Hoot

In Mexico, the owl means darkness, magic, night and death.”

—Florencio Rodriguez

Once upon a time there were two girls named Norma and Irma, who were sisters and lived in a town far away from here.

There was nothing special about that town; it was more like a small place where Norma and Irma's family had lived for many generations.

Perhaps, the most relevant aspect of that town was that it had a cemetery, of great extension and that dated back to the time when the conquerors had arrived to those lands.

The cemetery in question was different from others. Instead of having ugly, neglected and frightening tombs, it had incredible mausoleums, full of statues and flowers, where there were always owls hooting around.

All the other children in that town, just by passing near the cemetery, felt an impressive fear. In fact, not even the adults liked to visit that cemetery. But this was not the case for Norma and Irma.

In Norma and Irma's family, of Mexican tradition, death was not something terrifying, but something to be respected. For Mexicans, remembering those who have passed away is a very important part of their beliefs, being the way in which, even after death, you can show a person that you love him or her. Family is the most important thing there is and our relatives are still attached to us, even when they are no longer physically with us, because life and death are linked in an inseparable way.

These were the things that Mom had taught Norma and Irma, beliefs that were even older than the town cemetery. That is why Norma and Irma, far from being afraid of that cemetery, enjoyed visiting it.

They loved to walk around that place looking at the magnificent statues on the tombs, the ancient mausoleums of very important people (writers, painters, politicians and aristocrats). They also liked very much to play with the animals that lived in that cemetery, like the cats (because, in case you don't know, usually in the cemeteries live many cats). Although Norma and Irma's favorite animals were the owls, which were seen only when the sun was setting and they were like guardians of the cemetery, but they also took care of the girls.

And finally, Norma and Irma liked to visit their ancestors and spend a good time with them. Since their family had lived in that town for many generations, many relatives of both girls were buried in that cemetery.

One of the relatives they most enjoyed visiting was Tio, who was Norma and Irma's uncle. Tio means uncle in Spanish, and he had passed away before the sisters were born, so they never met him. But mom had told them that Tio liked to play with toy cars, so they always took toy cars and played near his grave, to honor him and show him that, even though they never got to meet him, they loved and respected him, because he was also a member of the family.

II

Although Norma and Irma were happy playing in the cemetery and having a good time, the rest of the children did not think so.

At school, all the children always tried to keep their distance from Norma and Irma, because they thought they were crazy.

“All you do is attract evil to this school!” The other children said, but Norma and Irma paid no attention.

The two sisters knew they were not bringing evil anywhere. Rather, they believed in respect, love and good things. Respect and love were two great values that their mother and their culture had given them, but the other children did not understand this.

What scared the other children the most was that wherever Norma and Irma walked, they were followed by owls, barn owls included even in broad daylight. They were also followed by black cats, which meowed loudly. The sisters knew that the animals followed them to take care of them, because evil can be found anywhere; but the other children thought that the animals following Norma and Irma represented bad things.

And since the children at school were afraid of Norma and Irma because they did not understand them, they said hurtful things to them, and also tried to play pranks on them.

It so happened that, one particular day, a boy named John wanted to scare Norma and Irma.

John took from the school biology lab one of the frogs that were used for dissecting.

“With it, I'll scare those girls. And they'll be so scared they'll never set foot in school again,” John told himself.

In the classroom, while Norma and Irma paid attention to what the teacher was saying, John put the frog inside Irma's lunchbox.

Laughing and rubbing his hands together, John was happy to have made that prank and hoped that the girls would be scared. But John didn't close the lunchbox properly, and the frog jumped on him and landed on his face.

“Yuck!” John screamed, feeling the frog's goo on his face.

Frightened and disgusted as he was, he couldn't help but run out of the classroom. And the frog, which was also at large, kept hopping around until it reached the hallway, where a big black cat grabbed it between its paws and ate it.

And as John ran down the hallway, he shouted:

“Those sisters are witches, they're evil!”

The situation was rather amusing for Norma and Irma. Although one of the two couldn't eat her food, because everything was full of frog goo, they didn't mind. They were sisters and could share the food of one of the two.

That same day, but in another classroom, a little girl tried to play another prank on the sisters.

The girl's name was Susie and her plan was to put gum on the seat of one of the sisters, so that the gum would stick to her clothes.

So she did, she put gum on the seat of one of the sisters, and rubbing her fingers together and laughing, she prepared to leave to watch the outcome of her prank from afar.

However, little Susie slipped and fell, having the misfortune that her head landed exactly where she had left the gum. And the gum stuck to her hair.

Little Susie ran out of that classroom in tears, saying,

“Those sisters are witches, they are evil!”

All the children had realized what happened to John and what happened to Susie for trying to play pranks on the sisters Norma and Irma, and they were all frightened, for they thought the sisters were like witches; but at no time did they think that what had happened to John and Susie was caused by evil intentions.

III

Norma and Irma paid no attention to the other children, they were used to that kind of attitude.

When it was time to go to lunch, the sisters simply got up and went without worrying about anything. And they sat down to eat, as if it were any other day, quiet and happy, laughing as they told jokes.

Suddenly, a boy got up from one of the tables and, shouting, approached them, saying:

“You can't study in this school! You are witches and you are full of evil!” The boy shouted, while the others around him supported him, “You hurt John and Susie and you can no longer study in this place, you bring your misery to this place!”

Norma and Irma, tired of the repeated annoyances, stood up and, with firmness in their voices, began to say.

“We never say anything while you play pranks on us, trying to hurt us,” Norma began.

“We always patiently put up with all the hurtful things you say to us, because we know you don't understand us,” Irma said.

As the sisters spoke, thousands and thousands of owls suddenly swarmed at the window of the school's dining hall.

And in the corridors, hundreds and hundreds of meowing black cats swarmed, blocking the dining hall exits.

“We always put up with all the things you do to us, but we won't do it anymore. So if you don't want anything bad to happen to you, you should start being nice,” Norma said.

“Because the only ones bringing your misery to this place are you, when all we have done is honor our values,” Irma said.

The cats stopped meowing and moved away from the dining room exit doors.

But all the owls that were crowded at the windows made a “Hoot” in unison, and all the children had to cover their ears, because it was a very loud sound.

Scared, the boy who had been shouting, apologized to them for being so rude, and so did all the other children, promising not to say hurtful things to the sisters again.

We don't know if, since that day, the rest of the children understand the things Norma and Irma believe in, but what we can know is that they learned that the owls will always be watching over them.

Because those who are full of goodness and do not let negative feelings stain them, will always find themselves protected by the guardians of goodness, wisdom and love. But also magic, night and death.

The end.