- Residents of Santa Fe neighborhoods like Centenario and
San Lorenzo are in an uproar over the insistent stories concerning the
appearance of a ghoslty entity.
-
- It is for this reason that many--at nightfall--lock themselves
and bolt the door. In all fairnes, it must also be said that others pluck
up their courage and go out in search of the ghost, armed with sticks,
machetes and dark intentions.
-
- This same scene has repeated itself day after day over
the past two weeks, but last night's chapter was, without a doubt, the
one that reached the greatest dramatic intensity.
-
- Until yesterday, the mysterious entity only leaped from
one rooftop to another and vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Last
night was different: it dared invade a family home.
-
- Around 22:00 hours, Elsa let out a scream that was heard
all along Entre Rios Street and gave everyone goosebumps -- so much that
even the hardend boys of the El Pasillo gang were alarmed.
-
- Elsa, a hairstylist whose salon is located in the heart
of San Lorenzo, took to the street --surrounded by nephews--to tell anyone
willing to listen that while she bathed the youngest one, the ghost pressed
its face against the bathroom window, showing its claws menacingly and
fixing a menacing stare on her.
-
- Everyone remained in suspense after this new story, but
immediately, those who were standing guard appeared in vast numbers, wielding
heavy clubs, sharp machetes, stilettos, penknives and even humble kitchen
knives.
-
- Thus armed and willing to settle the score, they went
out after the apparition while various police patrols reached the site
with the intention of avoiding a possible lynching or a tragic mistake
among the vigilantes themselves.
-
- That's when we heard, amidst the tumult, some frightening
stories. Ruben agreed with Elsa when she said that the phantom has red
eyes like fire and added that the horrifying personage dresses in black
from head to toe.
-
- Ruben also said -- while everyone around him nodded --
that the character being sought is a tall man with a long, wavy mane of
ahir. Aside from that, our interviewee sworn having seen it -- together
with other neighbors -- as it escaped from Elsa's house, leaping from rootop
to rooftop.
-
- "How do you explain," he replied to a question
we asked, "how this guy can climb a smooth wall six meters tall? How
can you explain that it can leap across the street in a single bound, like
it crossed Entre Rios street tonight, unless it was the Devil himself?"
-
- When a respectful silence had settled around Rubén
-- a silence that would only be interrupted by the appearance of a police
officer, who asked in turn: "How can you explain how we couldn't catch
him, when we shot him three times and hit him twice?"
-
- Believe it or bust. But the mystery, the night watch
and the risk of a fatal mistake were still latent in the southern area
neighborhoods when we returned to the newsroom. To tell the tuth, where
and when the next chapter will be written is something we still do not
know.
-
- Translation (c) 2005. Scott Corrales, IHU. Special thanks
to Liliana Núñez.
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- http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php3/diarios/2005/03/4/tapa/index.html
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