Leased Body (a 50-word story for @jayna)
Greetings, 50-worders and readers. This is my entry to @jayna's #fiftywords challenge. This week’s prompt is
https://steemit.com/challenge/@jayna/fifty-wordchallengepromptfortheweek-fxe5wujdhm
witch
. You can see the details of the challenge here:
Leased Body
What do they know? I did not ask for this curse.
It possesses me as a virus sickens a healthy body; turns me into different creatures.
The pain is excruciating.
Unaware of what my body does at night, or who I hurt, I reveal myself, beat up, knocking for salt.
To talk about witches in Venezuela means to invoke the most widely held superstition in our culture. The average Venezuelan would say, “I don’t believe in witches, but boy, how they fly!” The use of the term is so ubiquitous that any woman may be called “witch” regardless. It would be enough to consider her too hideous, indigent, taciturn, intrusive or meticulous. Once a reputation is established, you can be sure stories will start circulating and once they are out the sky is the limit for the exaggerations and distortions that will be woven around them.
One of the most common beliefs around witches is that they can transform themselves into animals, especially birds, and fly at night pestering certain people who allegedly they envy or want to harm for the sake of it. it is believed that if know certain “secrets,” certain prayers, you can defeat the witch, or at least weaken her enough as to harm her physically. Those who are prepared to do that and want to know the evildoer’s identity, command her to come next day asking for salt. Of course, in small towns, and now with this crisis in big cities also, it was normal for a neighbor to knock at a door to borrow some kitchen item or ingredient to avoid a last-minute visit to a store or just because you were broke and needed that ingredient badly.
I just tried to switch the focus and look at the supernatural occurrence from the alleged evildoer’s perspective. What if…?
Saludos a los participantes del reto de 50 palabras y a los lectores en general. Esta es mi participación en el reto de @jayna #fiftywords. La palabra de esta semana es
https://steemit.com/challenge/@jayna/fifty-wordchallengepromptfortheweek-fxe5wujdhm
bruja
. Pueden ver los detalles del reto aquí:
Cuerpo alquilado
¿Que saben ellos? No pedí esta maldición.
Se apodera de mí como un virus que enferma un cuerpo sano; me transforma en diferentes criaturas.
El dolor es insoportable.
Inconsciente de lo que hace mi cuerpo en las noches, o de a quien lastimo, me revelo al día siguiente, golpeada, pidiendo sal.
Hablar de brujas en Venezuela significa invocar la superstición más compartida en nuestra cultura. El venezolano promedio te dirá, “Yo no creo en brujas pero ¡de vuelan, vuelan!” El uso del término es tan ubicuo que cualquier mujer, independientemente de que practique o no alguna macutería, puede ser llamada “bruja”. Sería suficiente si se le considera muy fea, indigente, taciturna, intrusiva o meticulosa. Una vez que la reputación se establece, pueden estar seguros que las historias empezarán a circular y el cielo es el límite para las exageraciones y distorsiones que se entretejerán alrededor de ellas.
Una de las creencias más generalizadas en torno a las brujas venezolanas es que pueden transformarse en animales, especialmente en ciertos pájaros, y volar de noche atormentando ciertas personas a las que supuestamente envidian o quieren lastimar por el solo placer de hacerlo. Se cree que si conoces ciertos “secretos,” ciertas oraciones, puedes derrotar a una bruja, o por lo menos debilitarla lo suficiente para lastimarla físicamente. Aquellos que están preparados para hacerlo y quieren saber la identidad de la malhechora, le ordenan venir por sal al día siguiente. Por supuesto, en los pueblos pequeños, y ahora con esta crisis en las grandes ciudades también, era normal que un vecino tocara la puerta para pedir algún utensilio de cocina o ingrediente ya fuera para evitar una ida a la bodega o abasto o simplemente porque estaba “limpio” y necesitaba ese ingrediente urgentemente.
Simplemente traté de cambiar el énfasis y ver el fenómeno sobrenatural desde la perspectiva de la supuesta malhechora. ¿Qué tal si…?
Thanks for your reading. Looking forward to your comments.
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Spooky! I liked it so much. So common in our culture. Love it!
Glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by
I really like the change of perspective here and the back story is really interesting too. This practice of knocking into neighbours for some sugar, milk, salt etc was common practice in 1980s Ireland also when I was growing up.
Interesting. Is the belief in witches also common over there? Thanks for stopping by, @ablaze
This takes my breath away, @hlezama. It is beautiful, sinister and poetic, all at the same time. Well done! And oh, what an image you found to go with it!
Thanks, @jayna. It took me some time to find the image. I am glad the story was able to transmit all those feelings. I think that there are always at least two sides to each story, even for those whose actions appear pure evilness. It's an interesting exercise to try to figure out why or how.
Love the wordsmithing and how you developed the story with just 50 words. Well done @hlezama.
Thanks, @pyemoney. I appreciate your comment.
Muy buen relato, @hlezama. Conciso, pero igualmente expresivo y sugestivo. Me gustó la autoconciencia acerca del mal del que se es portador y se sufre. ¡Suerte! Saludos.
Gracias por comentar, @josemalavem. El ejercicio es necesario, buscando vislumbrar las causas y efectos del mal, sobre todo el que no tiene explicación. Por supuesto, una vez explicado, siempre hay la posibilidad de encender algunas hogueras. :)
I loved the shift in the perspective . It is not common to stop to think of what has brought the evil about
Yep, putting on someone else's shoes may be a good rhetorical and even spiritual excercise.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks for commenting.
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Loved your story.
You explanation reminds me of the movie Bless Me, Ultima. Many common people only see the dark side of what a witch can be without seeing the light side.
Greetings, @tristancarax.
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, that Mexican movie is a good example of what may lie beneath the stereotypes around a witch.