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The boy who ate the food of the dead

Ignorance will get you nowhere in life ...or in death.

By Julianne AlguesevaPublished 2 years ago 7 min read
2
The boy who ate the food of the dead
Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash

Once there was a boy named Robert. He lived a life that every young man dreamed of. However, all the money in the world couldn't fix ignorance, and for Robert, he had that in strides. His mother was a neurosurgeon, she was the number one doctor of the city, while his older sister was co-manager at Sephora enterprises. They all lived in a modern two story house built in a luxury neighborhood. Life was good for Robert and his family, until school started.

That year there was a new girl who had just moved from Guadalajara, Mexico. She wasn't thin, nor was she as pretty as the other girls, but that's not what Robert liked about her. When the teacher told the girl to introduce herself, she nodded with a smile. The girl's name was Jasmine. She told the class that her mother, grandma, aunt, uncle and herself moved here from Mexico to have a better life. Her family may not be rich, but their love for each other was worth more than all the gold in the world. Robert paid no attention to Jasmine's backstory.

That week Robert did his best to get Jasmine to like him, but she pretended he didn't exist. Robert wondered why she was being so difficult to get. "Any girl would have thrown themselves over a bridge to be with Rob the Heartthrob! What gives?" After a week and a half of being ignored Robert came to Jasmine and fiercely spoke his mind.

The girl looked at him and replied with a strong but calm tone, "Robert...in my country we have many names for people like you. Rich, snobby, ignorant, plus other words I refuse to say. I have worked all my life and I'm currently working downtown in the Mexican market helping my family sell homemade decor so that we can pay our bills. You've never had to worry about money a day in your life, have you?” As Jasmine explained the reasons why she didn't want to be with him, Robert rudely interrupted her. He asked if she would attend his Halloween party. Jasmine gave a dirty look at the boy, shook her head and replied, "No!"

However Robert would not give up bugging her. For the rest of the September month and into October, Robert bullied and bullied Jasmine until the day of Robert's party. Jasmine showed up at the door with a plate of enchiladas. Everyone was dressed up except for her. The guests were surprised that she was not wearing a costume. Jasmine explained why she didn't come in a mask and gown. All the guests became more intrigued by Jasmine's cultural stories. All except Robert.

He didn't bother to listen to her peoples tales. To him it was all just superstitious nonsense. Jasmine left the party an hour early. She told Robert that she had to help her family in the upcoming holiday. Jasmine got on her bike and headed home, but Robert followed her. As he got closer to the location, he couldn't believe where she lived. Gawking at her house from afar, to Robert, it was the dirtiest looking house, and the poorest neighborhood he ever laid eyes on.

On November second, Robert came back to go visit Jasmine. He came up to the porch and rang the doorbell three times. No later than two seconds, he banged on the door profusely. An older man dressed up like a mariachi with skeleton face paint answered the door. Before the man could respond, Robert pushed his way in through the door. To his eyes the whole house was decorated in orange flowers and colorful paper flags. It also smelled of delicious Mexican food. Jasmine came out in a beautiful dress with large blue stone beads around her neck. Her hair was braided with orange flowers, and her face was painted beautifully like a skeleton.

"Robert, what are you doing here? My family is about to head to the cemetery to pay our respects." Robert replied, "why didn't you wear this costume at my party?" Jasmine said with an irritated look, "Did you not listen to what I said at your party the other night? Today is the Day of the Dead. You know...my family's holiday?" Before Jasmine could say anything else, her grandmother yelled her name. "Wait right here, I'll be right back." Robert waited for less than 2 minutes and started to wander the small house.

He came upon a room that had a huge wooden table that was stacked with other tables. Every level had the most delectable treats and eats. There were black and white photographs in frames of both old and young people with the same orange flowers arranged amongst them. Lit candles were everywhere with paper maché skeleton figurines dressed like dancers.

Robert's stomach growled like a bear, he forgot to eat lunch that day. He thought, "what could it hurt? They won't care, it's just food. They can always make more." Robert started to consume the food that was placed upon the altar levels. All he had left was bones, wrappers and small crumbs. Jasmine came in and was horrified.

"What have you done!" She yelled. "I was hungry so I helped myself." Replied Robert while picking his teeth out with a Marigold stem. Her mother came in and started crying and cursing in Spanish at Jasmine. Her grandmother rushed in to see what was all the fuss. She looked over to see what had happened and fainted. Jasmine's aunt and uncle caught the grandmother just in time. Her uncle with rage stormed into the room and picked up Robert by his shirt. Speaking heavy Spanish, he threw Robert out the door and pointed his index finger to the road.

Robert yelled, "what did i do?"Jasmine came out of the house. She said with crossed arms and a look upon her face that were like daggers." Robert, do you not listen? Have you not heard my stories?" Robert interrupted her saying, "It was just food! Can't you cook more?" Jasmine tried to hold back her tears, "That food was for the dead. My departed ancestors dating all the way back over a hundred years and you stole from them. You never steal from the deceased, never! Now, you will suffer, and those who love you will suffer too...Robert you're cursed."

Jasmine went back inside the house and slammed the door behind her. Robert went after her, but was stopped by a harsh wind that called his name. As the sun set, cold winds came in all directions. Each breeze whispered a threatening message into his ears. Robert thought he was hallucinating but he wasn't. Robert quickly got in his car and drove away.

He managed to get back home safe and sound, or so he thought. The next morning after his shower he went to go look at himself in the mirror and saw several faces staring back at him. With horror, Robert fell over on the bathroom floor, the shower rug broke his fall, so immediately he covered the mirror with a towel. When he came out, Robert discovered that every mirror had an image of Jasmine's dead relatives staring straight at him, giving an disgusted glare into his soul. Throughout the house he covered every mirror and hoped that would do it.

Things only got worse after that. Whenever he would go down the stairs something would grab his foot making him trip. Sometimes there would be an inedible item that was put in his food, almost causing him to choke. The spirits haunted his dreams where he couldn't sleep or rest. Things got horribly worse by the Christmas month. His sister was laid off from her job because someone had put the company's merchandise into her purse. She then got a job working at Starbucks and the same thing happened there. After many jobs after those, no one wanted to hire his sister.

His mother started having car issues, where she had to take it to an auto shop where the mechanic diagnosed that somebody was messing with her brakes. This happened so much that it put Roberts mom in horrible debt, and around May his mother got into a car accident which left her surgeon hands crippled. His mom had to retire early and Robert quit school to get a full time job to support his family.

He learned fast that his ignorance was the reason that got him into this mess, and only giving back what he took could get him out. That following year on the Day of the Dead, Robert went to Jasmine's house to help in any way he could so the ghosts would leave him alone. He helped the grandmother cook, and the aunt clean. He sang his best with Jasmine's uncle and participated in decorations with her mother. He even went to a Mexican bakery and delivered sweet bread to Jasmine's house. One dozen was for the living and the other dozen was for Jasmine's departed ancestors.

After a whole year of being haunted the spirits left Robert and his family alone. However, during the yuletide holidays Robert, his sister and mother moved away. Jasmine and her family never saw the boy again. The moral of this story is that you never steal from the dead, because in the end, you're begging to be one of them.

supernatural
2

About the Creator

Julianne Algueseva

Just your friendly neighborhood writer and craftswoman. Doing all what I can to spread kindness and creativity throughout this wide world. I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction books, as well as writing from my own life's journeys.

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