Siendo yo adolescente vivía con mi familia en el barrio Blandín (Barrio que desapareció cuando el desastre de Vargas) ubicado en uno de los cerros que bordean la carretera vieja de La Guaira. Para subir hasta la casa había qué caminar bastante y cruzar varias quebradas de agua que en aquel entonces eran limpias.
Asistía en aquel entonces a una iglesia evangélica – la primera que se había abierto en Caracas -. Era la década de los 60. Dicha iglesia está ubicada – aún existe – en la esquina de Gato Negro, en Catia, cerca de la Av. Sucre. Iba al culto que concluía alrededor de las 7 p.m., luego me quedaba conversando un rato antes de tomar el bus que me dejaría en la carretera, en la entrada del barrio, donde mi hermano mayor me esperaba para acompañarme hasta la casa. En aquella época no había delincuencia, pero como el camino para llegar a casa era muy largo y empinado él iba siempre a esperarme.
When I was a teenager, I lived with my family in the Blandín neighborhood (which disappeared when the flood disaster occurred in what was then called Vargas state) located on one of the hills that border the old road to La Guaira. To get to the house you had to walk a long way and cross several streams that were clean at the time.
At that time I was attending an evangelical church – the first that had been opened in Caracas -. It was the 1960s. This church is located – it still exists – on the corner of Gato Negro, in Catia, near Av. Sucre. I went to the service that ended around 7 p.m., then I stayed talking for a while before taking the bus that would leave me on the highway, at the entrance of the neighborhood, where my older brother was waiting to walk me home. At that time there was no crime, but since the road to get home was very long and steep, he always went to wait for me.
Una noche llegué y mi hermano no estaba. Le esperé un largo rato, cuando pasaban las 9 de la noche me decidí a subir sola. Al pasar frente al rancho de la Sra. Matilde – que, aunque no me lo crean no tenía pared de enfrente sino solo laterales así que la sala y la cocina estaban expuestas y cuando se iban a dormir a los dos cuartos con que contaban separados de la sala solo por sus cortinas quedaban afuera practicamente todas sus cosas – lo vi jugando a las barajas en la mesa de la sala con Marina, la hija de la Srta. Matilde, su novio Héctor, el el Sr. Cipriano y la propia Sra. Matilde. Cuando me vio se asustó, me dijo que, por favor, no le dijera a mamá que no había bajado a buscarme porque lo iban a regañar y que, si preguntaban por él, comentara que se había quedado jugando donde la Sra. Matilde después de acompañarme ya que de la casa de la Sra. Matilde a la nuestra quedaban solo cinco casas intermedias. Le tranquilicé diciéndole que eso haría.
One night I arrived and my brother was not there. I waited a long time for him, when it was past 9 at night I decided to go up alone. When passing in front of Mrs. Matilde's ranch – which, believe it or not, did not have a front wall but only sides, so the living room and kitchen were exposed and when they went to sleep in the two rooms they had separated from the living room only because of its curtains practically all his things were outside – I saw him playing cards at the living room table with Marina, the daughter of Ms. Matilde, her boyfriend Héctor, Mr. Cipriano and Mrs. Matilda. When he saw me he got scared, he told me, please, not to tell mom that he hadn't come down to look for me because they were going to scold him and if they asked about him, he told me that he had stayed playing at Mrs. Matilde's after accompany me since from Mrs. Matilde's house to ours there were only five intermediate houses left. I reassured him by telling him that I would.
Seguí camino a casa y cuando faltaban solo dos para llegar a la mía, vi casi frente a la roca en cuyo pináculo estaba la casa de la Sra. Juanita, un hombrecito verde. Sus brazos, que le colgaban a los lados en extraña posición de semiarco eran muy largos para su tamaño en una proporción similar a la de un orangután.
Me dio un fuerte escalofrío y el temor me paralizó por unos momentos. No sabía qué hacer ya que el marciano se encontraba justo al lado del camino que tenía que pasar para llegar a mi casa y no había forma de rodearlo.
I continued on my way home and when there were only two houses more to arrive to mine, I saw almost in front of the rock on whose pinnacle was Mrs. Juanita's house, a little green man. His arms, which hung at his sides in a strange semi-arc position, were very long for his size in a proportion similar to that of an orangutan.
It gave me a strong chill and fear paralyzed me for a few moments. I didn't know what to do since the Martian was right next to the road I had to pass to get to my house and there was no way around it.
Aunque posteriormente hay personas a las que, al relatarles lo que me sucedió y llegar a este punto, me han dicho que probablemente fuera un duende, yo no pensé tal sino que era un marciano, ya que, dicho sea de paso, no llevaba ni el sombrero ni las botas características de los duendes.
Although later there are people to whom, when telling them what happened to me and reaching this point, they have told me that it was probably an elf, I did not think so but that it was a Martian, since, by the way, he did not even have neither the hat nor the boots characteristic of the goblins.
Me dio vergüenza devolverme a casa de la señora Matilde y decirle a mi hermano que dejara su juego y me acompañara porque había un marciano en el medio.
De pronto me dije “¿Qué mal me puede hacer?” y recordé el texto bíblico que dice “No temáis a los que pueden matar el cuerpo pero el alma no pueden matar”. Entonces pensé: “Lo más que puede hacerme es matar mi cuerpo, pero me iré al cielo porque soy cristiana” Y me decidí a seguir adelante hasta casa pasándole al lado sin mirarle para no llamar su atención.
I was embarrassed to go back to Mrs. Matilde's house and tell my brother to stop his game and come with me because there was a Martian in the middle.
Suddenly I said to myself “What harm can he do me?” and I remembered the biblical text that says “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul”. Then I thought: “The most he can do to me is to kill my body, but I will go to heaven because I am a Christian” And I decided to continue on my way home, walking past him without looking at him so as not to attract his attention.
Apenas di unos pasos y le estuve cerca identifiqué con toda seguridad la especie a la que pertenecía: era una mata de cambur (bananas) que - me enteré al día siguiente – había trasplantado ese día la Sra. Juanita.
Si hubiera podido rodearle es muy probable que hubiese quedado convencida de haberme topado con un marciano… ¡Quién sabe cuántas historias sobre espantos y fantasmas tienen su origen en hechos similares a este!
As soon as I took a few steps and was close to him, I identified with complete certainty the species to which it belonged: it was a banana plant that - I found out the next day - Mrs. Juanita had transplanted that day.
If I had been able to surround it, it is very likely that I would have been convinced that I had run into a Martian... Who knows how many stories about horrors and ghosts have their origin in events similar to this one!