It was almost dinnertime; the other children had gone to bed late; through the door of the back room filtered the pale light of the oil lamp. José had stayed alone in the dining room; while his attention centered on the newspaper comics he heard a creaking noise, as if some piece of iron were sliding weakly across the floor. He turned quickly over his left shoulder and all he could make out were the shadows formed by the little light coming from his parents’ room and the chairs arranged around the living room. It was nothing, he thought, and sank back into his reading; the broken laughter quickly made him forget that noise he had heard scarcely more than a few seconds before. Again the floor creaked, but now accompanied by a tearing moan. This time he did not dare turn; he only lifted his newspaper and without looking back almost ran toward his parents’ room. He did not want to turn; he was afraid of what he might see. The creak of the blue door made him feel his body stiffen with starch, and his hands began to grow sweaty and cold. When he entered the room, his parents stared at the expression of terror on his face. “What’s wrong!”, they asked in alarm, while his father gave a sudden leap to get out of bed. “NNNnothing!”, only that I don’t know why, I got very scared. Can I sleep here with you?”. His mother, still not out of her astonishment, stretched her arms toward him; a mother’s arms are the best medicine for any situation, he thought, and softly curled into them. His father had already checked that the door was locked, and on the way went up the stairs to the rooftop and asked the help if everything was fine, and the help said yes, so for a minute, for a minute maybe, he thought that José had read something, or seen something that had caused that fright, so kindly he went into the other two children’s room, affectionately kissed them, and returned to his bedroom. When he entered, José was sleeping peacefully in his mother’s arms as she hummed a lullaby she had sung to José since he was very small. “It was nothing, your little boy is crazy,” said Don Raymundo in a joking tone, “Better take him to his room or we’ll be very cramped, no! leave him, better I take him.” When he laid José down, his father kissed him on the forehead and made the sign of the cross on his chest; José slept as if he had heard nothing… yet.
The next day he did nothing outside his daily routine; for more than a moment he thought that noise had been forgotten, but when night came, whether true or false, his thoughts came to life and the creak of wood against the floor was heard again. The second pack of María cookies paid their respects and shortly after as if by magic disappeared. His parents were not yet asleep, and the lamp light was about to go out. Suddenly he heard it again. It was not only a lament; it was something more than a tearing cry, but full of strength. This time José felt perfectly fine; “I am not afraid,” he thought. When he opened the door of the room he could see nothing but a ray of moon filtering sharply. He tried to light the lamp, but the oil was gone. When he prepared to return to his room, he saw it…
It was standing holding a large piece of wood resting on its left shoulder. At first glance he could not tell clearly what it was. Its clothes seemed to be a royal purple. It began to rain. The thunder did not take long to appear. The first made José jump. Now he observed its face. It was completely darkened and down its cheeks ran drops of blood. The hair covered its shoulders. The eyes seemed to be drowsy. But they looked at him fixedly. It stretched out its hands to reach him. Both showed gaping holes. Jesus!, he cried, – Yes?- the image answered him. The flash of a thunderbolt crossed the room. He saw clearly what it carried on its back… a cross. – you are not jesus! -, José cried in the middle of the roar; the image smiled. – go away, go away!, -. At first he did not hear what it had said but now he made out the phrase. “Suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the kingdom.” In the middle of his great panic he managed to move his eyelids and close them. But the words kept repeating. “For of such is the kingdom.” Again and again. When the noise of the thunder ceased José could at last open his eyes. There was nothing.
To some of us, the demons appear with horns and a tail, and to some of us they do not.