Don Odilón and His Water Stand

    Nicaraguans have a rich imagination; we love to seek explanations, we get carried away by rumors, eager to comment on something mysterious, and often reach conclusions that are far from being a logical solution.

    This was the case with Don Odilón, as narrated by Denys Rocha, who was an eyewitness to the event.

    "As I was saying, Don Odilón had died three days prior, and people were afraid to pass through the alley where the water stand he had managed in life was located. The news had spread that at midnight, the sound of the cart and the winch could be heard as if someone were drawing water from the well and transferring it from the bucket to the trough. The neighbors of the deceased claimed to have seen the silhouette of a man perched on the well curb in the midst of his work, through a crack in the house. All these rumors led the neighborhood to conclude that Don Odilón was still around. "Surely he is wandering because his sudden death didn't give him a chance to settle his affairs," some said. "It's because doing the same job for so long prevents him from separating from this world," others said. Opinions about the reasons for Don Odilón's appearances were diverse and complicated, but what they all agreed on was that everyone was afraid.

    One night, around midnight, I heard a commotion coming from the patio of my house, just below the window of my bedroom, which was on an improvised second floor. I peeked out and saw a group of people, including my parents, arguing heatedly. "There he is," they said, "you can perfectly hear the creaking of the cart wheel turning! It's Don Odilón!" I went down and joined the group. Indeed, I perceived the clear creaking of the rotating attachment. Despite being raised in a superstitious environment, I am skeptical of supernatural things; that's how I differ from the other members of my family. As an adult, I understood that the natural reasoning we all have when we are born had protected me from the beliefs and charlatanism of the time, remnants of the medieval obscurantism.

    To dispel our doubts and stop the speculations, I said, I suggest we all go to the place where the noise is coming from to, personally ascertain what is really happening. Everyone backed off in fear. So, I said, I'll go alone and started walking towards the gate. When they saw that I had opened the door leading to the alley, several followed me and caught up, forming a group of five. We reached the foot of the well. There was no one there, the cart was well oiled from constant use. Indeed, it was turning, but it was due to the action of a strong wind blowing at that moment. We all burst into laughter, and the recriminations began. The onlookers who had stayed at a distance, watching from afar, upon hearing the laughter we were sharing, approached and also became convinced that nothing supernatural was happening. Since then, people resumed passing through the alley without fear. With Don Odilón's disappearance, the water stand also disappeared. His children did not want to continue the family tradition of water carriers and closed the business."

Memories of Denys Rocha as collected by Martha Isabel Arana - February 2, 2006. Photo Credits: Cristina Trejo