Grama Cuca le platica a Canutito about ‘los monsters’

It was late into the fall y ya se estaba llegando el tiempo de Halloween. Canutito was watching Grama Cuca pop some popcorn para hacer unas bolas de palomitas de maíz hechizas; he always loved her homemade popcorn balls. La plebecita de toda la neighborhood came to grama’s house a pedir trick or treats porque les gustaba comer sus homemade popcorn balls.

Y este año iba a ser even more special porque Grama Cuca had made unos sugar cookies y el Canutito was going to draw faces on them con frosting como las jack-o’-lanterns. (Les daba las popcorn balls a los muchitos y los cookies decorãos eran pa’los papases.) Todos iban pa’su casa porque era el highlight de su season.

As they were decorating todos los goodies, Canutito se lambió el frosting de los dedos and he asked Grama Cuca: “Grama, habían scary things during Halloween when you were little?”

“Oh sí, m’hijo,” Grama Cuca replied mientras que formaba las bolas de popcorn and she packed them tightly. “La gente was afraid de las usual things como de los gatos negros. They would make the sign of the cross cien veces whenever a black cat crossed their path in order to ward off todas las cosas malas.

“The people were also afraid de las brujas. Anybody who acted un poco diferente was suspected of being a witch. No one would go pa’l campo santo porque they were afraid de todos los muertos acostãos allí in the cemetery. And, of course, cada country village had its own kind of monster.”

“Did you ever see a monster, Grama?” Canutito asked her, comiéndose un cookie.

“Well,” Grama Cuca paused, “en un tiempo, people had been seeing unos animales muy extraños. Había un animal that looked como un gato pero he hopped like a rabbit.”

“Pero did you ever see algo que era tan strange that it scared you, Grama?” Canutito asked.

Grama Cuca thought por un momento mientras que envolvía las popcorn balls en waxed paper. As Canutito watched her crinkling up el papel encerado, she said: “En 1954, tu grampo bought himself un carro nuevo. Era un Bel Air azul y blanco.

“Well, it so happened de que una noche en octubre we went por un ride y parkeamos en el Blueberry Hill. As we sat there, mirando a la luna llena, we heard a noise. I thought de que era la Llorona coming to haunt us allí en el carro. Tu grampo thought que posiblemente era un oso pero suddenly veimos a un animal grande que vino right up to the car window. Era grande y caminaba just like a bear – pero tenía una cara fea, como un marrano.”

“Really, Grama?” Canutito asked her. “Was it really un oso with the face like a pig?” He huddled up to Grama Cuca y dejó de comerse el cookie.

“Well, it certainly grunted como un marrano y nos enseñó los dientes – baring its fangs at us. Yo pensé que era un vampire o posiblemente un werewolf. Tu grampo stepped on the gas pedal y arrancó de allí so fast que ni en polvito se de vido. I just covered my face y comenzé a rezarle todos los santos to help us.

“Esa noche we slept con las luces prendidas because we were so afraid de que ese monster might have followed us pa’la casa.”

Canutito stopped munching en su cookie. De repente su boca estaba seca, seca. Suddenly ya el Halloween no era tan suave anymore.

He went to the sink pa’agarrar un drink de agua pero just then he let out a yell porque vio una cara muy fea en la ventana. He ran back pa’la mesa scared out of his wits y se escondió en los brazos de su grama.

She comforted him diciendo: “Relax, m’hijo. Esa cara fea is just your grampo coming in.”

This is episode #781 of the weekly Spamglish series written by Taos historian and linguist Larry Torres to help preserve the unique mash up of Spanish and English spoken in Northern New Mexico.