Installment 7.5: Apparitions

“This is Brigid Barkley From the Front Line.  Today we are reporting from the border between Sedelia and Mexico.  Seven days a week a half million foreign-born Sedelia residents are crossing the border heading south.  I am interviewing Latin American Nationals who are abandoning Sedelia and moving back home.”

One of the keys to Brigid's enduring success was her tireless interviewing.  Her stamina was legendary.  The 120^th interview of the day was just as fresh as the first one in the morning.  As she frequently told new members of the filming crew, “You have to kiss a lot of toads to find a prince.”

The crew was grinding through the mid-afternoon slump.  It was the heat of the day.  Everybody was wilting, especially the immigrants, many of them who had been traveling in short bus hops for several days to get to this point in their travels.

“¿Cuáles son tus nombres y de dónde eres?” Brigid asked a young family.  The mother looked like she was in her early thirties.  Her husband was a little older.  They had three children under age 13.
---"What are your names and where are you from?"---

“Mi nombre es Gabriella. Mis amigos me llaman ‘Gabby’” Gabby said, pointing to the man beside her, “Es Gillarmo y Anglos le llama ‘Bill’.”  
---"My name is Gabriella.  My friends call me 'Gabby'...He is Gillarmo and Anglos call him 'Bill'"---

“Estamos viajando desde Inglewood y regresando a casa en Guatemala.” Gabby informed Brigid.
---"We are traveling from Inglewood and heading back home to in Guatemala."---

“¿Porque te vas?” Brigid asked.
---"Why are you leaving?"---

“Debido a las apariciones.” Gabby answered simply.
---"Because of the apparition."---

“¿Apariciones?” Brigid asked, baffled.  None of the other people she had interviewed had mentioned any 'apparition'.
---"Apparition?"--- 

“La Santisima Madre ha estado apareciendo en Cali diciendonos que nos vayamos a casa.” Gabby said.
---"The Blessed Mother has been appearing across Cali telling us to go home."---

Brigid's skepticism must have shown on her face.

“No lo crei al principio.”  Gabby said.
 ---"I didn't believe it at first."---

“Yo tampoco.” Gillarmo affirmed.
 ---"Neither did I."---

“Hablame sobre las apariciones” Brigid encouraged.
---"Tell me about the apparitions."---

“Al principio solo eran unos viejos. Dijeron que ‘la señora' les había hablado y las familias que podían, deberían regresar a sus aldeas donde tenian familia. ”  Gabby said.
---"At first it was just some old men.  They said that 'the lady' had spoken to them and families who could, should go back to their villages where they had family."---

“¿Y tu lo screes?”  Brigid asked.
---"And did you believe them?"---

“No! Era extraño que varios hombres viejos tuvieran la misma historia al mismo tiempo. Pero son viejos ... Algunos son incluso peores que las viejas. Mírame. Mírame. Quieren que las cosas sean como en los viejos tiempos, pero esos días se han ido para siempre ” Gabby said.
---"No!  It was weird that several old men should have the same story at the same time.  But they are old men...Some of them are even worse than old women.  Look at me.  Look at me.  They want things to be like the old days but those days are gone forever."---

“¿Eso es todo lo que dijo "la señora"?” Brigid asked, trying to tease out details.
---"That is all 'the lady' said?"---

“No, la señora dijo que la enfermedad estaba por venir. Ella dijo que los caminantes regresarían” Gabby said.
---"No, the lady said that disease was coming.  She said that the walkers were coming back."---

“¿Así que te fuiste?”  Brigid asked.
---"So you that is when you left?"---

“No, no para entonces.. Muchos de nuestros vecinos se fueron. La vida aquí no era lo que nos prometieron, pero aún es mejor que volver a casa.”  Gabby said.  “Gillarmo tiene trabajo la mayoría de los días y no tenemos que caminar tanto.”
---"No, not then.  Many of our neighbors left.  Life here was not what we were promised but it was still better than back home...Gillarmo has work most days and we don't have to walk as much."---

“¿Entonces, ¿por qué te fuiste?” Brigid asked.
---"So why did you leave?"---

“Fueron dos cosas.”  Gabby said.  “Los niñas vieron a La señora y testificaron que La señora les dijo 'Date prisa. Los niñas pequeños y sus madres y padres deben huir hacia el sur mientras huía a Egipto cuando Herodes trató de destruir al niño Cristo’ ”
---"It was two things. The children saw The Lady and they testified that The Lady told them ‘Make haste.  The young children and their mothers and fathers must flee to the south as I fled to Egypt when Herod sought to destroy the Christ child.’"---

“¿Niñas?”  Brigid asked.
---"Girls?"---

“Sí, eso es lo que pensé. Niñas que escucharon a sus tíos y abuelos y solo querían atención?” Gabby said.
---"Yes, that is what I thought.  Children who heard their uncles and grandpa and just wanted attention."---

“¿Qué cambió tu opinión sobre lo que vieron los niños?” Brigid probed.
---Subtitle on screen: "What changed your mind about what the children saw?"---

“Fue la Señora. La señora que vieron no era hermosa como una estrella de cine. Ella era vieja, arrugada y tenía manchas en la cara. Ella era casi una bruja.” Gabby said.  “Si estuvieran inventando una historia, ella habría sido como la imagen en las Tarjetas Sagradas, no como una abuelita.”
---"It was The Lady.  The Lady they saw was not beautiful like a movie star.  She was old, and wrinkled and had spots on her face.  She was almost a hag...If they were making up a story she would have been like the picture on the Holy Cards, not like a granny."---

“¿Que fue lo segundo?” Brigid asked.
---"What was the second thing?"---

“Fueron los jóvenes quienes comenzaron a aparecer. Habían estado fuera por mucho tiempo, y luego regresaron al vecindario. Estaban desangrando de su...” Gabby said as she groped for a polite word...” sangrando por el culo. Corría por sus piernas y manchaba sus pantalones y calcetines.”
"It was the young people who started to show up.  They had been gone for a long time, and then they came back to the neighborhood.  They were bleeding out their...bleeding out their ass.  It was running down their legs and staining their pants and socks."

“¿Mujeres teniendo su período?” Brigid suggested.
---"Women having their period?"---

"No. No! Hubo más hombres que mujeres." Gabby said. "Estaban enfermos, como un ternero con gusanos... Apenas podían mantenerse de pie."
---"No.  No!  There were more men than women...They were sick, like a calf with worms.  They could barely keep on their feet."---

“Eso es cuando lo supe. La señora había enviado letrero. Los caminantes estaban regresando. El Príncipe Oscuro iba a matar a nuestros hijos.” Gabby said. “Eso es cuando lo supe. Tuvimos que volver a casa. Tuvimos que ir al sur como ordenó la Señora.”
---That is when I knew.  The Lady had sent a sign.  The walkers were coming back.  The Dark Prince was going to kill our children.” Gabby said. “That is when I knew.  We had to go back home.  We had to go south like the Lady commanded.---

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