Tuesday, October 23, 2018

La Llorona


Por: Gus Calvo
La tormenta estaba tomando apogeo en la Bahía de las Animas, los rayos y truenos se podían oír y ver a lo lejos, casi en el nuevo Hotel Caribe que estaba en una de las isletas metida en la bahía. Las olas estremecían la tierra y a lo lejos en el sector de las murallas José Ignacio Villazón estaba corriendo hacia la Iglesia de San Pedro Claver para buscar resguardo de la lluvia.
“Alguien ábrame la puerta por favor” Golpeo en el convento que estaba anexo a la iglesia, pero nadie le respondio.
“ !Soy un pobre hombre en un busca de refugio hasta que la tormenta pase!” Pero nadie respondió. La visibilidad era muy pobre, y con el ruido de la tormenta lo mas seguro es que nadie lo podía oír en las premisas. Por un momento pensó que de pronto las hermanas no le iban abrir por algún voto de castidad en lo que los hombres no tenían permitido entrar.
La tormenta seguía empeorando, y al parecer iba a llover por un par de horas, pensó que de pronto podría resguardarse bajo la puerta de la iglesia que era la suficientemente grande y arqueada, pero se percató de manera tardía que la lluvia estaba pegando al lado de los muros.
No sabia que hacer, y no quería salir debido a los rayos. En su estupor cuando iba a volver a la puerta del convento, se percato de una mujer vestida de blanco, de las más exquisitas telas traídas del oriente, perfectas tes morena, y unos ojos verdes que parecían desafiar las leyes de la física. En sus manos llevaba un bulto cubierto, parecía un encargo, pero nadie iba a cubrir una parcela con telas tan costosas.
La mujer no se percató de José, y se acerco a la puerta, siempre mirándola fijamente con esos ojos verdes que parecían esmeraldas satánicas, se paro con una pose desgarbada y saco su mano de entre las fundas que llevaba, era una mano esquelética la cual le hizo dudar a José que si de pronto él había muerto.
“Si me vienes a llevar, no estoy listo, mi vida ha sido un suspiro en estos 22 años, perdonadme mis pecados antes que me lleves al otro mundo” Susurro Jose entre sus mas profundas lamentaciones.
“Santo Padre Celestial, ¿Qué es esta abominación?”
La mujer dejo caer el bulto para que esta mostrara el cadáver de un infante de apenas unos pocos meses de nacido.
“¡Déjenme entrar! Mis hijos, mi hijo, mis retoños han muerto, necesitan la bendición del Padre Carrasquilla” La cara de la mujer empezó a transformarse en una calavera que derramaba lagrimas de sangre.
“Este sufrimiento de una madre, en no poder subir y ver a la divina providencia es un castigo divino” Él bebe empezó a parpadear y José le vio esos ojos rojos que parecían haber visto el mismo infierno y la cara de Satanás. La mujer seguía llorando mientras golpeaba la puerta. José no dudo mas y salió corriendo de la puerta de la iglesia, volvió a tocar de una la puerta del convento dando gritos de ultratumba.
Una hermana de apellido Rodríguez se apiado de él, pero más fue coincidencia ya que estaba pasando por la entrada y oyó los gritos de miedo. Ella se sorprendió al ver al pobre hombre, pero su atención se cambio cuando vio a la mujer que daba gritos de dolor en la entrada de la iglesia.
“Pase mi buen hombre, usted esta entre nosotros los vivos, esa pobre alma en pena si usted sigue al lado de ella, se lo llevara al infierno”
José se tranquilizo y le pregunto a la hermana ¿quién era ella?, y la hermana con una sonrisa le contesto “La llorona, viene con la lluvia y se va con ella misma.”

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Hitori Kakurenbo


Fueron aquellos pasos a las dos de la madrugada lo que me despertaron, estaba solo en casa, y oí a alguien caminando adentro. Lo primero que hice fue ponerle seguro a la puerta y llamar a la policía, de una me encerré en el closet Me quedé pensando ¿Qué pudo ser eso? No tenía idea, pero me llamo la atención ya que los pasos estaban en diferentes direcciones, pensé por un segundo que podrían ser varias personas.
La policía se estaba demorando en llegar, al menos sentí una eternidad en esos pocos minutos que duro la experiencia, el pánico me estaba inundando mis entrañas y honestamente no sabía que hacer. En algún punto oí la risa de un niño dentro del cuarto; me quede pensando en todas las posibilidades ¿Qué haría un niño en mi casa?
Mi casa no era muy grande, era parte de un condominio, dos habitaciones en el segundo piso y una en el primero, no era una casa muy grande considerando que era lo que llamaban una townhouse, pensé por un segundo que algún niño del vecindario se habría metido para hacerme una jugarreta. Sin dudarlo salí del closet y empecé a caminar la casa, estaba solo ese fin de semana ya que mi esposa había ido a visitar a sus padres al norte de la Florida y se había llevado al perro.
Mi suegra y mis sobrinas les encantaba el perro, y siempre que venían a visitar Mota dormía con ellas en el cuarto de huéspedes; pero ese fin de semana estaba completamente solo. Pensé que por un momento nuestro hijo había vuelto pero el estaba en los dormitorios de la universidad y lo mas seguro es que nos hubiera llamado con anterioridad.
La policía se estaba demorando en llegar, pero siendo honesto conmigo mismo nunca llegaban tan rápido al menos que fuera cualquier tipo de emergencia que no fuera en una residencia. Volví a oír los pasos en el primer piso, se me congelo la sangre, tenia que ir a ver que era eso.
No grite, solo camine en silencio armado con un bate; pensando que los asaltantes ya tendrían algún cuchillo de la cocina o pistola pero la risa de los niños seguía vigente, seguía activa seguían moviéndose, el miedo se estaba apoderando de mi pero para mi mayor sorpresa cuando baje al área en común no vi nada mas que un osito de felpa que tenia al lado un cuchillo, prendí las luces y revise las ventanas al igual que la habitación de huéspedes y la puerta de salida.
Todo estaba en orden, no tenia idea de donde había salido ese oso de felpa, cuando lo revise con detalle me percate que adentro había arroz y sangre como si alguien hubiera hecho un fetiche y lo había tirado dentro de mi casa, no sabía que estaba pasando, pero sabía que no era un sueño. Solo pasaron 15 minutos desde que llamé a la policía cuando por fin llego una patrulla a la casa.
La teniente reviso que las ventanas estuvieran aseguradas al igual que la puerta principal no fue dañada, le di el oso y le expliqué de la manera más calmada que no me pertenecía, ella prometió llevarlo a la jefatura y deshacerse de él. A las 2:45 estaba de vuelta en mi cama, revise todo con detalle que no hubiera mas cosas extrañas, y trate de cerrar los ojos, los trate de cerrar por un segundo y volví a oír la risa de un niño.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

The Zodiac is Among US


“Who are you?” Said Leann Domingos to the man with the thick glasses. He wasn’t tall, he was 5’10’’, he had a really ugly face that made him look like a blob-fish and smelled like Doritos. She was quite intrigue because she didn’t remember how she got into that hill, but she thought that she recognized it as Slipdown Mountain, she thought she was in Parker County albeit the last memory she had was in Dallas.
The man was completely quiet, he was just there watching her, she was feeling drowsy, tired as she was drugged. “Who are you?” The man didn’t reply he just looked at her with no visible smile except a deadpan face.
She was trying to find her cellphone, but she noticed that she was tied down to a tree, she started to scream but she didn’t have the strength. Everything was so surreal, she wasn’t feeling her body, she was feeling as she was watching everything from far away.
The man moved close to her, she finally saw him with more detail, he was wearing a suit and his shoes were quite elegant, they were quite shiny even if the light was dim around them. He seemed to be a politician, but she wasn’t sure. Again, she saw his face, it was ugly as if someone vomited an In-N-Out Burger and made a sculpture of a blob.
“What do you want from me?” She tried to mutter the words, but the words didn’t come out from her mouth. The man placed her a mask with a symbol that had a circle and overlapping was a plus sign. She then shot her on the head leaving her dead and he took his car and drove away.
The trunk of his car opened and one banner flew away, as the banner shattered again the road the words of the slogan said “Together, we will win” and he drove south, as far as he could go, just hoping that someone would find the body of Leann and let the world know the second generation of the Zodiac was going to rise.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The End Game


The End-Game
Short Story
“What was that?” Lynn started to wonder as the doors of the plane were opening and everyone was asked to jump into the island. Recently Netflix purchased a new format by John de Mol in which 10 teams, comprised of 10 people competed to reach the center stage of an island and in the center stage there was the prize which was $10 million Renminbi or, one million per participant.
As soon the hatches opened, everyone jumped; Lynn was scared, she didn’t knew where she was going but when she saw the island and two more planes dropping people; she realized that the Versus game was a serious thing; the parachutes started to glide everywhere, some of the contestants where going in free fall, they were trying to reach the grounds as quickly as possible.
It was a race in the sky, Lynn started to panic when she realized it was over a 100-people looking for the same objective; she didn’t knew what to expect as soon they hit the land, but when she saw her teammates dissipated to other sides of the island she knew her chances of even reached the goal were diminished to nothing.
As she was reaching her landing point, that it was near an old abandoned town, she started to hearing gun shots and screams, at first, she thought that it was part of the environment but after she saw the other contestants killing each other, she understood that it was a battle royal. She tried to diverge her way from the center and landed in the top of a house; there she stayed for a moment analyzing the situation; she tried to call everyone that was on her team, but she realized the worst, they were dead.
She inferred that part of the rules of the game were that there were no restrictions to reach the goal; and that involved killing people, killing anyone until there was no one except the winners who reached the goal.
It was a macabre experience, 100 people in a battle royal, all in the name of entertainment. She was wondering why she accepted? She was motivated by greed, she was motivated for a quick shot to fame, she then remembered that she had a small tablet similar as an iPod and she could saw the position she was as well the people who were eliminated; she was terrified because at that moment 25 people were eliminated from the competition and were dead; 4 of them were her team mates, other five were missing.
She tried to run as fast as she could to the hills; to hide in between the bushes or find a cave; she was running for her life, she was scared to be shot by someone as no one explained to her what was that game about. She didn’t want the money, she wanted to stay alive and go home with her parents and daughter, she was wondering if they were watching?
She was panicking while running; she found a small shed, she decided to hide there. While closing the door, she found a Glock 26, she took and checked that there were bullets, she was happy. She sat down while she heard people screaming, dying, the bullets, she was having a nervous breakdown.
Then a guy carrying a pickaxe was approaching to her hiding spot; she was preparing to die, she was sitting in a corner fearing for her life; then she realized he was going towards her, probably looking for supplies or something. She didn’t hesitate, she shot him in the head, he fall on the floor dead on the spot; she was crying, asking for forgiveness, she started to think if he had a family? A job? A life? Something…
She apologized to his dead body and grabbed the pickaxe, and started to walk to the designated goal… She didn’t knew what was going to happen to her…

Sunday, March 4, 2018

They are Among Us


They are Among Us
By:
Gustavo Calvo-Simmons

We were sitting at the library; outside the world seemed to be in peace but the incidents of the mutants were on the rose, we were hiding as at that moment the city was under Marshall Law and we couldn’t do too much. Besides myself, in the library were Doctor Mendoza and one reporter named Vidal who she used to work for the local television station.
The name of the city was Cartagena, it was located on the north coast of Colombia, also it was one of the last cities in the world where the sights of the mutants were contained. The library was located in downtown, not far away from the sea and just close to one of the avenues that passed above the sea itself.
It was quite of a picturesque city, even after the desolation, you could see people walking and doing business, it gave us some hope in humanity as what it was on the northern hemisphere of the Americas humanity has declined. When we arrived, we were looking for shelter or at least some survivors, we weren’t expecting to see the country standing still, we didn’t even know what to expect but they seemed to be doing a good job keeping their marine borders on check.
I was walking near the library when I realized, the alarms went on; a loud set of roars were not far away. I ran as quickly as I could go, I was feeling they were behind us; the chaos was erupting and people were being trampled by the mutants but I found a way to the library where we secured the gates.
The library was constructed in an old mansion, with walls of stone and a big foyer; there, the three of us we were standing, everyone else seemed to begone and go to some other places to find refuge but we were trying to look what was causing the mutant outbreak.
We were watching from the upper floor the streets; we realized something horrible “the mutants were humans, some of them were humans, but what caused the mutation?” Out of nowhere Doctor Mendoza started to sweat, he was hyperventilating, and he looked incredibly concerned. His last words before his transformation were “I am so sorry, they bite me early”.
He started to change, it was almost instantly, but the paradox became that mutated into a gargantuan being; he was a shadow of his previous self, basically animalistic. I understood, while I was running away from the library, all alone because Vidal got murdered by him before we could react, it was the saliva, it made thought “maybe we are all infected?” As I tried to move away, I saw Dr. Martinez monster growing up in size and I knew my end was near if I had stayed close to him.
My first reaction was to go inside a building but I thought that wouldn’t save me as he was smashing everything on the side, so I went and hid on the side of a wall that was separating the beach from the road. I was exposed to other mutants, but by a faith of luck I survived, I saw Dr. Martinez’s monster ran away north, I just stood there in the darkness, praying to God to not be noticed by other monsters.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

The Woods Behind Me

The Woods Behind Me
Short Story
By: Gustavo Calvo
“Who are you?”
“I am nobody, but I am everything”
“Are you Satan?”
“No”
“I am confused”
“I am the void, I exist and I don’t”
“You are God?”
“Neither; I am the one who forms cohesion between everything, between your world and the nothingness”
“Why are you showing in front of me?”
“You are one of the few who can see me”
“Like I am woke?”
“No, that is just pure bullshit; is much as you know I exist and I acknowledge your existence; we understand each other beyond words”
“I understand”
“There is a moment in life, where you realize how fragile everything is; such as this moment, you are here laying on the side of tree. Enjoying this peace and quiet before oblivion comes”
“Death seems to be serene as a presence, but you are quite understanding into talking about the essence of being”
“Death is not as merciful as you think”
“I assume you know they”
“Death wasn’t the one who caused you this; instead you decided to embrace them”
“I wanted to call Death…”
“You became an emissary of they, by embracing your own mortality”
“I couldn’t keep up; now I am fighting to move or breath…”
“Just close your eyes and become one with I”
“One with one of the Elders of the Universe?”
“You can ascend…”
“I have to be hallucinating due the loss of blood”

“No, you are not” The Void became again ethereal and absorbed him; the wind on the top of the trees started to how as if the agony was reaching is peak. His body was left behind near the willow and he became one with the nothingness.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The Gun of the Saint Short Story

The Gun of the Saint
By:
Gustavo Simmons
In the country of Liberatus, there was an ongoing civil war between the East and West, the feelings of separation between the country were every day striking the fragile stability within the republic. Some people were arguing that the federalist ideology was the reason on why the country was crumbling into pieces, others where mentioning that it was on an administrative division on why the civil war started.
A hidden reality between the problematics in the country, is that there was a chase for some ancient artifacts that could give the people who found them a series of skills that could be used to subjugate large groups of population with extreme ease.
The objects were known as the Storm Arcana, 22 in total, each of them had different effects on the users, the myths said the powers that granted were individual but it was the last object, the 22nd in number that could move mountains without the necessity of having faith.
Part of the myth came that within an area shaped as a hexagon, the body of the first user of the Arcana, a man who used to go by the moniker of Barry exhibited great abilities and it was the last object that was buried with his tomb. Those where the fragments of the legend that made President MacLeod to pursue the artifacts and try to end the civil war that divided the nation beyond the two fragments; as there was a third division within the Central region of Liberatus in which it was a point of neutrality in which every now and then some combats occurred.
That last artifact was known as the Gun of the Saint; it was the treasure the Hunters wanted the most, but also it was the most problematic to obtain, not because of the location but rather it required five of the other artifacts and they were spread also everywhere and much of them weren’t even sure if they really existed.
Donaldson was 21 years old, he was the oldest of 10 children and one of the three that helped his parents with their cattle ranch that was in the middle of West Miames, essentially the lived in a zone where there was no conflict but on occasions several bursts of violence appeared and they were on several occasions to lose the little that they had.
It was December 21st of 1885, Newton County was in rubbles, Donaldson was running as quickly as he could as the Liberation Fronts were creating chaos around the province, he didn’t know if anyone of his household was dead or alive, he was just worried to find a shelter and try not to be killed.
The attack happened out of nowhere, he was one moment on the town grocery store buying a few items for dinner and suddenly a squad of M.4 Sherman’s came out of nowhere and started aiming at everyone; within a few hours the county was destroyed and the chances of survivors seemed to be one to none.
Donaldson found himself in the Kankakee State Park, he was hiding from the Liberation Army, from what he heard they went to exterminate and conquer Newton County as it was a part of their expansion to finally take over the Federalist government.
The soldiers where on his tail, he didn’t know what to do except for hiding. The park was being surrounded by the armed forces of the counter revolution, he was running out of breath, and he didn’t know where to go or hide so at the he surrendered, even if he didn’t commit any crimes.
“What I had done?” He said.
“Existing, we were ordered to exterminate everyone in this county” The nameless soldier replied.
“Why?”
“None of your business” the soldier aimed his musket but the bullet didn’t hit Donaldson as time froze before his eyes. A wheel was standing in front of him, there were markings in front of the wheel that mentioned life and death, and some others that he couldn’t decipher.
He was enchanted and grateful for that moment, he got saved for some reason and he couldn’t have understood why?
“My child you always been lucky” a disembodied voice appeared from nowhere. “please take this treasure that we give to you” Donaldson touched the wheel, he realized he was in control of other people’s faith but he was wondering if there were going to be some backlash against him”

He touched the wheel and suddenly time regained its flow; he forgot the bullet that was aimed at him and he only heard the noise of it impacting the ground. After that he heard screams “He got one of the treasures”, he knew his life was going to change.