A special by Leticia Pena to Mean Mister Brownsville:
Before the Gladys Porter Zoo was built King Street ended into a big gully. The end of the street was not paved and so when it rained, things got very muddy. Several houses were grouped together in that big depression. Most were owned by members of the large Pena family. My grandparents, Geronimo and Rosa, lived in the house pictured above just on the edge of the gully, the last house moved to make way for the zoo. The front part was the newest addition consisting of two rooms. The old house was a single room behind it along with several more one room additions with each addition separated by a door. Actually, the original one room house had a small kitchen window that stayed, so it always had a closed curtain so the next room had privacy.
Grandma had eleven children besides taking care of me. Her prettiest daughter, Aurora, married well and actually gave grandma the house. Aurora's life was tragic. She lost a young baby, then later herself succumbed to tuberculosis. Aurora's room stayed unoccupied most of the time. It was the prettiest of all the rooms with many windows. I remember distinctly two pieces of furniture, a tall wardrobe with drawers on one side and a place for hanging clothes and a cosmetics desk with two drawers and a beveled mirror. Since I stayed in a back bedroom, I had to pass through Aurora's room to get to the front part of the house. I seldom lingered in that room as it had an eerie feel.
At night strange sounds seemed to come from Aurora's room and weird things happened in my back bedroom. Sometimes I could hear a baby crying. I would run to grandma. She consoled me: "That's Aurora's baby, mi hijita. Everything will be ok." Sometimes, I would just stay with grandma. Other times I would hear a ball bouncing. During the middle of the night a light would go on in my room. I would get up and switch it off and later it would go back on again. Once, while I was hurrying through Aurora's room, the large wardrobe fell face down, missing me barely.
Another night my older sister, who normally stayed with my mom and dad, slept with me. She saw a black demon looking at her through the window and let out a terrible scream. I started screaming too and we both ran to grandma. The strange thing was my sister could not close her jaw again for several minutes after the scream. She just stood there with her mouth froze open.
The old house is gone now but Brownsville has other houses with similar stories to tell.
Before the Gladys Porter Zoo was built King Street ended into a big gully. The end of the street was not paved and so when it rained, things got very muddy. Several houses were grouped together in that big depression. Most were owned by members of the large Pena family. My grandparents, Geronimo and Rosa, lived in the house pictured above just on the edge of the gully, the last house moved to make way for the zoo. The front part was the newest addition consisting of two rooms. The old house was a single room behind it along with several more one room additions with each addition separated by a door. Actually, the original one room house had a small kitchen window that stayed, so it always had a closed curtain so the next room had privacy.
Grandma had eleven children besides taking care of me. Her prettiest daughter, Aurora, married well and actually gave grandma the house. Aurora's life was tragic. She lost a young baby, then later herself succumbed to tuberculosis. Aurora's room stayed unoccupied most of the time. It was the prettiest of all the rooms with many windows. I remember distinctly two pieces of furniture, a tall wardrobe with drawers on one side and a place for hanging clothes and a cosmetics desk with two drawers and a beveled mirror. Since I stayed in a back bedroom, I had to pass through Aurora's room to get to the front part of the house. I seldom lingered in that room as it had an eerie feel.
At night strange sounds seemed to come from Aurora's room and weird things happened in my back bedroom. Sometimes I could hear a baby crying. I would run to grandma. She consoled me: "That's Aurora's baby, mi hijita. Everything will be ok." Sometimes, I would just stay with grandma. Other times I would hear a ball bouncing. During the middle of the night a light would go on in my room. I would get up and switch it off and later it would go back on again. Once, while I was hurrying through Aurora's room, the large wardrobe fell face down, missing me barely.
Another night my older sister, who normally stayed with my mom and dad, slept with me. She saw a black demon looking at her through the window and let out a terrible scream. I started screaming too and we both ran to grandma. The strange thing was my sister could not close her jaw again for several minutes after the scream. She just stood there with her mouth froze open.
The old house is gone now but Brownsville has other houses with similar stories to tell.
why do you publish this slop? It is not only boring, but the woman can't write. Free her by telling her.
ReplyDeleteI understood what she was saying. And I did not consider reading this a waste of my time. I do, however, consider responding to your comment a waste of my time.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand what you're saying. Learn to write and then come back. You're wasting my time.
ReplyDeleteWhy did you change the look of your blog. The previous look made your blog look interesting, smart, meaningful and just plain nice. This look makes it look spacey. Not good. Not good at all. :(
ReplyDeleteGreat look, Barton! Change is good. Other one was looking tired.
ReplyDeleteStevie Wonder