The Darkness of a Desperate Bond
Yvonne Lopez, IL, USA
September 2004
My mom told me this story long ago, when I was a child and it still intrigues me even now.
This is a true story based on my mother's side. This happened to my grandmother's aunt, who at a young age was going through some difficult times. When her husband left her she went through an emotional breakdown and it affected her economically, to the point that she was going to have her house taken away. She didn't know what to do. Her poor condition was overheard by one of her friends who advised her to go to one of the town's witches. She felt so hopeless that she gave it a try.
When she related her story to the witch she gave her the following suggestion? "Make a deal with the devil, and he will take you out of your misery. But you will need to give something in return." She gave a bewildered look and told the witch she was penniless and didn't have anything of worth. The witch said "otherwise I think your unborn son shall suit the deal well." The woman completely rejected the idea at first, but in a few days she came back to her and agreed to the deal.
As soon as she made the deal, the lady quickly won the town's lottery. The next few months everything seemed to pick up ? even her social life. But the day came when birth pains brought her to a heartbreaking realization of what she had done. Through all the material happiness, she had forgotten the deal she made with the witch. She was terribly stricken to know that she would need to give up her first-born child to the darkness of a desperate bond.
She looked upon her newborn and frantically tried to find a scapegoat that would help them. She remembered an old wisdom handed down to every generation of keeping evil away from children. Early in the morning, she pulled one of her older nieces aside, giving her the wrapped child unto her arms. "Run, quickly! Get to the cathedral! Tell the priest to baptize the child! Stop for no one no matter what happens. Don't let anyone distract you. Now hurry!" The young girl noticed her alunite's distress as she was shoved out the door.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, holding the child close to her breast. Suddenly she heard low whispers around her. She looked about but did not stop. As she neared the church, the voices grow higher and higher. She felt the baby start to fidget as she scanned the area. But there was no one around for miles.
As the church's peak started showing around the corner the voices became one, and finally the girl realized the source of the whispers and that they had been speaking to her. She slowed and carefully unwrapped the baby, as the soft cloth gave but a peek of the tender child's face. The baby jerked up, smiled and said in a hoarse and low voice, "Look aunty, I have teeth!" He then smiled broadly showing all of his sharp little teeth. The girl gasped sharply as she dropped the bundle; the newborn hopped out of the blanket and dashed off, cackling along the way.
Curiously, I asked my mom how she knows this story well. She tells me, "Because the girl that was carrying him was my grandmother."