When I was small I was
told of a legend. A legend of a family that used to live here in Tunguitiro,
Michoacan. That family made a deal with the devil. It was for the devil
to give the family riches and in return he would take one of their
daughters. The devil agreed. Later that month the girl danced in a festival.
When she was done dancing a dust storm picked her up and took her away. The
devil was to take the young girl to his cave.
On there way to the
cave they encountered a mountain. The girl begged the devil to stop on the
mountain so she could drink water and rest. Once she set foot on the mountain
something powerful happened and the devil couldn't take her from the
mountain.
The girl was under a
spell. She fell in love with the luscious green grass, the beautiful delicate
flowers, and all the creatures that lived there. She loved everything about the
mountain. The legend say’s, if you were to free from the devil's grasp
then she would offer you a reward. I never truly believed in that, well
that was until I had the encounter.
It was summer. My
brother and I were going to take our dad's cattle to graze. As we walked up the
mountain where the young girl was said to be, I thought of the legend and
of all the people that claimed they saw her. When we were on the top of the
mountain something caught my eye. I saw what looked like a person observing us.
I looked at my brother
and said, "Carlos, theres someone watching us. Maybe they’re lost. We
should go and help."
My brother stared at me
like I was out of my mind. He patted my back and said, "Luis there's no
one there. It must have been a shadow."
I nodded.
We split up. He took
part of the cattle to one side and I took the other to the other side.
I heard a sound coming
from the top of the mountain. As I looked to see what was causing the
sound, I saw the figure again.
I walked towards it. It
was a young girl. She looked no older than 18. Her long black hair cascaded
over her narrow shoulders. The breeze swept the strands of hair off her face,
revealing her soft facial features and golden honey eyes. She was the most
beautiful girl I had ever seen.
It wasn't just her
appearance that captivated me, but how she made me feel. I felt like I
could tell her anything and everything.
As I took off my hat
bowing I said, "What is a beautiful young lady like you doing on this
mountain?"
She said, "I'm
under a spell. I can't leave this mountain."
I took her hand and
said, " Why, no young lady should spend her life trapped."
She smiled and said,
“If you carry me to a temple to see a priest, I can be set free. I will marry
you and you will inherit all my parent’s money."
As I picked her up she
whispered, “In order to get me down from this mountain you are not to turn
around no matter what you hear or feel.”
“Yes, my lady, anything
to free you from the spell.” I said.
I walked into town with
her and everyone would stop and stare .
It was a small town
about 300 people lived there. Everyone knew each other. It was a very tight
community.
So it was strange and
very rare to see someone new come in town. I could understand their
curiosity.
As I continued to walk
into town and was heading to the town temple I heard something behind me. I was
tempted to turn around but then I heard her soft voice saying, “Don’t turn
around. Keep going. We are almost at the temple.
I adjusted her on my
shoulder and continued to walk towards the temple.
I kept hearing strange
noises behind me. I thought to myself what or who would be making those noises?
We finally arrived at
the temple. It was at the middle of the town. The white temple was
guarded with a 6 ft gray gate that when the sunlight would hit it, it looked
like it was made of silver.
As I entered the gates
of the temple I heard something grunting behind me. I tried not to turn
around remembering what the young girl said to me.
I heard a screechy voice
in my head saying, “Turn around. Come on don’t you want to see what’s behind
you?”
I violently shook my
head.
As I opened the door to
the temple I heard that voice again. This time it was louder and said, “I know
you want to see what’s behind you. Turn around. I know you want to.”
Something came over me.
I turned around and
found a bull with steam coming out of his snout. It's horns seem to glow and
his eyes were bright red. The bull was charging at me with great intensity.
When I turned back to
where the girl was,but she was gone and so was the bull.
After that day I often
went up the mountain to see if the young girl was still there but I haven't
seen her since. Although I may never encounter her again I can always see her
in my memories.
-Zaira Arteaga Juarez
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