Household
Four generations of seers share their stories.
1999
Patricia gets in her grandma’s bed. She’s the only one that sleeps there. She knows she’s grandma’s favorite and is willing to handle the consequences of that circumstance she doesn’t have control over.
Scary movies usually don’t scare her, but there was something about this one that she couldn’t shake off.
After the movie, she and her aunt drove almost an hour in the mountains to get to grandma’s house. Narrow, curved pavement caressing nature, being nicer to it, while we cling on to our motion sickness.
It would have been easy to blame it on the dizziness or the adrenaline. But Patricia knew better by now.
A tiger started rounding the bed. The animal wouldn’t look at her; it was just going back and forth. It was magnificent. Its stripes were so vibrant and potent. Only then, she felt safe enough to close her eyes.
1970
Ah! Nothing like coming home from school and taking off the dreadful uniform, Irene thought. First grade can be brutal.
She was happy today. Her crush looked at her for the first time. She obviously blushed, but that’s okay. She’ll make the most of it. She’ll think of something.
When Irene opens the closet door, something bizarre happens. It was as if a mighty wind current had tugged back the clothes. The only window in the room is to the left of the closet, so there’s no way for that to be even remotely possible.
She got scared just for a second. A few seconds after, the clothes receded to their usual position. It’s okay, Irene thought. She knew what that meant.
1945
With seven more siblings, Julia didn’t feel too special. There wasn’t any time or money for that. She would have to make it for herself or find another way to get it if she wanted something. Her parents barely had money to feed the entire family. But, a girl can always dream, and she knew she should.
It was supposed to be just another Tuesday afternoon in the tropical countryside, near the tobacco farm. However, this was a special day for Julia. This was the day she became a woman. But there was something else. Something she had felt before.
Coming back home during the evening, Julia walked at the edge of the dirt road towards the house. She went through the back to go straight to the latrine. Almost there, close to the cornfields, she feels a strong current between her ankles. She looks down, but she doesn’t see anything. She looks back for a second and continues sprinting. She really had to take care of it. Then she felt the second current. This one was stronger. She stopped but didn’t want to look down.
A warm breeze comes through and swirls her hair. She turns her head to the left. At last, she sees it again.
1917
Luisa already knew she was going to help people when she was older. A few days ago, she helped the midwife for the third time. Her cousin Blanca gave birth to the most beautiful girl! They hadn’t decided on a name yet. She liked Antonia a lot. She had to remember to tell Blanca when she came back into town.
However, a life of service didn’t have to be a life of sacrifice. Her older friend had given her a little pocket mirror and her old rouge. She’s never put on rouge on her full lips, but she knew that he would notice.
She wanted to wear her white dress. Mama had washed it for her because her birthday is tomorrow, but she can try it on for five minutes.
She gets excited when she looks for the little mirror on top of the little table beside the beds. The mirror was tiny and rounded. When she holds it, she sees something strange. She closes her eyes and looks again. Nothing’s there. She goes in to pick up the rouge, and when she holds the mirror again, she can see it looking back at her, deep into the tiny mirror.
Luisa jumps, and the mirror falls to the ground, breaking into pieces. However, the feeling did not go away.
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