“The Tale of El Chupacabra” by Aurora G.

“The Tale of El Chupacabra”

By Aurora G., 9, of New York, U.S.A.

As I stand here upon the bodiless graves of my parents, Rogelio and Teresa Sanchez, I can’t help but replay those terrifying memories in my mind over and over again. It all began on a warm summer evening in Mexico when my mom was cooking dinner in our small kitchen with my abuela, Maria. While me and my nine year old brother Carlos were setting the old wooden table out on our patio, my father and our abuelo, Luis, were roasting carne on the grill. I could hear my father and abuelo laughing hysterically with one another.

“Time to eat!” my mom yelled. My family all headed to the table for supper.

“You know, you do not have to do this mija. It could be dangerous!” my abuela whispered to my mom.

“Ma, por favor! I want to make a better life for my family. You know this.” my mother replied. We all began eating our dinners. The conversation was more quiet than usual.

After dinner, my grandparents were preparing to head home. We hugged them very tight for the very last time. Once they left, my brother Carlos and I went inside, got ready for bed and went to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up early as I heard a rooster calling in the distance. Each of us got dressed and grabbed our very few chosen belongings to bring with us on our journey to cross the Mexico / United States border in hopes for a better life. Our neighbor drove us out far into the desert early that morning. When he couldn’t drive any further, he let me and my family out. I was nervous because now we had to begin walking on foot through the many miles of desert. As we walked, we tried to pass the time by singing our favorite Mexican folk songs and telling our best jokes to one another. We had spent so much time talking and laughing with each other that we had lost track of time. When I looked to the sky, I noticed that the sun began to set. We decided that it was time to rest for the night and set up camp. My father built us a nice warm fire to keep us warm during the night. After we ate dinner, my father told us how he wanted to tell us about the legend of el Chupacabra.

“About 25 years ago, there was a creature that began to catch people’s attention. No one had ever seen it before but when they did, they were very scared. It has big, red glowing eyes and very sharp spikes on its back. It is said to stand on its hind legs and has the body of a reptilian kangaroo. There have been many times when farmers would wake up to go feed their animals in the morning, only to find them lying on the ground dead and completely drained of their blood. Not one drop of blood left behind. This creature has been known to not only hunt animals but also humans too! There have been many tales of people trying to cross the border like we are, only to disappear. Many seem to believe that el Chupacabra got to them before they reached the United States. So, if you ever hear a low growling sound, take it as a warning and run as fast as you can,” my dad smiled as he finished his story.

“Nice story dad!” Carlos said with excitement.

“Yeah! I loved it dad! It was amazing!” I added.

My dad smiled, “Well, I’m glad that you kids liked it.”

“Hey dad, will you tuck us in our sleeping bags tonight?” Carlos asked.

“Okay, sure Carlos. Anything for you buddy,” my dad agreed.

As my brother and I climbed into our sleeping bags, our dad came over and kissed our foreheads to say goodnight.

“Hey Teresa, I’m going to go find a spot to use the bathroom before we head to bed,” my dad said.

“Okay honey,” my mom smiled at him.

My father then walked off into the darkness. After several minutes had passed, my mom was worried when my dad did not return. She then decided to go and check on him to see what the hold up was. When she went to check on him, she finally had found him with her flashlight. His body was lying on the ground, lifeless and drained of all of his blood. Not a drop left. My mom came back in a panic. She was terrified, I could see it in her eyes. We suddenly asked her where dad was and then she began to cry.

“You father is dead mijo,” my mom said as she was sobbing. “Something attacked him. Stay close to me. We only have each other now.” I could not believe it but then again, my father never returned. The three of us all huddled up together all night long, crying over the loss of our beloved father.

When morning came along, we packed up our sleeping bags and left camp. Most of the day was really quiet as none of us knew what to say after the awful night last night. We walked for hours and hours under the hot beating sun. Soon enough, the sun began to set once again. My brother, mom and I all agreed to stop and set up camp for the night.

This time, my mom started the fire to keep us warm that night. Once it became dark, all of the sudden we began to hear a low growling sound. Then we saw large, red glowing eyes come from the darkness. The strange creature then showed itself. It was el Chupacabra! From my father’s story! I couldn’t believe it! The story was true! The beast started to roar loudly. We all screamed and when my mother then threw herself in between Carlos, me and the creature.

“RUN! Get out of here! Run Elena! Run Carlos!” screamed our mother. I grabbed Carlos’ hand and we began to run as fast as we could. I couldn’t believe it. My mom sacrificed herself to buy us time to escape and help save us! Soon, Carlos and I spotted a dark tunnel in the distance. We ran as quick as we could to the tunnel. When we approached the dark tunnel, we ran inside trying to hide from the scary creature. It was only then that we saw the same red glowing eyes in the darkness making it way slowly towards us.

We were terrified and did not know what to do. As we slowly walked backwards, I had tripped over something hard and metal. I moved my hand around in the darkness to grab hold of what I had tripped over and noticed that it was a crowbar! When el Chupacabra began coming closer and closer to Carlos and I, we trembled with fear. I then stabbed the creature in the leg with the crowbar. The beast roared in pain.

“Run Carlos!” I screamed and we both continued to run through the tunnels as fast as we could. All I can remember is just how we ran and ran and ran through the whole night.

The next morning, we could see sunlight shining into the tunnel from the other end. We finally found our way out of the other end and escaped el Chupacabra! Carlos and I saw a diner across the street. When we walked into the diner, everyone began to stare at us.

“Are you kids okay?” the old waitress asked us.

To this very day, there are still many sightings and reports from the monstrous creature, el Chupacabra…

THE END