314
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:33.400
almost reached the roof and the roof
of the bathroom seemed to be full of
315
00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:38.599
mold. The washbasin keys were so
full of czarro that it was impossible to
316
00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:44.160
turn them to run the water.
The worst thing was when he came out
317
00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.359
of the bathroom and saw the woman
standing practically at the door, smiling at
318
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.839
him with the same pose as in
his photographs. The girl asked him if
319
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.720
he was offered anything, to which
the woman replied no, and then asked
320
00:25:56.839 --> 00:26:00.680
him if he was having fun at
the same time as offering him lemon water.
321
00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:07.119
At first, the girl refused,
as the experience in the house gave
322
00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:12.279
her no confidence to ingest anything from
that place. The woman practically dragged her
323
00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:17.839
into the kitchen, where she found
a disaster even worse than in the bathroom.
324
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:23.640
The girl described how the refrigerator seemed
to have been taken straight out of
325
00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:29.599
a dumpster, dripping something thick out
of the freezer and with an unpleasant smell.
326
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:34.000
The table was full of dishes and
dirty dishes that didn' t seem
327
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:40.559
to have been cleaned in months with
some pots, even having fly larvae,
328
00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.440
and that woman acted like all that
was the most normal thing in the world.
329
00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.559
The girl couldn' t take it
anymore and ran out of that house
330
00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:53.599
without further explanation. That story,
heard from an adult' s perspective,
331
00:26:55.160 --> 00:26:59.480
would be a clear warning signal to
help that poor girl get out of her
332
00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:04.359
neglect and neglect. But for high
school students it wasn' t like that.
333
00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:10.799
The rumor spread very quickly and very
soon. I had half a school
334
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:14.839
bullying her and telling her that I
was going to give her something because of
335
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:19.240
the conditions she lived in only one
of the girls in her previous group of
336
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:23.839
friends and I were the only ones
who stayed by her side trying to support
337
00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:29.880
her at that time of difficulty.
She explained to us that she had tried
338
00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.480
to clean the house before, but
that she always told her that there was
339
00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:38.680
no need and that everything was perfectly
tidy. He seemed upset if he tried
340
00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:45.240
to lift or clean anything, and
eventually stopped trying. On one occasion I
341
00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:49.960
asked her if she had any other
relatives she could come with, to which
342
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:56.279
she replied no. Her grandparents had
died and her mother' s family had
343
00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:02.200
completely separated from her after her birth. The woman was his father' s
344
00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:06.599
only sister. I had nowhere else
to go This lasted about two or three
345
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:11.279
months before one day without saying anything, she didn' t get to school
346
00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:15.640
or the next few days. At
first I thought maybe she was sick.
347
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:21.440
After all, he didn' t
live in the best conditions so he wouldn
348
00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:25.640
' t get sick. Quite often, but after three weeks, something inside
349
00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:29.200
of me told me that I was
not well and that I should ask for
350
00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:33.359
her. I knew it was the
right thing to do, but it was
351
00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:37.920
hard for me to go and touch
that woman directly for everything I had lived
352
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:42.400
with her over the years I had
been living with. It took me some
353
00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:48.799
time to encourage myself there, but
as I realized that I didn' t
354
00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:51.599
seem to come back I built up
courage. I didn' t go straight
355
00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:56.920
home one day as I came back
from school and saw the neighbor walking.
356
00:28:56.519 --> 00:29:00.559
After he asked me again when he
was free to go home, I asked
357
00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:07.559
him about Julia. At first she
was very quiet staring at me, even
358
00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:11.279
the first time I saw that the
smile was erased for a few seconds.
359
00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:18.119
After that she smiled again and told
me she was with her father. A
360
00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:22.359
little surprised and also happy for her. I asked him if he was back.
361
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:26.519
She felt and after that she said
goodbye to me very dryly, almost
362
00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:32.000
as if she didn' t want
me to ask any more questions. The
363
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:36.400
fact that she left without saying goodbye
to me made me feel strange and a
364
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:41.160
little sad, but at the same
time I also felt very good for her
365
00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:45.119
that I had left that strange woman' s house and I didn' t
366
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:51.440
think much about it anymore. I
was sixteen by then if some other things
367
00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:57.000
related to that woman occurred to me, but I must say that it would
368
00:29:57.079 --> 00:30:02.039
be more or less the same thing
that I have already told you just when
369
00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:06.720
I was that age. Something else
happened. One night around three in the
370
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:11.920
morning, while I was sleeping,
I heard something very strange. It was
371
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:15.839
like a very strong blow that happened
every few seconds. At first I thought
372
00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:19.519
it was inside my house because of
how loud it was heard, but very
373
00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:25.240
soon I realized it was coming from
outside strange. I looked out the window
374
00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:30.160
and it took me almost nothing to
see the origin of the sound through the
375
00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:33.279
public lighting. It was very clear
that the neighbor was standing in her window
376
00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:38.720
more or less as usual, smiling
and staring at the street, but this
377
00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:45.319
time she was doing something else.
Every once in a while he dropped his
378
00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:48.400
head against the glass. It didn' t look like it hurt, but
379
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.640
you did hear that the blow was
too strong. At first I didn'
380
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:56.680
t know what to do. I
didn' t seem to be paying attention
381
00:30:56.759 --> 00:31:02.759
to myself and almost immediately remembered that
Julia gave me that she had told me
382
00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.160
that she was sleepwalking and doing very
strange things during the night. I just
383
00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:10.720
went back to bed and tried to
sleep, thinking it would eventually stop.
384
00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:17.200
At some point I swear I heard
clearly the sound of a slamming glass I
385
00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:21.480
looked again, but she was no
longer there. Nor was it possible to
386
00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:25.519
see if the glass was broken.
I just lay down again and it didn
387
00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:30.759
' t take long to fall asleep
the next morning. I didn' t
388
00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:34.079
see the woman all day. When
I came out I noticed that the glass
389
00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:37.880
in his window was too tight.
Usually, whenever he was on his way
390
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:44.440
to school. She was watching me
and when I came back I found her
391
00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:48.000
walking down the same street as me. I never knew where I was going
392
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:52.960
or if I only did it to
run into me, but it wasn'
393
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:56.279
t something I wanted to know and
I didn' t see it all that
394
00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:00.720
day It got weird, but it
didn' t matter when the days passed
395
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:05.319
and the same thing happened. It
became strange to me because there was no
396
00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:09.640
movement that came from his house either. It was almost as if it was
397
00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:15.200
abandoned and very soon all the neighbors
noticed it and no one gave it importance.
398
00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:21.079
It wasn' t like we could
ignore that there was a nauseous smell
399
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.880
coming out of it over the weeks. The smell came to the point that
400
00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:30.440
since you went around the street you
could smell it. People could no longer
401
00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:36.799
ignore it and, after playing for
a long time without success, called on
402
00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:40.480
the authorities to take care of the
matter. To everyone' s horror,
403
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:45.519
that woman had died inside her house
and the smell came from her dead body
404
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:52.200
breaking down. For everyone, it
was shocking to have had a corpse in
405
00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:58.079
the neighborhood for so long, as
it was in such bad condition that even
406
00:32:58.119 --> 00:33:00.680
after they took him away, the
smell r rrodone out of his house for
407
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:07.279
a long time. This was especially
shocking to me because I could only remember
408
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:14.160
the last night I had seen her. I started having some nightmares where she
409
00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:19.200
died because of one of the many
blows she hit against the window. Then
410
00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:24.720
she passed out and no one helped
her. At the age of eighteen,
411
00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:30.720
we were already taking the entrance exams
for the University. A guy from my
412
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:37.000
group of friends invited us all to
camp. It was basically setting up tents
413
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:42.960
in his backyard and sleeping outside.
Our parents didnâ t have much trouble
414
00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:46.240
accepting it and soon we found ourselves
planning everything we would do that night.
415
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:52.039
By that time, the smell of
that house was gone and it was completely
416
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:58.160
abandoned. When the day came,
we all went and we were having a
417
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:02.799
great time, but suddenly, the
subject began to be diverted to paranormal events
418
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:07.920
and different horror stories that we had
heard from moment to moment. The conversation
419
00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:13.960
turned to that neighbor how strange it
had been to grow up next to a
420
00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:19.800
person like that. We also began
to wonder if the story that girl told
421
00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:23.599
when we were in high school about
the horrible state of the house was real.
422
00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:29.639
After talking about it for a long
time, the boy who lived in
423
00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:32.159
the house where we were proposed to
go and see if he was still the
424
00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:37.880
same. We knew it wouldn'
t be hard to get in because their
425
00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:39.840
fences weren' t too high.
I almost immediately refused and told them that
426
00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:45.079
that house was right in front of
mine and if my parents saw me,
427
00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:50.400
I would be in trouble, but
everyone seemed very excited to go and see
428
00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:54.719
what was inside. It seemed like
the perfect opportunity and, besides, very
429
00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:59.599
soon most of us would get out
of there. At first, I refused,
430
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:05.800
but they pressed so hard that in
the end I couldn' t resist
431
00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:08.239
and accompanied them. As I mentioned
earlier, it wasn' t a problem
432
00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:13.239
to get in. One of my
colleagues was lighting up with the flashlight on
433
00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:16.920
his phone. We were walking through
what had been that woman' s yard.
434
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:22.519
There was a lot of weed.
We walked to the door and realized
435
00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:29.960
it was locked. At that moment
I saw my perfect opportunity to tell them
436
00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:35.800
that it would be best to return
as we could not enter, but my
437
00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:39.599
best friend, named David, began
to break one of the windows of the
438
00:35:39.639 --> 00:35:44.320
window so that we could open it
from the inside. This was big enough
439
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:46.679
for us to get through. And
that' s how we got in.
440
00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:52.840
As soon as we were inside,
our noses flooded with a disgusting smell.
441
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:59.400
It was something like death and moisture. Almost immediately we covered our noses and
442
00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:05.360
even several of us began to have
arcades. I was just about to suggest
443
00:36:05.400 --> 00:36:10.079
we go back. When David started
moving forward, we all followed him,
444
00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:15.760
as he was the only one who
was lighting and I guess we didn'
445
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:19.039
t want to run out of that
shelter of light. One of my friends
446
00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:23.280
in the group, named Samuel,
took out his phone and started recording saying
447
00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:29.119
that maybe we could catch a ghost. We all told him to stop talking
448
00:36:29.239 --> 00:36:34.239
nonsense and we kept moving forward.
I remember even I mentioned that I shouldn
449
00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:37.719
' t record. We couldn'
t have any evidence that we had gone
450
00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:44.320
there, but he didn' t
listen to me and he kept saying he
451
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:45.760
wouldn' t show it to anyone. We soon realized that the story the
452
00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:51.639
girl had told about the house being
made a position was short of what that
453
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:57.719
place really was. Of course,
after a little over a year, the
454
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:00.880
place was full of dust because of
the s or two that it was,
455
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:06.440
but all the garbage and stale food
remains, as well as a huge pile
456
00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:10.760
of wet clothes and dirty frets.
The place was infested with rats and cockroaches.
457
00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:15.960
Every room seemed to be worse than
the one before. As soon as
458
00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:21.840
we entered the kitchen, we saw
that refrigerator was not very large, rather
459
00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:27.480
it was very old and it smelled
very bad at that time to break the
460
00:37:27.639 --> 00:37:31.320
tension, I remember well that David
began to make jokes regarding that he was
461
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:34.480
going to open the freezer, from
which he seemed to be draining something.
462
00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:38.239
I told him not to because if
it' s already closed, it smells
463
00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:43.840
bad. I didn' t want
to imagine how gross it would be if
464
00:37:43.960 --> 00:37:47.400
he thought to open that door.
Almost everyone agreed with me, but after
465
00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:52.320
joking about the idea for a while, it seemed that everyone wanted to see
466
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:58.639
what that freezer had and more and
more they agreed that I should open it
467
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:04.199
and without thinking about it. David
opened that door twice to this day.
468
00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:08.840
I can' t describe the smell
of that freezer. Just imagine the worst
469
00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:15.000
thing that' s ever solid and
multiply it, and I assure you,
470
00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:17.760
it' s not even coming,
for even the eyes have burned us with
471
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:22.920
the plague. In addition, the
door served as a sort of containment,
472
00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:28.119
because, at the time of opening
it, a lot of what appeared to
473
00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:32.800
be brown water began to fall and
after that, a bag with something inside
474
00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:37.280
hit the floor. It was so
full of blood, rotten and tied so
475
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:42.440
that it was not possible to see
what it was. It just seemed to
476
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:46.199
be the size of a small watermelon. None of us wanted to find out
477
00:38:46.199 --> 00:38:52.199
what it was. The smell was
so unbearable that at that time we all
478
00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:54.760
agreed that it was time to get
out of there, if we didn'
479
00:38:54.840 --> 00:39:00.719
t want to throw up because of
the strong aroma that was already flooding every
480
00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:07.159
corner of the place, we started
to practically run away from there, when
481
00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:09.280
we were about to leave, something
caught my attention. It was a white
482
00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:15.880
door, which had some stickers from
a band that Julia liked. I don
483
00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:19.719
' t know what happened to me, but instead of walking to the door,
484
00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:23.159
like everyone else, I stray to
that door. Many told me to
485
00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:29.679
leave because the smell was practically unbearable, but I didn' t listen to
486
00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:32.559
them. I guess for not wanting
to leave me they just followed me.
487
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.280
I turned the door knob and this
one had no insurance. It opened and,
488
00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:44.679
as soon as David was close enough
to me, that room was completely
489
00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:51.280
illuminated, and that room was very
different from the whole house. Of course
490
00:39:51.400 --> 00:39:54.679
it was all full of dust and
some insects, but it didn' t
491
00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:59.480
look messy at all and not just
that. The bed was stretched and s
492
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.559
and all of Julia' s things
were there the school backpack, her books,
493
00:40:04.280 --> 00:40:07.880
things that she would certainly, if
she had carried at that time,
494
00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:15.159
I stayed petrified. I couldn'
t understand how his stuff was still there.
495
00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:19.559
If he had supposedly moved from this, I don' t remember,
496
00:40:20.519 --> 00:40:24.360
but David later told me that he
tried to pull me to leave, but
497
00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:29.239
I didn' t move. The
only thing that got me out of that
498
00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:31.239
trance was a voice that was heard
at the end of the hall. You
499
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:37.760
are the ones we all recognized right
away, as we had listened to her
500
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:44.480
a number of times during our childhood, saying exactly the same words, asking
501
00:40:44.559 --> 00:40:47.000
if we wanted to go in and
eat candy and watch TV. At the
502
00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:53.760
same time as we heard steps approaching
repeating that question over and over again we
503
00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:58.440
all shouted and ran. It was
like an adrenaline rush, as I don
504
00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:02.519
' t remember exactly what happened.
All I know is that when I was
505
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:06.239
able to react, we were already
back in our friend' s yard.
506
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:10.280
I don' t think any of
us could sleep that night. I don
507
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:15.920
' t remember us talking about it
either, except as soon as it dawned,
508
00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:19.559
we all went back to our homes. Over the next few days we
509
00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:23.400
started talking about what we should do. Most people didn' t want to
510
00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:28.719
say anything because first we had a
video that was very blurry. At that
511
00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:32.400
time, the definition of phones was
not good and besides, we all ran
512
00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:37.239
and there was only a big stain
on the bottom that could well go through
513
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:42.920
lighting. Besides, we weren'
t supposed to be there, so everyone
514
00:41:43.159 --> 00:41:49.000
agreed that we should just shut up. But I didn' t want to,
515
00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:52.599
and I could only think that Julia' s things were still in that
516
00:41:52.599 --> 00:42:00.199
house. After a long time I
went to visit my parents and that house
517
00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:05.480
was exactly the same. I'
ve always felt guilty for not doing more
518
00:42:05.519 --> 00:42:10.440
about it. I don' t
know if I can do anything right now,
519
00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:16.639
especially because I basically don' t
have any proof in my heart I
520
00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:21.840
hope I' m wrong and Julia' s okay, that she had a
521
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:22.639
very good reason not to take all
those things I saw that day. But
522
00:42:22.920 --> 00:42:28.280
the truth is, I' ve
been trying to track her down for a
523
00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:30.800
long time without any success. It' s like he' s disappeared to
524
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:37.079
date. I don' t know
if that neighbor had any kind of psychopathy
525
00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:39.280
or if she had only one serious
mental problem. I guess I' ll
526
00:42:46.280 --> 00:42:53.639
never know through the walls. My
name is Claudia. I am currently thirty
527
00:42:53.840 --> 00:42:58.239
- one years old and I would
like to relate something that happened to me
528
00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:00.480
when I was a child. She
was just very much my mom and I
529
00:43:00.519 --> 00:43:07.519
often passed it to myself because she
had two jobs. We were forced to
530
00:43:07.599 --> 00:43:13.199
move constantly, always looking for a
more accessible place to live, and it
531
00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:16.400
was in one of these searches that
we came to that horrible place. Usually,
532
00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:22.599
my mom always tried to find places
that were not only cheap, but
533
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:28.519
also safe, because I stayed alone
for a long time. But this time
534
00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:34.079
there was a big difference. The
neighborhood we were in was not good and
535
00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:40.039
the little apartment my mom could rent
was practically falling. There was a good
536
00:43:40.079 --> 00:43:45.480
reason for this. Recently I had
been sick of an intoxication that kept me
537
00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:50.880
hospitalized in the hospital for many days. This left my mother heavily indebted to
538
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:55.360
virtually all the people I knew and
even had to borrow from the bank in
539
00:43:55.400 --> 00:44:01.440
order to pay for my medicines.
For that way he had to be economizing
540
00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:07.679
as much as possible to get out
of that financial hole as quickly as he
541
00:44:07.679 --> 00:44:12.719
could. I didn' t understand
this, I even remember that I told
542
00:44:12.760 --> 00:44:16.039
my mom many times that I didn' t want to stay there and that
543
00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:19.840
I liked it better where we lived
before. She explained to me that we
544
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:24.000
couldn' t afford it anymore and
she also promised me that we wouldn'
545
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:28.239
t be there long. To tell
you the truth, we were there longer
546
00:44:28.280 --> 00:44:31.320
than anywhere else, because, being
one of the cheapest rents I had to
547
00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:37.079
pay, it was the one I
could keep the most. I remember that
548
00:44:37.199 --> 00:44:42.239
first day, the only thing I
could notice was how horrible the place was.
549
00:44:42.920 --> 00:44:46.280
Several of the spotlights were melted.
It smelled a lot of moisture and,
550
00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:52.039
if that were not enough, the
walls had quite large cracks. I
551
00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:55.760
' m not overreacting with this.
If you hit directly some of the cracks,
552
00:44:55.920 --> 00:45:00.440
you could see the apartment that was
stuck to ours. For obvious reasons,
553
00:45:00.679 --> 00:45:05.559
it couldn' t be seen very
clearly, but I think you can
554
00:45:05.639 --> 00:45:08.519
give an idea of how horrible the
state of that place is. At that
555
00:45:08.599 --> 00:45:15.159
time I had not completely healed myself. I still had to take some medicine.
556
00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:21.079
Besides the intoxication. He had some
breathing problems, so he must have
557
00:45:21.159 --> 00:45:25.880
been inside the house as long as
possible. For the first five days everything
558
00:45:25.960 --> 00:45:30.639
was more or less normal, of
course I hated being there, but gradually
559
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:37.519
I was beginning to resign. Besides, being a dangerous neighborhood, my mom
560
00:45:37.559 --> 00:45:42.760
was forbidden to talk to anyone,
it didn' t matter if it was
561
00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:47.440
the neighbors. During the first few
days I fulfilled this rule, but on
562
00:45:47.719 --> 00:45:52.079
the sixth day something curious happened.
Upon waking up I realized that on the
563
00:45:52.119 --> 00:45:57.159
wall that was attached to my bed
and in which there was one of the
564
00:45:57.159 --> 00:46:01.320
biggest cracks stood out a small paper
that appeared to be from a notebook sheet.
565
00:46:02.480 --> 00:46:07.480
I didn' t know how I
got there, but the truth is
566
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:10.159
I didn' t give it too
much importance at the time. Only with
567
00:46:10.199 --> 00:46:15.079
the curiosity I had at that age
of nine did I pull it out and
568
00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:21.039
open it. I was very surprised
because there was something written in it said
569
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:25.000
oh neighbor fascinated by what had happened. All I could think of was peeking
570
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:30.360
out of the crack to try to
see on the other side. It should
571
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:35.159
be noted that the first rift I
mentioned in which another apartment was seen was
572
00:46:35.239 --> 00:46:38.280
on a different wall. Therefore,
the apartment that remained towards the wall of
573
00:46:38.320 --> 00:46:45.519
my room was another, which was
right behind ours. As I looked out
574
00:46:45.639 --> 00:46:51.000
I realized that on the other side
it looked very dark. At first,
575
00:46:51.119 --> 00:46:54.960
I didn' t give it any
importance, because I thought the crack might
576
00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:59.719
well get smaller as it progressed and
it was impossible to see on the other
577
00:46:59.719 --> 00:47:05.320
side. But still. At that
time, the idea of exchanging messages with
578
00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:09.199
whoever was on the other side seemed
so great to me that I rushed to
579
00:47:09.239 --> 00:47:15.239
write mine, too, tore a
piece of sheet from one of my notebooks,
580
00:47:15.480 --> 00:47:22.239
answered the greeting and put it back
in trying to get it deep enough
581
00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:27.480
for me to receive it. Seconds
later I began to see how another role
582
00:47:27.519 --> 00:47:30.920
began to emerge from that crack.
He was telling me his name and age.
583
00:47:30.239 --> 00:47:34.920
His name was Ruby and he was
eight years old. He also asked
584
00:47:35.039 --> 00:47:38.800
me for my data, so excited, I answered his questions and did the
585
00:47:38.840 --> 00:47:44.239
same. I think we' ve
been exchanging notes for about an hour.
586
00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:49.679
We didn' t really have much
personal information at the time. Basically we
587
00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:54.079
were just talking about our favorite color, the different types of candy or food
588
00:47:54.159 --> 00:48:00.400
we liked and what games we liked
to play that kind of conversation of children
589
00:48:00.400 --> 00:48:06.480
' s own. I even remember
that at some point I got so bored
590
00:48:07.199 --> 00:48:10.559
writing when she sent me one more
note, wondering if I liked to jump
591
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:14.880
the rope, I got a little
closer to the crack and, instead of
592
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.360
sending a note, I said yes. I thought I' d hear your
593
00:48:19.440 --> 00:48:22.079
answer, but there was only silence
on the other side. At first I
594
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:27.239
thought you hadn' t heard me. That was more strange, since the
595
00:48:27.480 --> 00:48:32.920
walls were so thin in those apartments
that you basically heard the conversations of everyone
596
00:48:34.039 --> 00:48:39.239
who lived there. I decided to
try it a second time, but I
597
00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:45.519
got the same result thinking I was
listening. I asked him another question this
598
00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:50.360
time, although it wasn' t
personal, it was an invitation, as
599
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.119
I asked him if he didn'
t want to come to my house to
600
00:48:54.199 --> 00:49:00.000
play some board games he had.
I didn' t get any answers from
601
00:48:59.760 --> 00:49:01.519
a few light taps to the wall
and asked if he was listening to me.
602
00:49:02.119 --> 00:49:07.559
Nothing was heard on the other side, but seconds later they pushed another
603
00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:12.039
note through the crack, picked it
up and opened it. This one was
604
00:49:12.119 --> 00:49:17.320
a little weird. It said my
parents punished me and I can' t
605
00:49:17.400 --> 00:49:21.360
talk at the time, being nine
years old, I didn' t care.
606
00:49:22.079 --> 00:49:27.840
Of course it did, as I
had never heard such punishments. Of
607
00:49:27.880 --> 00:49:32.079
course my mom had punished me before, but she never resorted to forbidding me
608
00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:37.719
from speaking. I wrote again if
you' d like to come to my
609
00:49:37.800 --> 00:49:43.760
house and play with me, and
I sent it to you She told me
610
00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:46.519
that her parents never let her out
of their house and that, besides,
611
00:49:47.199 --> 00:49:49.320
I didn' t know if my
mom would like us to be friends.
612
00:49:49.920 --> 00:49:53.480
I told her that my mom probably
wouldn' t mind if we were friends,
613
00:49:54.519 --> 00:50:00.039
but she insisted and made me promise
to ask her. When Mom arrived,
614
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:05.039
I decided to ask her. At
first. Mom was a little surprised,
615
00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:08.000
because, as I mentioned earlier,
I was forbidden to talk to the
616
00:50:08.599 --> 00:50:13.880
neighbors and I didn' t know
how I had met this child. But
617
00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:16.920
when I explained to her that her
name was Ruby and that she lived in
618
00:50:16.960 --> 00:50:22.519
the apartment next door, as well
as the fact that we had been exchanging
619
00:50:22.599 --> 00:50:27.199
notes through the walls, my mom
understood everything and told me that she was
620
00:50:27.519 --> 00:50:30.920
fine and that she could be friends
with Ruby if she wanted to. I
621
00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:34.599
was glad about that and even told
my mom I was going to tell her.
622
00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:39.519
I ran to my room and wrote
a note telling her that my mom
623
00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:45.280
agreed that we were friends This time
I didn' t get any answers.
624
00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:52.880
I figured maybe she was busy.
The next morning, when I woke up,
625
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:55.480
I realized that there was another part
in the crack, I took it
626
00:50:55.760 --> 00:51:00.000
out and read that Ruby told me
that she had told her parents if we
627
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:06.480
could be friends, but that her
parents had said no. She also told
628
00:51:06.599 --> 00:51:09.960
me she' d really like to
be my friend. We could keep talking.
629
00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:14.199
I agreed. I must admit,
I do. I felt a little
630
00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:17.440
bad about the fact that Ruby'
s parents didn' t want me to
631
00:51:17.519 --> 00:51:22.599
be friends with their daughter when they
didn' t know us remembering, I
632
00:51:22.719 --> 00:51:29.280
hadn' t seen anyone walk in
or out of that apartment once, but
633
00:51:29.360 --> 00:51:34.719
I didn' t think much about
it we kept talking about that day and
634
00:51:34.719 --> 00:51:38.400
also the days that followed. I
am very aware that my questions were too
635
00:51:38.400 --> 00:51:44.440
basic, as I was telling her, but she asked much more elaborate questions
636
00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:49.880
and answers. You could say that
because of that I realized to one at
637
00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:54.599
my young age that her life was
very different from mine. I think that
638
00:51:54.599 --> 00:51:59.760
' s the first time I'
ve ever known her to be abused by
639
00:51:59.760 --> 00:52:05.599
her parents. He talked to me
about punishments that didn' t make much
640
00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:08.880
sense like cold showers when it was
too cold or putting a hot spoon in
641
00:52:08.920 --> 00:52:13.599
his mouth every time he told lies. Despite having this information, I didn
642
00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:16.239
' t know what to do with
it. I didn' t tell my
643
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:22.480
mother, because I thought she was
scared. Maybe she wouldn' t let
644
00:52:22.599 --> 00:52:25.159
me be her friend anymore. I
didn' t want that to happen,
645
00:52:25.360 --> 00:52:31.559
because during our conversations, Ruby told
me that she didn' t have any
646
00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:36.159
friends because her parents wouldn' t
let her talk to other children. He
647
00:52:36.440 --> 00:52:39.199
also told me that, now that
I had come to live there, I
648
00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:45.840
was very happy to be able to
meet someone. We' ve been talking
649
00:52:45.880 --> 00:52:49.880
like that for many days. We
got to the point where she couldn'
650
00:52:49.920 --> 00:52:52.679
t tell me a lot of things
I didn' t know anymore. Usually,
651
00:52:52.920 --> 00:52:57.079
I was the one who told her
more things like my day to day
652
00:52:57.119 --> 00:53:00.000
at school or things that I had
gone to do with my hand Mom.
653
00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:04.519
I thought my mom didn' t
care about this peculiar friendship I had with
654
00:53:04.639 --> 00:53:09.559
Ruby, but it turned out that
she did care. One day she told
655
00:53:09.599 --> 00:53:15.000
me that she had talked to the
neighbor who lived downstairs and she had told
656
00:53:15.079 --> 00:53:19.440
her that some children would come together
to play in the afternoon. In some
657
00:53:19.480 --> 00:53:22.760
houses, this was because, as
unsafe as the neighborhood was, they did
658
00:53:22.760 --> 00:53:28.199
not like that they were outside,
but that I was welcome to join them.
659
00:53:29.360 --> 00:53:32.239
I said yes. And the next
thing my mom said was what puzzled
660
00:53:32.280 --> 00:53:37.800
me. He told me that now
that he already had friends, he could
661
00:53:37.840 --> 00:53:42.960
put Ruby aside. I asked her
why she was telling me that, but
662
00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:47.880
my mom didn' t tell me
any more soon after she went to work
663
00:53:49.159 --> 00:53:52.039
and that conversation didn' t go
on anymore. But he told me the
664
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:55.760
time and the number of apartments the
children would be in and after telling Ruby
665
00:53:55.800 --> 00:54:01.159
I was going there, I left
at first I was a little nervous not
666
00:54:01.280 --> 00:54:06.280
to like them, but the truth
is that they all behaved very nice and
667
00:54:06.639 --> 00:54:09.159
very soon. He was already part
of the group. We watched movies,
668
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:15.480
played several board games and even set
up a fort in one of them'
669
00:54:15.599 --> 00:54:19.880
s living room. She was fine, but at some point I mentioned Ruby,
670
00:54:21.199 --> 00:54:23.320
telling them I was sad that her
parents wouldn' t let her out.
671
00:54:23.880 --> 00:54:28.760
I also told them that maybe if
I went to their house personally and
672
00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:30.679
explained to them, they could let
her out. Get out for a while.
673
00:54:31.320 --> 00:54:36.920
But all the children there looked at
me confused and asked me who Ruby
674
00:54:37.039 --> 00:54:40.800
was. I explained it to them
was the girl who lived on the side
675
00:54:40.800 --> 00:54:45.159
of my apartment. They all looked
at me very strangely and told me that
676
00:54:45.239 --> 00:54:51.559
the ones we were there at the
time were the only children we lived in
677
00:54:51.559 --> 00:54:57.119
those apartments. I immediately replied no. I explained to them about the notes
678
00:54:57.159 --> 00:55:00.320
on the walls and how we'
ve been talking for a long time now.
679
00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:04.920
Stranged, Miguel, the boy who
lived in the apartment we were in
680
00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:09.519
at the time, asked me curious
exactly the number of apartment I lived in.
681
00:55:10.719 --> 00:55:15.679
I told him and Stranger told me
that no one lived in the apartment
682
00:55:15.800 --> 00:55:22.360
back. Almost immediately I replied that
this could not be possible because I had
683
00:55:22.440 --> 00:55:28.039
been talking to Ruby, but he
insisted. He told me that his dad
684
00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:32.480
was very close to the owner of
those apartments and that he had heard many
685
00:55:32.519 --> 00:55:38.280
times that all the people who came
to that apartment did not last long living
686
00:55:38.400 --> 00:55:42.760
there and that place had been empty
for a long time. I replied again
687
00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:46.800
that it was not true and even
told him that if I wanted to go
688
00:55:46.880 --> 00:55:52.519
to my house and try to talk
to Ruby. At that time all the
689
00:55:52.639 --> 00:55:59.039
intrigued children agreed and very soon we
all moved to my apartment. When I
690
00:55:59.159 --> 00:56:02.239
arrived there was already a continuous Ruby
station in one of the cracks. This
691
00:56:02.320 --> 00:56:07.599
surprised very few, as when I
opened it and the note said to warn
692
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:12.480
him. When I returned, many
believed that it was I who had written
693
00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:16.079
it. Almost immediately I took my
pencil, wrote it down and put it
694
00:56:16.159 --> 00:56:22.280
in the crack to answer me.
We were waiting for about two minutes before
695
00:56:22.320 --> 00:56:29.280
a new note started coming out of
the crack. Needless to say, everyone
696
00:56:29.320 --> 00:56:35.440
was very excited. I got out
and read that note just said it'
697
00:56:35.599 --> 00:56:39.440
s not just true. I figured
I' d heard the fuss of all
698
00:56:39.599 --> 00:56:45.119
the kids out there in the room. I didn' t care much about
699
00:56:45.199 --> 00:56:47.199
that and I just wrote to him
that I didn' t and sent it
700
00:56:47.199 --> 00:56:51.960
back to him. This time it
took longer to answer me and when he
701
00:56:51.960 --> 00:56:55.039
did, he just said he didn' t like the other kids and said
702
00:56:55.039 --> 00:57:00.519
goodbye. For those moments everyone was
very surprised, but Miguel was still confused,
703
00:57:01.119 --> 00:57:07.199
as he claimed that there was no
one living in the apartment at the
704
00:57:07.199 --> 00:57:10.599
Back. We all even left my
home and looked out the windows of the
705
00:57:10.719 --> 00:57:16.639
other apartment. These were covered by
thick curtains and they almost didn' t
706
00:57:16.760 --> 00:57:21.360
let us see anything. I did
I came to see what place. If
707
00:57:21.400 --> 00:57:25.840
it looked very empty it had no
furniture and it didn' t look like
708
00:57:25.840 --> 00:57:30.440
there was anyone living there either.
I don' t know how to explain
709
00:57:30.519 --> 00:57:36.039
it, but I think we can
all realize when one place is being inhabited
710
00:57:36.159 --> 00:57:37.360
by another person, it seemed that
no one had lived there in a long
711
00:57:37.360 --> 00:57:43.039
time. It was only the bit
I could see through an opening of the
712
00:57:43.039 --> 00:57:47.800
curtain. That didn' t tell
me much. We all ran back to
713
00:57:47.800 --> 00:57:52.599
my apartment and tried to get back
to Ruby, but she didn' t
714
00:57:52.599 --> 00:57:58.280
answer me anymore. Even the other
children also wanted to do it and wrote
715
00:57:58.320 --> 00:58:01.199
their own notes, putting them in
the grim, but they were not successful
716
00:58:01.199 --> 00:58:07.960
either. We were all confused there
about getting notes from an apparently empty department,
717
00:58:07.920 --> 00:58:12.639
either, it was like we could
do a lot on that day.
718
00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:16.159
Later, about ten o' clock
that night that same day, I saw
719
00:58:16.760 --> 00:58:22.480
how a new note began to emerge
from the crack. I got up and
720
00:58:22.480 --> 00:58:27.519
opened it, but I realized it
wasn' t ruby. Rather, it
721
00:58:27.599 --> 00:58:31.280
was one of the notes the children
had written to try to communicate with her.
722
00:58:31.760 --> 00:58:37.199
Pretty soon I saw how the other
three started coming out. I wrote
723
00:58:37.280 --> 00:58:42.519
an apology telling her that she was
already alone and that she regretted that they
724
00:58:42.719 --> 00:58:45.559
had written to her, when she
didn' t want to talk to them
725
00:58:45.559 --> 00:58:50.559
right away. She answered me by
telling me she was fine. For that
726
00:58:50.679 --> 00:58:54.519
point. I was already a little
thoughtful about this friendship and also about the
727
00:58:54.639 --> 00:59:01.239
fact that I had been told that
this apartment was empty I wrote a new
728
00:59:01.679 --> 00:59:07.079
note this time a little longer,
telling him what Miguel had said and also
729
00:59:07.199 --> 00:59:10.440
what he had seen. She took
a long time to answer me. I
730
00:59:10.480 --> 00:59:15.000
thought I wouldn' t do it
anymore, but suddenly I saw a note
731
00:59:15.039 --> 00:59:21.880
again on the wall The jalé wasn' t an answer or at least not
732
00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:25.559
one I was expecting, since all
it did was ask me how I went
733
00:59:25.599 --> 00:59:30.320
to school. I replied that well
and again I tried to answer the question
734
00:59:30.440 --> 00:59:37.559
by telling him if his parents had
forbidden him to talk about it. But
735
00:59:37.800 --> 00:59:40.480
instead, what he answered was another
question about how my day had gone.
736
00:59:43.199 --> 00:59:46.159
It was almost like she wasn'
t reading what I was asking her.
737
00:59:46.960 --> 00:59:52.440
I was so confused at the time
that I just stopped answering him and it
738
00:59:52.480 --> 00:59:57.199
wasn' t like Ruby insisted either. We just stopped talking for that day.
739
00:59:57.840 --> 01:00:00.639
I remember as soon as my mom
came to work, I asked her
740
01:00:00.719 --> 01:00:06.280
if she knew the apartment next door
was empty. To my surprise, she
741
01:00:06.320 --> 01:00:10.880
answered me naturally that she did.
He had been told it had been empty
742
01:00:10.960 --> 01:00:15.639
for a long time. That was
one of the main reasons why I hadn
743
01:00:15.880 --> 01:00:22.079
' t bothered her with the rift
in my room, as I knew no
744
01:00:22.159 --> 01:00:25.559
one would try to spy on her. Even more upset by the fact that
745
01:00:25.559 --> 01:00:30.519
my mom knew, I asked her
then how it was possible that Ruby was
746
01:00:30.599 --> 01:00:37.079
communicating with me my mom rubbed her
face for a moment, almost as if
747
01:00:37.159 --> 01:00:40.679
she had no energy to talk to
me at that time. But he still
748
01:00:40.760 --> 01:00:46.360
did it and explained to me very
calmly and empatheticly that Ruby was imaginary and
749
01:00:46.440 --> 01:00:51.840
that she was a little worried that
she would have taken this whole Ruby subject
750
01:00:51.920 --> 01:00:57.840
so far because she was a little
older to have imaginary friends. But he
751
01:00:57.840 --> 01:01:02.199
thought that for the first few days
he had not been able to leave and
752
01:01:02.199 --> 01:01:06.360
neither had he known anyone. Then
I had invented it so I wouldn'
753
01:01:06.360 --> 01:01:08.400
t feel so lonely. I said
it wasn' t like that. I
754
01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:13.559
even showed her some notes so she
would realize that Ruby' s lyrics and
755
01:01:13.760 --> 01:01:19.159
my lyrics looked very different, but
she told me it was me and she
756
01:01:19.239 --> 01:01:24.079
also told me not to pretend,
because I knew perfectly well that Ruby was
757
01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:30.239
not real, but I kept insisting. She came to the point that my
758
01:01:30.239 --> 01:01:35.079
mom, seriously, was worried that
I couldn' t distinguish between reality and
759
01:01:35.119 --> 01:01:42.360
what she thought was pure fantasy.
I frustrated, took a sheet and wrote
760
01:01:42.400 --> 01:01:45.320
to put it back in the crack, but nothing happened. I told my
761
01:01:45.400 --> 01:01:52.159
mom to wait, because Ruby always
answered me. After fifteen minutes, she
762
01:01:52.159 --> 01:01:57.639
told me that she was very tired
and that we would continue that conversation the
763
01:01:57.639 --> 01:02:00.840
next day. But just as I
was about to take my gaze away from
764
01:02:01.360 --> 01:02:06.800
that crack to its astonishment and my
relief a note began to come out of
765
01:02:06.800 --> 01:02:13.159
it. I smiled thinking that it
fully checked Ruby' s existence and that
766
01:02:13.280 --> 01:02:17.639
the apartment was not empty, but
Mom was terrified without giving me time,
767
01:02:19.119 --> 01:02:23.039
took the note and opened it.
I read it. It was written in
768
01:02:23.119 --> 01:02:28.400
red ink on it. I'
ll kill your mother. I did not
769
01:02:28.519 --> 01:02:32.039
understand why I had written that,
as ruby had never said anything that could
770
01:02:32.159 --> 01:02:37.559
be considered aggressive or threatening. My
mom approached the crack to see through it.
771
01:02:39.440 --> 01:02:44.480
I was about to tell her that
nothing was visible, when suddenly Mom
772
01:02:44.519 --> 01:02:50.840
jumped back. He practically pulled my
arm and we both got out of the
773
01:02:50.840 --> 01:02:54.920
apartment. Even Mom started screaming to
wake up the other neighbors and very soon
774
01:02:55.000 --> 01:03:00.440
several of them came out to see
what had happened. Mom told them there
775
01:03:00.519 --> 01:03:05.880
was someone inside. They called the
owner and he opened the door. What
776
01:03:05.920 --> 01:03:08.559
I will tell next is not something
that I lived, as they did not
777
01:03:08.599 --> 01:03:15.800
let me pass, but my mom
later told me exactly what they saw when
778
01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:19.840
they came in, as because of
my young age I do not remember much.
779
01:03:19.880 --> 01:03:22.360
After what I already told, my
mom, along with two of the
780
01:03:22.360 --> 01:03:28.800
neighbors, came in to see me
surprised that my mom could have seen something,
781
01:03:29.440 --> 01:03:34.679
as it looked dark inside. According
to my mom, when you came
782
01:03:34.719 --> 01:03:37.800
in you could even smell that no
one had lived there for a long time.
783
01:03:37.440 --> 01:03:42.280
The neighbors asked her how she knew
there was someone in that apartment,
784
01:03:42.960 --> 01:03:46.719
to which she told them a little
bit about the notes. He said they
785
01:03:46.719 --> 01:03:52.800
were moving cautiously towards the room,
which was stuck with mine, but when
786
01:03:52.800 --> 01:03:58.800
they got there, they realized it
was empty. They all began to say
787
01:03:59.239 --> 01:04:03.519
that perhaps mons knew the situation interpreted
and that sometimes children could have a wild
788
01:04:03.599 --> 01:04:10.920
imagination. But my mom wasn'
t willing to leave the subject. He
789
01:04:11.039 --> 01:04:15.400
even told them that she had seen
clearly how someone pushed a note from that
790
01:04:15.639 --> 01:04:20.559
place into our apartment. The moment
my mom said that, she says something
791
01:04:20.920 --> 01:04:27.840
was heard as if a little boy
happened behind them they lit up with the
792
01:04:27.880 --> 01:04:32.599
flashlight, but they didn' t
see anyone. He says they also heard
793
01:04:32.679 --> 01:04:38.599
as if a girl was laughing.
He said it was very clear that he
794
01:04:38.679 --> 01:04:42.679
was running and in time they felt
they were going to catch up. It
795
01:04:42.800 --> 01:04:47.159
was like the girl was faster they
couldn' t even see her. They
796
01:04:47.239 --> 01:04:53.119
realized that I was only leading them
out and they thought that the girl would
797
01:04:53.239 --> 01:04:58.800
run away too for those of us
who were outside we saw everyone leave.
798
01:04:59.559 --> 01:05:03.400
All of these were waiting for an
explanation or to get the one who had
799
01:05:03.440 --> 01:05:08.400
been living in that apartment out of
hiding. The truth was that they looked
800
01:05:08.440 --> 01:05:12.679
at the outsiders with the same face
because they wondered if they hadn' t
801
01:05:12.760 --> 01:05:17.400
seen the girl leave, but no
one saw anything. After that they told
802
01:05:17.440 --> 01:05:21.920
everyone what they had heard, but
the outsiders agreed that they had not seen
803
01:05:21.960 --> 01:05:27.440
anyone but them leave that place and
that being able to escape on the other
804
01:05:27.480 --> 01:05:31.280
hand would be impossible, as the
only place to escape would be jumping out
805
01:05:31.360 --> 01:05:36.480
the window and it was at least
five meters and the only other exit was
806
01:05:36.519 --> 01:05:44.280
the one on the side where everyone
was waiting for them. That night was
807
01:05:44.360 --> 01:05:49.440
basically marked as the day my mom
got confused and alerted everyone. But for
808
01:05:49.519 --> 01:05:55.239
my mom there was never the slightest
doubt that there was something sinister in that
809
01:05:55.239 --> 01:05:59.760
place. We didn' t even
stay in that apartment. That night we
810
01:05:59.800 --> 01:06:03.199
only stayed in the living room of
one of the neighbors. The next morning
811
01:06:03.280 --> 01:06:11.280
we picked up all our stuff and
left. At that time I tried to
812
01:06:11.320 --> 01:06:15.480
ask Mom what exactly she had seen, but she never wanted to tell me.
813
01:06:16.159 --> 01:06:23.000
I guess it was because I didn' t want to be scared when
814
01:06:23.119 --> 01:06:25.519
I was older about 15 years old. She did come to confess to me
815
01:06:25.639 --> 01:06:30.119
what she saw that day, and
she told me that indeed, she saw
816
01:06:30.159 --> 01:06:35.039
a girl in there looking very thin
and malnourished. His hair was thin and
817
01:06:35.079 --> 01:06:41.199
very thin. She said she was
at the bottom of the room looking straight
818
01:06:41.280 --> 01:06:45.760
into the crack, almost as if
she were aware that she was looking at
819
01:06:45.760 --> 01:06:50.320
her. She also told me that
as soon as she saw her, there
820
01:06:50.400 --> 01:06:55.960
was no doubt to her that that
girl was dead and that she was a
821
01:06:55.960 --> 01:07:00.800
ghost. He said that at the
time he had been very afraid that she
822
01:07:00.880 --> 01:07:05.360
wanted to take me and that was
why he had made such a scandal,
823
01:07:05.840 --> 01:07:09.559
since it was the only way to
guarantee a safe place to spend that night.
824
01:07:10.559 --> 01:07:14.880
But that day, deep down,
she knew that they would not find
825
01:07:14.920 --> 01:07:21.559
anything, since what she had seen
did not belong to this world. Stories
826
01:07:21.639 --> 01:07:24.960
written and adapted by Lisa Hernández








