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^{Foto de Guillaume Bleyer en Unsplash}

Pienso que una obra de arte debería dejar perplejo al espectador, hacerle meditar sobre el sentido de la vida.

I think that a work of art should perplex the viewer, make him meditate on the meaning of life.

— Antoni Tapies

E S P A Ñ O L

VUELVE MARLENE PÉREZ

¿Muerta? ¿Viva? ¿En un sanatorio? Nadie supo que pasó con Marlene Pérez después de ese día en que desapareció. Testigos aseguraron verla saliendo del pueblo, huyendo sobre la vieja motocicleta de su padre. Otros dijeron que la vieron entrar al bosque, con una cuchilla en sus manos quizás para suicidarse; sobre su cadáver no hubo pistas siquiera, ya que la enterraron en cristiano ritual, evitando las declaraciones del ojo público.

De cualquier forma, no se supo más de Marlene Pérez hasta ocho años después, cuando creíamos que todo aquello fue solo un rumor del pasado. Estudiábamos en el mismo colegio, antes de que desapareciera, pero siempre fue una chica muy extraña. Era aislada, antisocial, con gustos particulares y raros. Recuerdo que una vez tomó unas tijeras y le cortó un trozo de cabello a Tiffany Fernández, mientras estaba distraída con su novio Jonás. La observé fijamente y anonadado, mientras guardaba el mechón de pelo en su bolsillo. Luego volteó a observarme con una mirada tan profunda que imbuía miedo.

Nunca volví a mirarla ni de manera secreta. A veces rumoreábamos entre mis amigos y yo, lo rara que era Marlene Pérez y que su casa debe ser como una estancia para las brujas. Inventábamos historias sobre su padre, un alcohólico trailero que se perdía por días y dejaba a la rara de su hija sola. Relatábamos suposiciones de lo que hacía Marlene durante esos días, especialmente por las noches. Quizás invocaba al diablo o embalsamaba cadáveres de víctimas asesinadas por ella.

Un día, mi amigo Rolando nos desafió a todos a entrar en la casa de Marlene una vez que ella no estuviera. Karina, Agustín y yo, nos miramos pasmados de solo pensar entrar en la casa de esa chica rara. Para Agustín, era divertido relatar cosas sobre ella, pero allanamiento no era cosa de gracia. Karina pensó lo contrario: «Solo vamos a ojear y ya, no robaremos ni haremos nada malo», fue su argumento. Rolando estaba de acuerdo con Karina, pero por supuesto que lo estaban, pues ambos eran novios y tenían ideas similares y retorcidas. Yo estaba sometido un poco a ambas ideas, sin embargo, terminé siendo convencido por Rolando y Karina.

Agustín no quiso participar, parecía tener mucho miedo como si fuésemos a entrar en la casa del Diablo. Por lo tanto, ese día solo nos reunimos Rolando, Karina y yo. Esperamos pacientemente a que Marlene saliera, una vez que lo hizo, nos acercamos rápidamente asegurándonos que no hubiera nadie mirando. Nos adentramos al patio trasero y abrimos la puerta; como Rolando lo dedujo estaba abierta.

Entramos y lo primero que vislumbramos fue la cocina. No había nada especial, pues todo era común y corriente. Caminamos hasta la sala y notamos que estaba muy desordenada. Había ropa de mujer regada por todas partes, así que pensamos inmediatamente que era de Marlene. Había platos sucios sobre los muebles y botellas de refresco debajo de estos. Un fuerte olor a humedad ocupaba nuestras narices, como si no hubiesen limpiado en meses.

Las escaleras que iban hacia el siguiente nivel de la casa, estaban cubiertas por una especie de barro o moho espeso. Rolando intentó despegar un poco, pero era tan rustico y solido que la extraña sustancia no cedía. Decidimos subir hacia el piso de arriba de la casa, para ver si encontrábamos algo más. Karina quería ver la habitación de Marlene, para ver si era tan extraña y fea como el resto de la casa. En su lugar encontramos una habitación con la puerta medio abierta.

Decidimos entrar, estaba muy oscura y no parecía tener ventana. El olor era más fuerte ahí, como si algo se estuviese pudriendo adentro. Caminábamos en fila, deslizando nuestras manos sobre la pared buscando un interruptor de luz. Finalmente, Rolando encontró uno y lo presionó. Frente a nosotros, se hallaba una cama enorme matrimonial y, sobre ella, parecía estar una persona descansando. Nos acercamos para ver mejor, pero estaba cubierta por una sábana. Al destaparla, sentimos que a cada uno se le iba a salir el corazón del pecho.

Lo que presenciamos fue un cadáver, con los ojos extirpados, la piel verdosa y la mandíbula rota. Salimos corriendo de allí como nunca y contamos lo sucedido a la policía. Las autoridades sitiaron el lugar, en ese instante Marlene ya se encontraba en su casa. Se dice que ella logró escapar de los oficiales, nadie sabe cómo, pero a partir de ese día no se supo más de ella.

Las noticias locales relataron lo sucedido y revelando la identidad del cadáver encontrado en aquella habitación. Al parecer se trataba de la madre de Marlene, quien había supuestamente desaparecido hace cuatro años. El señor Pérez, padre de Marlene fue arrestado, pero como he dicho anteriormente, no se supo nada más de su hija.

Ocho años tuvieron que pasar para que ese trauma del pasado volviera. Se esparció la noticia de una persona apuñalada y ahogada en una cañería cerca de mi casa. Según los testimonios, el cadáver traía una hoja de papel con un escrito de advertencia; recalcando el regreso de Marlene Pérez al pueblo.

FIN

E N G L I S H

MARLENE PÉREZ RETURNS

Dead? Alive? In a sanatorium? No one knew what happened to Marlene Perez after the day she disappeared. Witnesses said they saw her leaving town, fleeing on her father's old motorcycle. Others said they saw her entering the forest, with a knife in her hands, perhaps to commit suicide; there were no clues about her corpse, since she was buried in a Christian ritual, avoiding the public eye.

In any case, no more was heard of Marlene Perez until eight years later, when we believed that all that was just a rumor of the past. We studied at the same school, before she disappeared, but she was always a very strange girl. She was isolated, antisocial, with particular and strange tastes. I remember that once she took a pair of scissors and cut off a piece of Tiffany Fernandez's hair, while she was distracted with her boyfriend Jonas. I stared at her, dumbfounded, as she put the lock of hair in her pocket. Then she turned to look at me with a gaze so deep it instilled fear.

I never looked at her again, not even secretly. Sometimes my friends and I would gossip about how weird Marlene Perez was and that her house must be like a witches' ranch. We would make up stories about her father, an alcoholic truck driver who would get lost for days at a time and leave his weird daughter alone. We would relate assumptions about what Marlene did during those days, especially at night. Perhaps she invoked the devil or embalmed corpses of victims she had killed.

One day, my friend Rolando challenged us all to enter Marlene's house once she was gone. Karina, Agustín and I looked at each other dumbfounded at the thought of entering that strange girl's house. For Agustín, it was fun to talk about her, but breaking and entering was no laughing matter. Karina thought otherwise: "We're just going to look around and that's it, we won't steal or do anything bad," was her argument. Rolando agreed with Karina, but of course they were, as they were both boyfriends and had similar twisted ideas. I was somewhat subdued to both ideas, however, I ended up being convinced by Rolando and Karina.

Agustin did not want to participate, he seemed to be very afraid as if we were going to enter the Devil's house. Therefore, that day only Rolando, Karina and I met. We waited patiently for Marlene to come out, once she did, we quickly approached making sure no one was watching. We walked into the backyard and opened the door; as Rolando deduced it was open.

We walked in and the first thing we glimpsed was the kitchen. There was nothing special, as everything was ordinary. We walked to the living room and noticed that it was very messy. There were women's clothes scattered everywhere, so we immediately thought they were Marlene's. There were dirty dishes on the furniture and dirty dishes on the counter. There were dirty dishes on the furniture and soda bottles underneath them. A strong musty smell filled our nostrils, as if it had not been cleaned in months.

The stairs leading to the next level of the house were covered with a kind of thick mud or mold. Rolando tried to peel some of it off, but it was so rustic and solid that the strange substance would not budge. We decided to go upstairs to the top floor of the house to see if we could find anything else. Karina wanted to see Marlene's room, to see if it was as strange and ugly as the rest of the house. Instead we found a room with the door half open.

We decided to go in, it was very dark and didn't seem to have a window. The smell was stronger there, as if something was rotting inside. We walked in line, sliding our hands on the wall looking for a light switch. Finally, Rolando found one and pressed it. In front of us was a huge double bed, and on it appeared to be a person resting. We moved closer to get a better look, but it was covered by a sheet. As we uncovered it, we felt as if our hearts were about to burst out of our chests.

What we witnessed was a corpse, with eyes gouged out, greenish skin and a broken jaw. We ran out of there like never before and told the police what had happened. The authorities besieged the place, at that moment Marlene was already in her house. It is said that she managed to escape from the officers, no one knows how, but from that day on she was never heard from again.

The local news reported what happened and revealed the identity of the corpse found in that room. Apparently it was Marlene's mother, who had supposedly disappeared four years ago. Mr. Perez, Marlene's father was arrested, but as I said before, nothing more was heard from his daughter.

Eight years had to pass for that past trauma to return. News spread of a person stabbed and drowned in a pipe near my house. According to testimonies, the corpse had a sheet of paper with a written warning; emphasizing the return of Marlene Perez to the town.