The Ink Well Prompt #21: Main Street/ NIGHT OF MADNESS IN EL AMPARO STREET

In this story I tell how a witches' night, planned by a gentle teacher, unexpectedly turned into a night of madness for the inhabitants of a dull village.

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Boring Town is a village, surrounded by beautiful mountains, where an immense river of crystalline water flows. It is located near a forest of lush trees of ....., where different animals such as birds, moles, hares, squirrels, wolves, wild horses and bears live in perfect harmony. It owes its name to the fact that it is a quiet place where everything is harmonious but boringly routine. Nothing special ever happens...... that enlivens and amuses its inhabitants. That is why many had moved to another town, Pueblo Oportuno, which is 200 kilometers away, in order to improve themselves.

Boring Town also has a lake where children learn to swim and it is perhaps one of the few amusements in the area that adults also use. The lake has a rare species of fish that only its inhabitants know about. With it they prepare a special dish, called "ardent lust" that they offer to outsiders for its aphrodisiac properties. Perhaps this is the only attraction for which this place is known.

This area is inhabited by lumberjacks, hunters, farmers, shepherds, traders and occasional tourists who come during the hunting and fishing season.

The small town consists of 12 streets. The main street, El Amparo Street, is the only one that is paved, the rest are dirt roads. The main street has a school, a tavern, a pharmacy, a grocery store, a medical dispensary, the police office, post office and telephone office. In the other streets there are spectacular cabins that are beautifully maintained and decorated by their inhabitants.

Mrs. Claudia Martinez, descendant of a Spanish adventurer and a native of Boring Town, is the local teacher. She teaches classes to all the children; at the same time directing homework and recreational activities. As Halloween was approaching, she decided to do something different for the children to have fun.
Each child would be dressed up as their favorite idol and had to play the role of the character. In addition, each house would be decorated with candles and pumpkins. And they would also have sweet treats for all the participants. She, for her part, would do something unexpected.......

Halloween coincided with the new moon. No one could imagine what would happen on that unforgettable and eventful night.......

Each child chose his or her costume. Unlike other years, the adults decided to dress up to have fun and cheer up the strangers, who were there that night.

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They would go from house to house playing jokes and handing out candy to finish, all gathered together, at El Amparo Street.

On Halloween everything seemed normal until, unexpectedly, a herd of wild horses arrived and intimidated the locals. They approached the dispensary, as it was open they entered, taking everything in their path, leaving through the wide back door. They were fleeing from some tamers...... After seeing this, everyone gathered and became calmer. The peace would not last long.

Mr. Michael Harrison and Mr. Bernie Britton, disguised as a burglar and a policeman respectively, were talking about what happened ....... when suddenly boom boom ..... they hear several gunshots. They drop to the ground. A person comes running; behind him comes the policeman who, trying to apprehend a robber, stumbles over Harrinson and Britton and falls to the ground, hitting his head hard. He manages to get up and tells them:

-It's a thief, he came in to rob the grocery store. I have to catch him.

To which Bernie proposes:

-Stay calm. I'll do it, I'm disguised as a policeman and you won't recognize me. Besides, remember that I'm the only one who knows how to handle weapons here.

-But you don't have a permit to carry a gun, take care of yourself," shouts the policeman.

Meanwhile, all this was seen by the children as an action movie. They were fascinated, they never thought their parents were such good actors.........

They were still entertained, now they would go for the second time to hand out candy to the adults. They were on their way to the cabins. The only light there was from the candles lit inside the pumpkins. They were walking along and behind them they saw a shadow. They saw a grizzly bear. In their innocence they thought it was Mr. Perkins in that costume. Immediately they knock on the door and out comes Mr. Perkins.

Eee, Eee, Eee..... The children scream, almost unable to speak from fright. They go inside the cabin, one of the children quickly closes the door. The bear starts to play loudly. They all run out and run into another hut, while the adults try to persuade the bear by throwing food at it. The bear amuses himself with the food. One of Mr. Perkins' guests, Jimie Hilton, is a forest ranger. He gives instructions and calms them down by telling them:

-Let's stay calm. The bear is lost, he is a small bear looking for his mother. He has already eaten and will continue on his way back to the forest.

After this the bear checks the garbage cans, empties them and then plays with them; leaving as Mr. Hilton said.

On the other hand, the group of teenagers, who had remained on the main street, performing their act with each of the characters they had dressed up as, watch in astonishment as a pack of hungry wolves carry off several of Mr. Martinez's sheep. They are dying of helplessness..... They can do nothing to save them.

However, the unusual events would continue in one of the cabins further away, on El Amparo Street, where the Parkinsons live. Mrs. Melanie that night surprises her husband, preparing for dinner, the famous dish "burning lust" . This should work..... Strangers come here and always eat that dish, they say it improves marital relations....... she thought.

Very lovingly she carefully prepares the table, where she serves dinner to her husband. They celebrate together, toast to their love and to the passion of the long night that awaits them. They dance and discuss the aphrodisiac powers. After a few hours of conversation they decide to continue their celebration in the matrimonial bedroom. The aphrodisiac made its effects....... They were concentrating and enraptured in their love when .......... unexpectedly a large number of bats came through the bedroom window. They do not understand anything. The bats seem to be disoriented. They stumble over the bodies of the couple, who at that moment do not even try to look for their clothes. They leave the room naked and cover themselves, she with a tablecloth and he with a blanket that was on the sofa. The bats chase them. They manage to light a candle and scare them away. Now calmer and dressed, they decide to go to the main street.

There they meet the neighbors, who are standing guard, waiting for the thief to be caught. They are exchanging opinions about what happened when they see Mr. Britton coming, bringing a man in handcuffs. Mrs. Parkinson asks:

-Is that the thief?

To which they all reply in the affirmative. Mrs. Parkinson is pleased and thinks that they should never again complain about the quietness of the town and says goodbye, telling them:

-It was enough.......- But she did not have time to continue speaking. Boom, Boom. A detonation is heard in the quiet El Amparo street.

-It's a bomb, it's a bomb," says her husband.

At that moment, someone appears disguised as a witch. Nobody recognizes the character. It is the gentle teacher, Mrs. Martinez, who greets them and explains:

-That was the surprise I had for you for this night of madness in El Amparo Street- and she leaves smiling to continue handing out candy to the rest of the neighbors.

ENGLISH VERSION by https://www.deepl.com/es/translator