A Holy Souls Tale
They are among us, you just have to be watchful
Natalia grew up in a typical Latin Catholic family and, although she was not particularly devout or frequenting the church, except for very special occasions, she was always surrounded and exposed to Christian beliefs and practices, especially from her mother’s family.
At home it was common to hear, from the mouth of her grandmother and her aunts, those stories already mixed with legends that abound in small towns and that are passed from one generation to another. And one of those customs, which especially called her and her cousins’ attention, was the one about the “holy souls in purgatory”.
— What is it about the holy souls, abuelita Tete? — they would ask for the grandmother to tell them.
— The souls are like little angels, but without wings — the grandmother replied — they are souls that got lost on the way to heaven and that is why people pray to them, ask for favors and light candles, so they fulfil the favors and they earn with God the way back to heaven.
— Hahaha! She and her cousins laughed — You do invent a lot Tete —
— do not laugh … that’s bad — she responded by making herself serious.
And so, Natalia and her cousins grew up, among candles, saints images and rosaries.
Natalia stopped thinking about all those memories of her childhood that were brought to mind by a little candle that her mother had lit in the kitchen, “because there was always something or someone that deserved a favor from the souls”, her mother used to say.
She was already late for the bus, so she drained her coffee cup and kissed her mother goodbye.
— God bless you, Hija —
-Amén, mamita —
At noon, Natalia received a call to the telephone station that she attended in the company where she worked. It was her friend, Ariana, who worked in a nearby office. They made plans, Ariana would seek her to have a coffee at the end of the afternoon, so they could catch up.
The afternoon went by quickly and without incident. Natalia noticed that outside it was already getting dark, earlier due to the time of year. However, she did not worry much about hurrying; her friend had a car and would pick her up so today there was no need to rush to the avenue to take the bus back home. Natalia took her time to leave everything in order and when she finished, she went out to the entrance. The guard and the cleaner were already there when she left; the three of them were the only people in the office.
At the time of the day, the street was usually quiet, not to say pretty lonely. She expected her friend would be parked outside, waiting for her, but Ariana wasn’t. She opened her purse to take out her cell phone and call her, but she only found the charger — it was then she remembered leaving it on the kitchen table while she was having breakfast.
She looked back into the office. The building was in semi-darkness and there was nobody in sight, and she decided to walk towards the avenue before it got any darker. She had no way of calling Ariana to find out her whereabouts, but she would try to find a busier road. It was already late to take the bus, but perhaps she could ask for a phone, or get a taxi.
She was walking briskly, carrying her purse tightly against her side and looking nervously to both sides of the street.
As the streetlights came on, she noticed a movement behind the dumpster in the middle of the sidewalk ahead, and she slowed as she saw a shadow heading toward her, her throat as dry as a sandpaper and her legs like clay.
A young man, wearing a hoodie and a cap, walked closer, his figure was silhouetted against the yellow light on the avenue. Her heart was pounding so heavily, the beat in her temples, she was dizzy. She heard his voice:
— Hi, are you alone?
She tried to dodge around him but a hand squeezed strongly around her forearm; her chest was shaking from the racing of her heart…she meant to run but her legs didn’t respond.
— Easy, I don’t bite
The face of the man holding her wasn’t bad looking, not in the way that a stalker is expected to look — scary, ugly, suspicious. But his eyes were lost, he looked at her without seeing.
— Would you help me with some money?
Terrified and paralyzed by her fear, her own voice seemed odd when she answered:
— I do not have any money and please let go of me, my friend is waiting for me up there in the avenue.
— is that so? And your friend will have something to help me? — he asked.
His eyes were glazed and lost, his smile strange. He wasn’t letting go of her arm.
Lights illuminated the narrow street, a car that came from the avenue and honked slightly. It stopped right next to them and the driver lowered the window. The man loosened his grip on Natalia’s arm. She stepped back, her purse tight against her chest and looked inside the car.
She heard a female voice speaking to them:
— Hello! I’m lost, could you help me find an address?
The man turned and ran down the street, to the surprise of the driver and Natalia. Looking back into the car, Natalia was surprised to see a mature woman behind the wheel, her savior. She was white, middle aged, and a little disheveled.
— Please, help me, get me out of here…
— Are you okay, girl? You’re pale, jump in — she said stretching to open the door.
Natalia settled herself in the passenger seat and closed the door, then began to sob uncontrollably as that low, oddly familiar and warm voice tried to soothe her:
— Calm down, it’s over, breathe, everything is fine now. We are going to get out of here — the woman whispered while stroking her hair.
Natalia calmed, and the car moved towards the avenue. She gave a furtive look to the woman who was driving. Very blue eyes were surrounded by slight wrinkles. Natalia couldn’t guess her age, she seemed to be in her early forties. Again, she noticed the woman’s brown hair was a little messy. She drove with both hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead and smiling.
— My name is Stella, and relax, I’ll take you home — she said in a soft voice, so similar to her mother’s voice.
— Thank you, ma’am, you do not know how grateful I am to you for coming at the right time — and told Stella everything that had happened.
— The truth is that I do not know how I got to that street — Stella said — I’m very clueless. I left a client around here, because I do taxi services to round up, you know, extra money, and suddenly I got lost.
— My son taught me to use this thing in my cell phone, that GPS, but my battery ran out and I did not know how to get out, so I started to go around and see if I could find someone to help me.
She spoke steadily, her voice soothing and kind. Natalia felt reassured that she was safe with Stella.
— Poor thing, you must be terrified —
— It was awful, I thought the worst —
— I could tell, but we are already safe — and she winked to Natalia.
Natalia told Stella where she lived. Relief filled her as she saw the familiar way to her house. She continued staring at Stella, who went from smiling to humming a song or commenting on traffic, a little erratically but somehow, comforting.
Stella, she learned, was a widow and a retired primary school teacher, with a son and two grandchildren. She drove a taxiin her spare time, and she knew to handle a GPS, when her battery wasn’t flat.
— I will never be able to thank you enough, Stella — Natalia said.
— Nonsense, daughter, I like to help and feel useful.
— It’s like… you were sent from heaven in the worst moment —
— Hahaha! she laughed heartily — how witty you are girl.
— My home is just here, in that building over there — Natalia said, as they entered the street where she lived.
Stella pulled over for Natalia to get out of the car.
— Again, I’m very grateful, Ms. Stella, you do not know how much — Natalia said as she got out of the car.
— Easy, daughter, do not say anything else, it was a pleasure — she said smiling.
— Happy night, then Stella.
— Have a nice rest, girl.
Natalia walked to the door of her building before the thought of paying for Stella’s kind service occurred to her. She turned to go back to the car, but the street was completely empty. Looking around, she could see there were no signs of any car moving away.
She had not had so much time to disappear from the street like that, Natalia thought, confused. She entered her building. Stella’s disappearance, on top of the earlier shock, was a little much. She wanted to get home and feel safe.
She opened the door of her apartment and the first thing she saw was her mother's face, lit up with relief. Natalia dropped her purse and hugged her tightly.
— Little girl, you’re shaking, I was so worried.
Natalia felt the comforting strokes of her mother’s hand on her back and relaxed. The hug warmed her.
— Hijita, as soon as a I realized that you had left the cellphone and it was a little late, I lit a candle to the “holy souls” to lead you home safe, they never fail.
Natalia felt a chill with the memory of the words of her grandmother Tete:
«The animas always fulfil the favors so they could win their wings and their way back to heaven».
She could hear her Grandma’s words in her mind and see that quiet face of Stella, a woman who came from nowhere to get her out of a difficulty.
Still in her mother’s embrace, Natalia basked in the soothing sensation that only a hug from Mom can provide.
— Let me tell you everything, mamita…
