Narrative Essay Winner

     After the previous night with the Chupacabra, Odilia and the girls slept long through the day past noon. Odilia’s eyes drifted open to the bright sun scalding her eyes. The rest of the girls laid beside her, the memory of the previous night fresh in Odilia’s head.

 

    “Wake up,” she mumbled. The girls groaned as they got themselves together.

 

     “Why is the sun going down?” Velia moaned as she got up. Odilia looked towards the sky and saw the sun starting to recede behind a mountain in the distance.

 

     “We need to move; it’s getting dark,” Odilia told the girls. A sigh echoed behind her as the girls crawled to their feet.

 

     “Look, I’m tired too, but we aren’t safe here in the open,” Odilia directed. They yawned as they got up and looked around, rolling their eyes at Odilia.

 

     “Let’s just move,” she said, starting to pack up.

 

     Moving through the seemingly never-ending hills the girls said nothing as they followed the rising moon towards their abuelita’s house. Only Pita seemed excited and she bounced around the girls looking for lizards. As the grassy dunes continued in their extent, Pita trailed behind the group as she noticed a bright dot in the distance. As she got closer, the light flickered and she felt a small hand on her shoulder.

 

     ”Hey, Pita.” Pita looked to her shoulder as a pixie settled on her arm.

 

     “What are you?” she mumbled in awe.

 

      “I'm here to help,” the small creature said.

 

      A scream echoed through the air and the sisters' eyes jolted into awakening.

 

    “Pita!” the girls said. They immediately split, searching for their lost sibling. “Pita!” The girls screamed in all directions, looking furiously for their sister. Only Odilia thought to stop and look for signs of Pita, while the other girls ran frantically around the dunes. Odilia noticed the trampled grass of the dunes leading towards the dark woods.

 

     “She’s in the woods” she yelled, pointing towards the entrance of cracked sticks and broken leaves leading into the terrifying depths of shadowy trees. The girls' heads poked up from searching elsewhere turning to focus on the path of destruction leading into the woods.

 

     “Well!” Delia said, “What are you waiting for?” The young girl ran ahead towards the treeline, speeding into the woods. As she disappeared into the depths another scream echoed from where she left. Velia’s eyes widened at the disappearance of her twin sister, her mouth open in shock as she stood on the plains before the large span of trees.

 

     “We have to go after them,” she said quietly, still blankly staring at the spot where her twin sister's screams still echoed.

 

     “We will,” Odilia said sadly. The three girls stared, as if in shock at the sudden realization that they were without two of their siblings. The girls' eyes steeled almost in sync as they marched into the woods together after their missing sisters. Moving slowly through the woods, Odilia racked her brain for information. Looking for anything about what they were dealing with, she thought back to Teresita’s house. There was one more monster she mentioned, one more obstacle on their way home, but nothing came to mind as she tore through her brain for clues. The girls struggled on as the path of devastation continued into deeper woods where even the moon didn’t shine through the branches. The girls moved closer together in the deep freezing cold of the night as they trudged along the seemingly endless path. They finally stopped at the base of a large tree-covered mountain as they had grown tired as the night went on.

 

     “Odilia, I need to rest,” Velia moaned.

 

     Odilia strived to push further, but it might have broken her sisters.

 

     “Okay, but only for a little while,” Odilia sighed.

 

     Sometime in that long night, Odilia fell asleep with her sisters. As she woke up the moon was starting to fade in the new coming light.

 

    “It must have been a dream,” she mumbled to herself. She blinked her eyes open and looked around. Her sisters were gone, their food bag stolen and no trace of the monster. She shot up from the ground.

 

    “Velia! Anyone!” She screamed into the incoming sun. No response came, her sisters were gone. There in that grove of trees, Odilia broke. She cried to the morning sun, as it rose above the treeline that had looked deadly the night before. She lay in a pool of tears for a while, contemplating her thoughts. I could’ve protected them. Her conscience drowned her in guilt while she lay on that mossy floor. After running dry of tears Odilia began to think. She delved deep into her memories and that conversation with Teresita came to her mourning mind. The duende, the terrible beast of legend flooded her head. It was an old wive’s tale of a man who would come at night to steal children who behaved badly. It was a story used to scare little girls who disobeyed their mothers. But in that moment, the story fueled Odilia. She sat up as her memories came back to her, all of her childhood horrors coming to life around her. Odilia got up, She knew how to defeat the deceiving pixie. She began running after her sisters, following the trail of broken leaves and cracked sticks from their struggles. The hope in her began to swell as she broke into a run, nothing to help her fight but the old tale of the Duende’s only weakness.

She didn't know how long she ran for, only that when she finally stopped, her heart seemed as if it was bouncing around her body. She had come to a clearing in the woods, a field surrounded by dense trees. Her heart raced as she scouted the area. Her sisters were here! They lay struggling, tied to a large tree like pigs. Anger flowed through her body as she spotted the leprechaun-like creature prancing around the meadow. Her senses boiled with anger as she continued to watch the devilish man. Without thinking, she attacked the small creature like an animal. She dove onto it punching at its face with her bare fists. Again her conscious spoke to her, telling her that what she was doing was wrong, that this creature was just obeying orders. Her mind battled within her, but eventually her will to do right overpowered her hatred. She stopped, the creature lay on the floor bloody and in pain. It was going to die. Odilia halted her heart rate and began moving without thinking to save the monster. As she felt its little heart slow, she began to pump it. Over and over until finally its eyes opened. It was alive, and as it woke it looked at the bloody girl who had saved its life.

 

    “Thank you,” it squeaked As she opened her eyes, she nodded towards the small animal and, with that cue, it ran into the rising sun.