In 1959 my brother Chale, my sister Yolanda, and I, walked to Menchaca’s, A small grocery store in the barrio of San Antonio, Tejas, to buy a gallon of milk for my jefita for the next day.
Charlie was eight, Yolanda was six, and I was four. It was dusk, so we all held hands the whole way there as our mom told us, and Charlie carried the empty glass gallon for exchange.
When we got to the store, Mr. Menchaca greeted us, lifting his black Navy cap with a nod. We put the empty gallon away, went to the back, opened a heavy sliding door fridge, and got a fresh one. We also got some candies. Yolanda paid, and as always Mr. Menchaca said, “Say hi to your momi and papi.” We said good by and left the store as the little bell on top of the old wood-frame dust screened door jingled on top of us.
We were happy walking home, eating our candy, feeling proud we’d accomplished our task together for our mom and were going home.
Suddenly, Yolanda stops, and says she heard something strange, and points up at the dry rustling branches of a pecan tree on top of us.
We get a little scared too as we see something moving up there too. When we reached the corner and turn the block by Suzy’s molino, we hope whatever it was is gone.
But then we hear a loud SCREACH, And then we know it is following us!! And as we are walking, a dark shadow keeps jumping up and down our wooded block keeping up with us, jumping from tree to tree. It looks like a huge shadowy creature with fire yellow-red eyes with claws following us.
And it’s not a squirrel nor crow, it’s something big, clawing and scrambling through the branches, thrusting itself forward as it flaps its huge large wings to keep up with us.
And we’re scared as all hell cause through the dry fall branches we see glowing eyes moving back and forth watching us. And it makes a scream we’d never heard before. A high-pitched screech so loud that made us run with fear.
We were TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY TERRIFIED as Charlie pushes us forward till we break our chain holding hands together. Charlie runs. Yolanda yells, and I cannot keep up and keep looking up. I wanted to know what it was, and both turn to me and tell me it’s a LECHUZA!!
So run, Danny, RUN!!!
And that’s when I knew it was the thing my abuelita had warned us of. And the worst thing was that the thing didn’t stay in place, it was follwing us at night now, as it rustles atop tree branches, screeching to get us.
And as we decide to make the last sprint home separately, it keeps following us, jumping from tree to tree screeching louder and louder to get to us. And by the time we reach our front yard we are panting.
When we get there I look up and it’s on our peach tree and it looks dangerouly mean
That’s when I remembered something my Abuelita Teresita had once told me once.
“Mijo, cuando veas una lechuza que te esté siguiendo dile que venga mañana para el chile y el tomate”.
So that’s exactly what I did.
I shouted those words up to it.
“Ven mañana para el chile y el tomate!”
As soon as I said that the bird spread its wings and flew off into the dark sky!
But I remembered the rest of what my abuelita said to me, “Y Hazlo, mijo, o te sale muy mal.” (And Do It, son, or evil WILL come back to you!)
That night I took a bowl, put some tomatoes, and the hottest green serrano peppers (my father loved to eat) into it. Then I went outside and left the bowl under that same peach tree.
The next morning the bowl was tipped over and the tomatoes and chiles were gone.
And since then I’ve never seen nor ever been followed by another lechuza again.
So remember this when you have a diabolical beast after you