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...

Long ago, a young man called Serapio used to live next to a borehole in Santa Elena, Honduras. He was the richest man there and possessed uncountable goods that graved everyone’s attention. Everyone said that one day he appeared with a table, the next one with a bed, later with a new mattress, and many more things every day. Who knew what the next thing on his list would be! Serapio was a very peculiar person. Every night he came to the town with his black mule (figure 1), and they did some unusual business with chosen people. Only a few people were aware of what these businesses were, but as soon as they concluded, they vanished, and, suddenly, they were in El Salvador. No one could understand how it was possible to move from Honduras to El Salvador in less than 5 minutes! Figure 1. The young and the black mule.   ¹ Over the years, everyone was more and more concerned; his wealth and goods were unmeasurable! Hence, a couple of them investigated his trick and they d...

The history of the coyote woman (figure 1) is a bit confusing. Some people say she was a maid who became a coyote woman at night. Others believe she was a single mother who at night became the coyote woman to get food for her children. She was experiencing a terribly serious crisis and didn’t possess any money. Figure 1. The coyote woman.   ¹ What everyone admits is this woman was engaged in witchcraft, and all her victims emptied their souls in a magical huacal. Mr. Juan, a man from El Carrizal, says that one night when he was walking in the forest, he found a huacal with a thick liquid. He didn’t perceive it in the beginning and took it home. A couple of nights later, during a blood moon, the viscous liquid transformed into the coyote woman! And from that day, there was a new woman in his town that looked extremely beautiful, but at night she became the coyote woman and performed witchcraft frequently. That woman needed to return every early morning to drink from th...

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...

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...