El Duende the Bite Sized Monster

While we were driving up to the border, Abuelita Remedios insisted that she’d take us back home to see Mama in style. We drive up to a small town on the outskirts of Moncolva, and Abuelita tells us to pick out any dress we want. Velia and Delia get matching polka-dotted yellow dresses, while Pita and I get simple red dresses with a little flare at the bottom. 

Juantia was indecisive about what to get and wanted the perfect dress for when she sees Mama again. We had to sit and watch as she went in and out of the dressing room. While this snoozefest was going on, Pita said that she needed to catch some air and went wander outside. I was so dazed by Juanita to realize the seriousness of what she just said.

Pita goes outside and I see from the corner of my eye that she looks into a berry bush next to the store. “Look Odilla! Now we won’t get hungry on the drive there!” Pita says while holding up the glistening berries. Twenty minutes go by and Juanita is still picking out a dress, it then occurs to me that I forgot about Pita. I tell Abuelita I’m going to step outside to get some air. 

When I look next to the store I don’t see Pita but instead one of her shoes. Panic quickly sets and I can feel the stillness in the air. Fear takes over, and out of gut instinct I run past the bush, and go into the forest behind the bush. Once I venture out, I hear a faint voice that sounds just like Pita’s. I chase after it hoping that Pita is safe.

Following the sound, I notice little grooves left in the soil, almost like small footprints. I run and I run, to the point where I feel lightheaded. Then, through the trees I see a glimpse of Pita’s arm. “Pita! I’m here, everything's okay!” I yell. No response. As I get closer and closer to Pita, it becomes clear to me that a small man more than half my height is dragging her but the arm. “Let my sister go or you’ll pay!” 

Once the little man is almost in grabbing range, I see Pita hide her thumb in her palm. “Wait Odilla! I can handle this!” Pita tells me. Curious to what she might mean, I darted past the man and went in front of him so he had nowhere to go. But, all of a sudden the man turns around, looks straight at Pita’s hands and lets her go. With one strong blow from my fist, I hit the man straight in the nose and he passed out.

“That's..the El Duende.” Pita mutters, still trying to catch her breath after being dragged on the floor. The more I look at the unconscious man, I see how he doesn’t look quite right. His body is small, almost like he was squished as a baby. I look at his hands and see that he only has four fingers. It becomes clear to me that Pita was right, and this man. No, the monster is the El Duende that mom used to warn about as kids. Pita tells me everything, when she was picking the berries she saw a small boy and asked him if he wanted some of her berries. But he quickly grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her into the forest. As we both sat and caught our breath, we heard El Duende mutter “I’m.. so sorry.” Pita takes a fighting stance, but I think of La Llerona and tell Pita to stand down. “I didn’t mean to attack you little girl, but I saw that you were stealing the forest’s fruits.” says the El Duende.

He then gets on his knees and apologies profusely and tells us that the forest was the last thing he could call home and that he didn’t want anyone else to take something he loved. After Pita and I both apologized for taking his berries we started to walk back to the clothing shop. “I knew how to escape from him when he grabbed me.” Pita says.

 Intrigued, I remember what she did with her hands not too long ago and ask. “Did it have something to do with that hand thing I saw earlier?”  A small smile appeared on Pita’s face, she seemed proud. “Yeah, Mama taught it to me when I was younger, saying that if I make it look like I have four fingers, the El Duende will think we’re related.” she explains. I think back to when El Duende let Pita go and wonder why he didn’t seem to welcome Pita as a close family but instead he let her go. Maybe his family is all gone? 

Soon after our conversation, we approach the shop and see Abuelita and Juanita waiting by the car. Abuelita has a worried look on her face.”Where were you mija?” Abuelita said. “Pita and I went to have some sister bonding in the bushes and we got some berries. Almost like Pita was reading my mind, she held up the berries that she grabbed before El Duende grabbed her. “We’ve been waiting forever, let's just get on the road.” Juanita complained. 

It was then that I saw her dazzling yellow dress, like she was the sun. “I see you found the dress for you Juanita.” Juanita blushed and said “Thanks.” under her breath. We hopped in the car so we could go to the border, and while Abueltia was turning the keys. I thought to myself and wondered what happened to that El Duende? Why was he all alone? Is he just a misunderstood monster?

Contrast

At the same time I also modernized the El Duende to introduce new themes and topics in my story. One way this modernization is shown is when El Duende lets Pita go and apologizes to both of the girls immediately. Usually, like in most stories like 15 Fascinating Facts About El Duende: The Legend of Latin America's Mysterious Goblin (Campbell). El Duende is shown to be a heinous evil monster, but when I make him apologize it shows a new side of the character readers haven’t seen before. Another example is when El Duende tells Pita and Odillia that the forest is all he has left, this small detail hints to his background and hints that there is more than what meets the eye when first looking at him. The reason why I modernized my El Duende was so that it could convey the theme of things not always being as they appear. The El Duende’s story shows how even though we may have already made assumptions about someone, they might not always be true.