Mi primera , única y terrible experiencia... // [ESP-ENG}

A los 17 años, trabajé como maestra en una escuela rural en un caserío del Estado Miranda en Venezuela. En esa época, tuve que dejar la casa de mis padres para iniciar una vida independiente y ayudar con los gastos del hogar. Allí me asignaron tres grados en una sola aula, ya que la matrícula era baja y tenía que atender a 4º, 5º y 6º de primaria en dos turnos. Por cierto, tenía alumnos mayores que yo. Había ausentismo escolar durante las cosechas, ya que eran niños acostumbrados a ayudar a sus padres en los conucos y las plantaciones de cacao.

Afortunadamente, a los seis meses de llegar allí, pude comprar mi propia casa y amueblarla, ya que mi sueldo era de mil cien bs, y alcanzaba para eso y más. Esa casa costaba 5.000 bs, y cuotas de 30 bs al mes. Tenía tres habitaciones, cocina, comedor, baño, lavadero y un gran terreno. Allí plantamos árboles frutales. Fue una etapa muy bonita de mi juventud. Aprendí y recibí muchas lecciones positivas, mientras maduraba como mujer y como profesional. Ahora les contaré mi experiencia en esa casa.

At the age of 17, I worked as a teacher in a rural school in a hamlet in the State Miranda in Venezuela. At that time, I had to leave my parents' home to start an independent life and help with household expenses. There I was assigned three grades in a single classroom, since enrollment was low and I had to take care of 4th, 5th and 6th grades of elementary school in two shifts. I had students older than me, by the way. There was school absenteeism during the harvests, as they were children accustomed to helping their parents in the conucos and cocoa plantations. Fortunately, six months after arriving there, I was able to buy my own house and furnish it, since my salary was a thousand and a hundred bs, and it was enough for that and more. That house cost 5000 bs, and installments of 30 bs a month. It had three bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, laundry room and a large plot of land. We planted fruit trees there. It was a very nice stage of my youth. I learned and received many positive lessons, as I matured as a woman and as a professional. Now, I will tell you about my experience in that house.

Era época de vacaciones, y esperaba con emoción a mis amigas que pasarían unas semanas en mi casa. Iríamos a la playa, a los ríos, etc. Barlovento es un lugar muy hermoso. Las fui a buscar al terminal de pasajeros de la línea de buses. El viaje de casi tres horas estuvo excelente y esa noche nos pusimos al día con los chismes y noticias. Sacaron sus equipajes, organizaron sus cosas cada una en su cuarto.

“Soledad y Andrea, son aún mis mejores amigas desde la primaria. Hasta nos graduamos juntas, pero luego nos separamos por razones de trabajo.”

Soledad llegó con una novedad, trajo una tabla con forma de media luna y letras. Era muy bonita, parecía antigua. Se la obsequió un tío que vivía en Maracay. Le dio un instructivo para usarla. Andrea y yo, estábamos ansiosas de probarla. La curiosidad nos carcomía. Era una Ouija. Ninguna de las tres sabíamos nada acerca de su funcionamiento. Decidimos dejar este nuevo juguete, para estrenarlo al día siguiente, después de pasear por el pueblo y comprar alimentos.

It was vacation time, and I was excitedly awaiting my friends who would be spending a few weeks at my house. We would go to the beach, to the rivers, etc. Barlovento is a very beautiful place. I went to pick them up at the bus terminal. The almost three hour trip was excellent and that night we caught up on gossip and news. They took out their luggage, organized their things, each one in her room. "Soledad and Andrea, they are still my best friends since elementary school. We even graduated together, but then we split up for work reasons."
Soledad arrived with a novelty, she brought a board in the shape of a crescent moon and letters. It was very pretty, it looked antique. It was a gift from an uncle who lived in Maracay. He gave her instructions on how to use it. Andrea and I were anxious to try it. Curiosity gnawed at us. It was a Ouija. None of the three of us knew anything about how it worked. We decided to leave this new toy, to try it out the next day, after walking around town and buying groceries.

A las tres de la tarde, ya reposadas y después de la merienda, preparamos todo, tal cual indicaba el instructivo que había dejado el tío. Colocamos la tabla en la mesita de centro, con su respectivo mantel y una vela. Comenzamos a activar a los espíritus, como allí decía. Dando tumbos con esas letras y la mano de Soledad junto a las nuestras. Aquello me parecía muy gracioso, de hecho dudé que se podía hablar con los espíritus como allí afirmaban. Inclusive, les comentaba que era falso y a modo de burla, dije que eran unos charlatanes y que nada pasaría.

Fue tal mi insistencia, que casi hacemos a un lado el jueguito. En ese instante, vimos que Soledad, movía sus dedos muy de prisa, marcando palabras extrañas. Después, todo se detuvo y decidimos guardar el “Jueguito” para volver a intentarlo en otra oportunidad, pues se hacía de noche e íbamos a preparar la cena. Yo quedé algo nerviosa, pues noté mucha velocidad en el movimiento de sus manos, pero aun así, no llegamos a ninguna conclusión valedera. Cenamos y nos retiramos a dormir.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, after resting and having a snack, we prepared everything, as indicated in the instructions that the uncle had left. We placed the table on the coffee table, with its respective tablecloth and a candle. We began to activate the spirits, as it said there. We were stumbling around with those letters and Soledad's hand next to ours. That seemed very funny to me, in fact I doubted that it was possible to talk to the spirits as they said there. I even commented to them that it was false and as a way of mockery, I said that they were charlatans and that nothing would happen. I was so insistent that we almost put aside the little game. At that moment, we saw that Soledad was moving her fingers in a hurry, marking strange words. Then, everything stopped and we decided to save the "little game" to try it again another time, because it was getting dark and we were going to prepare dinner. I was a little nervous, because I noticed a lot of speed in the movement of his hands, but even so, we did not reach any valid conclusion. We had dinner and went to sleep.

Recostada en mi cama, comencé a rezar mi oración de siempre, “El Salmo 23” sin dejar de pensar en el significado de aquellas palabras que nos indicaba la fulana tabla. Con esas interrogantes me quedé profundamente dormida.
De pronto algo me despierta, pero de una manera muy sutil. Tal vez para que no me sobresalte. Era como si alguien estuviera dentro de mi cuarto. Tenía miedo y deseaba averiguar más, pero ni de vaina quería abrir mis ojos. Parecía un niño cuando le amenazaban con el coco. ¡Qué susto!

La " cosa esa" no conforme con hacerme temblar, se ha instalado al pie de mi cama. Me sentí presa de angustia y me llené de valor, al intentar palpar aquella sombra negra que estaba frente a mí, como para ver si eran seres de carne y hueso. ¡No había nada! ¡Era una bendita sombra! Corroboré que no existía ni la más mínima posibilidad de que mis amigas me estuvieran jugando una mala pasada. Ellas dormían tranquilas. Las llamé, pero no me escucharon, estaban rendidas, imagino. Lo peor estaba por llegar...

Se ha aparecido alguien más, rodeando mi cama. Ambas sombras me miraban y yo, en lugar de salir de la cama impactada, me quedé petrificada de la impresión. Se movían de punta a punta como danzando y no tenían pies. Parecían los hábitos de dos monjas sin cuerpo dentro. Seguían tratando de hacerme estallar, o no sé cuáles eran sus reales intenciones, porque el grito que pegué cuando ya no podía controlarme despertó a mis amigas. ¡Fue terrible!

Ellas encendieron la luz de mi cuarto y lo que allí había era agua en el piso y un olor a alcohol indescriptible. Mi cuerpo estaba bañado en sudor, temblando y llorando como una niña asustada. Realmente no supe nunca lo que significaba el agua en el piso ni el alcohol. Lo que sí hicimos fue botar esa cosa llamada ouija.

Extrañamente, la tabla desapareció del pote de la basura. Soledad y Andrea, me acompañaron a la capilla que había en el pueblo. El sacerdote nos aconsejó que “Con los espíritus no se debe jugar,” y menos si nada se conoce sobre la materia. Bendijo mi casa y a nosotras tres. Luego de ese suceso, nunca más se habló al respecto.
"Desde ese momento hasta hoy, no había tocado el tema en detalles. Espero que tomen consejos antes de que las cosas extrañas y perjudiciales ocurran…"

Lying on my bed, I began to pray my usual prayer, "The 23rd Psalm" without stopping to think about the meaning of those words indicated by the so called tablet. With those questions I fell fast asleep.
Suddenly something woke me up, but in a very subtle way. Maybe so that it would not startle me. It was as if someone was inside my room. I was scared and wanted to find out more, but I didn't even want to open my eyes. I looked like a child being threatened with a coconut. What a scare! The "that thing" not only made me tremble, it settled at the foot of my bed. I was seized with anguish and I took courage as I tried to feel the black shadow in front of me, as if it were a flesh and blood being. There was nothing, it was a blessed shadow! I corroborated that there was not the slightest possibility that my friends were playing a trick on me. They were sleeping peacefully. I called them, but they didn't listen to me, they were exhausted, I guess. The worst was yet to come. Someone else appeared, surrounding my bed. Both shadows looked at me and I, instead of getting out of bed in shock, was petrified with shock. They moved from end to end as if dancing and had no feet. They looked like the habits of two nuns with no body inside. They kept trying to make me explode, or I don't know what their real intentions were, because the scream I made when I could no longer control myself woke up my friends. It was terrible! They turned on the light in my room and what was there was water on the floor and an indescribable smell of alcohol. My body was bathed in sweat, shaking and crying like a scared little girl. I never really knew what the water on the floor or the alcohol meant. What we did do was throw away that thing called a Ouija board.
Strangely, the board disappeared from the trash can. Soledad and Andrea accompanied me to the chapel in town. The priest advised us that "You shouldn't play with spirits," especially if you know nothing about them. He blessed my house and the three of us. After that event, there was no more talk about it.
From that time until today, I had not touched on the subject in detail. I hope you will take advice before strange and harmful things happen....