Federico Stories

In 1995 on October 31 st , I was coming back from a long trip to Panama. My company had sent me to deliver several tons of coal and wood to the canal. It had been one of the most tiring trips in my life. I just wanted to reach my house and sleep in my bed. Around 1am, I reached Izalco and tried to go directly to my home, but suddenly, I saw some curious lights moving in the cemetery. I had never seen any lights in the cemetery at night. I decided to park next to the Ash River (Río Ceniza in Spanish) and entered the cemetery to check what was happening. I started to walk carelessly inside the cemetery when suddenly, a white dog approached me with a kind of stick, but as soon as he left it next to me. I noticed it was not a stick, but a massive bone. The dog fled as soon as it had released the bone next to me. I only crossed myself and kept walking inside the cemetery. I thought nothing important had happened. After a while, I started to hear some strange words from behind, "Kakasb...

There is not a more mysterious bird than the owl. They are unique birds that you can only see at night, especially during the phenomenon of the blue moon (figure 1). Figure 1. An owl during the blue moon.   ¹ Many people in El Salvador believe, the owls are the witches’ spirits who roam the Central American skies every night. They say the owls try scaring their victims in dark places before they transform them into mice that can later hunt and eat! Plus, some of them say when you can hear a low whistle from the skies, it is an owl that is flying over you! If anyone tries responding with the same whistle, it will fly to you and scratch your eyes! There are different types of owls in those lands, but the unique ones are the bearded owls . They are a rare species that possess two large and elongated feathers that grow next to its beak. The elders say these bearded owls are sorcerers, who were cursed by an old shaman who converted into owls forever! He did it because they we...

In the times when the Amerindians lived alone in the lands of Conchagua, an expected situation happened. One day, all the men gathered to give themselves the task of building a huge water container called: “The Pilona” (figure 1), at the top of a mountain called Chilagual. This was because the goddess of the waters in a dream showed their leader that in that place, he would sprout a spring that would give water to the thirsty people of the lands and their descendants forever. Figure 1. The Pilona. For the following months, the people from Conchagua worked for long periods of time without resting until they finished the Pilona. However, after they finished it, the water did not sprout as promised, not even a drop fell into the huge Pilona. After many months of an intense drought, the citizens gathered and agreed to celebrate a consecration to the goddess of the waters. During the middle of their celebration in the volcano of Conchagua, a cloud appeared in the shape of a winged...

Many moons ago, on the top of the hill of Conchagua (figure 1), there was a small cave where a beautiful woman used to live. This woman was a witch, who used her magical powers to steal money from the wealthy people of those days. That Witch was baptized as Juan Francisca Callejas, although people from her region called her Juana Pancha. She used her powers to do things that everyone thought were just a childish dream-like flying from La Unión to Managua from Managua to San Salvador or transforming mangoes into bananas. And yes, she flew like a bird, but sometimes faster, up to a point, she disappeared among clouds. Figure 1. The hill of Conchagua in La Unión, El Salvador. Juana Pancha flew all those massive distances to steal from wealthy people in faraway lands. She visited their palaces, farms, and even the city halls, but for an unknown reason, she had an obsession with the wealthy people of the city of Antigua Guatemala. These acts of devilry were unimaginable bec...

In the 1600s, a poor old woman from the Santa Ana Volcano surroundings was expelled from her lands by the Conquistadors. They stole all that she had and laughed about how poor she was and how she looked like a bandari, they said: “You are just a bandari, get out of here and come back to the jungle with your relatives! You cannot even speak Spanish!” While she was walking around the place for days without food or water, she was starving near the lake when she met an elegant white man wearing a black coat, who asked her: “Dear, why are you so lonely? Did anything happen to you?” She was very surprised and thought she was suffering from some hallucinations because she had been in that place for days and never seen anyone and he spoke her language too. She felt some shivers from the presence of that man. However, she answered that she was expelled from her house and lost everything in the hands of some evil Spaniards. The man was thoughtful and for a while gave her a piece of bread fro...

During the 1800s, there was a woman living in San Vicente. She had an abusive relationship with her husband, who didn’t respect her. Her husband was an alcoholic man who drank every night, at least two bottles of “Agua Ardiente.” He yelled at her all the time because she was not as beautiful as her sister, and she was not as good at having sex as she was. Her life was miserable, and it didn’t matter what she did, it was never enough. Five years later, her husband abandoned her with her sister, who was better at everything. She didn’t know what to do; in these times, divorce was a terrible sign. Her life was socially finished, and she was more miserable than ever. She looked like a normal Indian with dark skin, black eyes, and short and curly hair. Nothing special and her age limited her to start a new life. After many months, she considered committing suicide because she didn’t have any social life, and her family isolated her from her group too. She was forced to become a lone...