THE DEATH'S LETTER

"The death's letter" was the story Leonardo Sylva Muñoz wrote for the VII National Contest tale RCN - Ministry of Education (Colombia) 2013, in the category of students until seventh grade. He was one of the winners with this short story. The original Spanish version can be found on www.slideshare.net/ColombiaAprende/concurso-nacional-de-cuento-2013   (page 75). During the course of English in sixth grade (2014) he translated the story at the initiative of teacher Milena Rico. Thanks her for the cooperation in this final version. 

The death’s letter

By Leonardo Sylva Muñoz

7^th F

It was a night of October 1550, Jose Arturo de la Calle was being chased by a mysterious creature. Its body was covered with hair visible through the dirty and torn rugs. While trying to escape, Jose Arturo stumbled into one of the many stones that abounded at the de la Rosa passage, in the old town of Cajilopolis. Fainted on the floor, he stammered a very moving phrase. The beast approached and…

Arturo was born in 1520 and, like his entire lineage; he was devoted to finding all of the antidotes to counteract the most common diseases of the time. His mother and sisters helped him to keep fresh and well-cultivated the medicinal plants and vegetables they needed to make potions and curative brews. He was three times more famous than his male ancestors who had spent their time supplying a small and dark room with all the necessary tools for the work of a traditional doctor.

A certain rainy day there came a man in a very thick black coat, which covered his entire body. His face was covered with a ski mask that only exposed two very small green eyes. As it was usual, Jose Arturo closed the door and invited the impatient patient to take a seat

What is going on with you? – He asked. The mysterious man responded with achy tone.

It turns out that I have been bitten by a wolf - he said- and while saying this he uncovered his neck, letting everyone see a terrible mark. Although it was already dry, it was still brilliant and very red.

¡Caspita! - replied the doctor, this is the first time that I see a wound like that! It seems so serious and rare. It looks like the bite of a person, but the holes are very deep to think some human teeth could make such a mark.

Arturo sewed up with dexterity the skin of the man and injected in it a substance to reduce the pain. Apart from a black vase, he took out an ointment hat, when placed on the patchy skin, it dried the wound to the point that a reddish stripe in the form of L was the only visible thing. At the same time, he advised him to return three days later.

As a surprise for the doctor, the mysterious man visited him a few hours later and showed him that the wound was now a scar in the form of an L that shone in his neck. As a token from the man´s gratitude, Jose Arturo received some gold coins that, on the one side, had a human face, and on the other side, the head of a wolf; both with the neck tattooed with the letter L.

During the following month, the doctor treated many people with similar symptoms. All of them had the letter L in the neck, and when they saw the shiny coins showing the same mark as their wound, the patients started crying until they closed their eyes to be never awaken. Arturo could not save any one.

With all the events of those days, the doctor had a strange feeling. A certain morning he took the coins and placed them in a copper vessel and then he put the vessel to the fire. In the evening, when he checked to see if they had disappeared, he discovered that they had been cast into a bright and golden L. With tears in his eyes, he grabbed with force the metallic letter and hid it beneath his coat. Although, it was heavy, he somehow knew it could be useful.

So, that Friday October 13^th of 1550, Jose Arturo de la Calle fainted in the ground, after trying to escape through La Rosa passage of the mysterious man who used to chase him, he stammered:

—I am sorry, but I have revealed your secret! The mysterious beast, then, responded with a fearsome howling:

 —Oooooooooooooooowhoo!

Arturo took out the large L quickly and stepped it with force on the neck of the monster, until it howled again, this time of intense pain.

—Oooooooooooooooowhoo!

The beast, with the head still attached to the rest of its body, attempted to bite the doctor, but the beast totally torn up and fell on top of him. The letter of the death remained in the hand of José Arturo along with a gesture of victory that combined perfectly with the new dawn of Cajilopolis.