The Red-Eyed Cat (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga (Paranormal)

​It was another Saturday night, bleeding into the early hours of Sunday. I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I was just a child. My parents, my godmother, and her husband were having some drinks on the terrace of my house. At that moment, I noticed a small cat wandering in front of the house diagonally across from mine. Since I've always loved felines, I immediately jumped down from the terrace to go and catch it.

​When the animal realized I was approaching, it turned to look at me. Just as I was about to touch it, it bolted down the middle of the street. I decided to chase it and ran after it. There wasn't a single soul on the block; it was only lit by the streetlamps. To the right, all the houses were closed, with only their terrace lights on. On the other side was a large soccer field, surrounded by some overgrown weeds. I can’t recall if the field lights were on or if the pitch was shrouded in shadows. The only sound in the street was the rustling of tree branches swaying to the rhythm of the wind, and on the ground where I was running, I could see their shadows moving.

​I kept chasing the cat until I reached the corner where there was a store. The little feline turned the corner, and I decided to keep following, so I did the same. Next to the corner store, there was a house with iron bars. The cat slipped inside, and I stayed just outside. Suddenly, the cat stopped, turned around, and stared directly at me. What was terrifying was that its eyes were wide open, and they had turned a deep, glowing red. At that age, I was terrified; I flailed my arms and let out a half-scream. Immediately, I turned back, shouting and running all the way back home along the same path I had come.

Picked by La Llorona (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

 

When Anderson was 12 years old, his older sister moved to a house on the next street and left her room, which was the last one unoccupied. He used to sleep in the bedroom in the middle of the house, but he had grown curious and sometimes went to sleep there, in an old bed that was the only thing his sister had left behind. The room was dark, located next to the patio, and it was the furthest one from the house's front door; until one night, in the early morning hours, something extraordinary happened.

​He was sleeping in the darkness when, suddenly, he began to see the room as if his eyes were wide open, yet he was still asleep. In that state, he saw a woman entering the room. She had a black afro with matted hair, and her face was hidden behind it. She was wearing a white gown that seemed to glow. He thought it was his mother because that was what her pajamas looked like.

​The woman turned beside his bed and walked up to the headboard. She stood there next to him. Then, she lay down by his side, and he felt the mattress sink. Afterward, the ghost woman turned over and hovered just inches above him, propped up by her arms on either side of his body on the bed. He could feel her chest brushing against his, and at that moment, he woke up and cried out in distress, "Mommy!" But when he opened his eyes, the woman was no longer there. He could only see the darkness of the room everywhere. He writhed in bed and trembled with fear for the rest of the night.

​The next morning, he thought that what had appeared to him was La Llorona. But what terrified him the most was realizing that she hadn't uttered a single word or made any sound. She hadn't asked her typical question: "Where are my children?" This meant that she had already chosen him to be her next victim, to be taken to the river to have her way and fulfill her deadly purpose.

The Girl who parles Français (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

Years ago, I traveled to a coastal city with two coworkers for the weekend to party and enjoy the sun. We arrived on Saturday night, walked around the city, and enjoyed the fresh breeze that blew through the streets. Later, we went to a club to dance to the rhythm of Caribbean music. As we were walking in, I saw two girls leaning against the wall; their look suggested they weren't locals either. In that instant, I fell in love with one of them—it was love at first sight.

​As the night went on, the beer started to give me a buzz, so I plucked up the courage and decided to move closer to her. Every time someone left an empty spot on the dance floor, I took it, slowly making my way until I ended up right next to her. She was dancing with her friend, and I could tell they noticed me. I was tapping my foot slowly with a beer in my hand, pretending to look at the DJ. She whispered something to her friend and looked over at me a couple of times with an expression that seemed to say, 'What is he doing there dancing alone?' Then, she laughed shyly with her friend, but I was still unable to say a word."

​"When the night was at its peak and I was even drunker, I decided to take a chance and talk to her. However, she was nowhere to be found. I walked through the entire club, searching for her desperately, until I spotted her leaning relaxed by the entrance. She was alone; I had no idea where her friend had gone. I approached her and immediately said, 'Hi, how are you?'

​But she just looked at me and replied, 'Excuse-moi, je ne suis pas d'ici, j'habite en France, je ne parle pas anglais.' Fortunately, I also spoke French and understood her perfectly, so I replied, 'Je parle français.' She immediately tilted her head, crinkling her face with a look of suppressed laughter.

​We kept talking, and in the end, she gave me her number. After getting to know each other better, she confessed that she was actually from this country and spoke perfect English. It turned out to be a bet she had made with her friend: they would speak to anyone who approached them in a foreign language just to confuse them…”

My Cat’s Soul in Pain (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

 

​One day, on a normal afternoon, I felt like watching videos of paranormal experiences. So, I sat at the living room table, turned on my laptop, and started watching them on YouTube. As I felt the adrenaline triggered by the events in those images, it wasn’t long before I began to have an even stronger sensation.

​To my left, between the height of my shoulder and my face, I began to feel a presence like an intense fervor—an electrical charge and a pressure, as if it had the shape of an imperfect sphere. At that moment, I wasn't alarmed, and I didn't even turn to look because, out of the corner of my eye, nothing was visible. I thought it was just part of the tension produced by the videos I was watching.

​However, in that instant, I saw my little cat walking very quickly from the terrace through the living room hallway, shaking his head desperately from side to side. He reached where I was and stopped at my left side. Behind me, there was a wall that my chair was leaning against. He stared at it, looking back and forth rapidly with his eyes wide open, right at the spot where I had felt that force. That was when I knew that something had actually been there.

​A few days later, in the morning, my cat was meowing on the terrace as usual, waiting for me to open the door. But before I even reached the edge of the living room, he stopped meowing.

​When I opened the door and looked outside, I saw a bowl with something that looked like milk on one side of the terrace. It was as if someone had placed it there, but I looked from side to side, and in the deep silence of the street, not a soul was to be seen.

​The most shocking part was that my little cat came into the house delirious, losing his balance, until he reached a point where he collapsed in the middle of the room. He convulsed for a few seconds; his torso and limbs trembled while he foamed at the mouth, until finally, he stopped moving. His gaze remained fixed on a single spot: he had passed away.

​A few days went by, and while I was sleeping on the living room sofa in the early hours of the morning, I heard the sharp sound of a "meow" in my right ear. I woke up, and it felt strange because I no longer had a cat. I looked under the furniture and then all around the room, but there was nothing, and the house was completely closed.

​About fifteen days passed, and I heard the cat's meow in my ear again, in the same way, but once more, there was nothing there. Since then, I haven't heard my kitten's meow again. It sounded like sadness, as if his spirit were trapped in the void, calling out to me for help. But the only thing I could do was wish for his soul in pain to transcend so he could finally rest in peace. As for the rest, I don't know what happened.

The Rooftop of the Eternal Night (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

​Juan was a boy who, every night, would climb onto the roof of his house to observe the Moon and the radiance it emitted. Within its light, he recharged himself with hope and the desire to forge ahead.

​Before long, Juan would fall asleep on the rooftop and wake up the next day with the sun's caress upon his cheek, full of strength to face the day.

​One night, Juan climbed to the roof as usual. The Moon illuminated the sky and, as always, he sat down to admire it. However, on that occasion, a long time passed—hours and hours—and he noticed that sleep would not come.

​Furthermore, he realized that, although the Moon usually moved across the sky as the dawn progressed, as if dancing in the firmament, that night it seemed strange to him that the lunar satellite remained motionless, anchored at the very same point.

​Time kept passing, yet dawn did not arrive. Juan’s body began to grow weary as he was unable to find sleep; it felt as though entire days had gone by. Suddenly, he looked up at the sky and noticed gray clouds drifting in from the sides, beginning to shroud the Moon. The atmosphere darkened, and the glowing circle turned opaque.

​Inexplicably, behind the clouds, the brilliant sphere began to melt like hot wax, turning into a sort of twisted vertical stroke. It constantly shifted into forms that were difficult to describe; they were disfigured lines that flickered between position and shape.

​As the light’s reach diminished, a torrent of negative feelings took hold of Juan. He let his body fall upon the cement sheets and curled into himself. An unknown cold chilled him to the bone; he felt the world becoming a small and hostile place. The rooftop, once his refuge, now felt like an abyss.

​In seconds, his physique began to lose muscle mass, thinning drastically. Meanwhile, in the sky, the Moon was disappearing behind the thick, gray smoke.

​In that instant, Juan closed his eyes. The clouds began to scatter and, without the light of the Moon, the atmosphere on the rooftop was swallowed by darkness.

​After an incalculable amount of time, a clarity began to flood Juan’s cheek; it was a warm, yellow light, like that of the sun. At that moment, Juan opened his eyes and stood up to welcome the dawn.

The Cloud Witch and The City of Eternal Light (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

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​This is the story of the Cloud Witch, an evil being who wished to plunge the world into darkness. As she journeyed across the earth's paths, where she distilled clouds of black smoke in her wake, she stumbled upon a small, luminous city that stood next to a wet desert near a rocky mountain. Its name was the City of Eternal Light. The small cluster of dwellings was surrounded by high, thick walls and was governed by a superior being: the White Prince.

​The wicked witch grew very angry upon seeing so much brilliance, so she immediately prepared to attack the young Prince to overthrow him and sink the city into gloom.

​The Prince lived in the two tallest towers at the back of the walls, and the Witch focused on attacking those structures directly. Thus, in an instant, the air above the City of Eternal Light grew dense and cold, and the protective lights flickered for the first time in centuries. Within seconds, the Cloud Witch unleashed a great wind storm to enter the structures and send everyone inside flying into the air. However, at that moment, the bright lights charged with energy, but this time, they increased their power and prevented the gust from entering.

​The air was diverted and was about to enter the houses and other buildings in the city, but their lights equally protected them and sent the great gusts in different directions outside the walls.

​There, the Witch realized that these lights were for protection. The Prince's towers, the other tall constructions, and the houses glowed to be protected from attacks of evil power. The Cloud Witch knew of the existence of the invisible beings that also roamed the planet and helped certain populations.

​"I bet it’s the work of those busybodies, but they'll see," the Witch muttered to herself in her raspy voice.

​For that reason, the cloudy Witch began reciting a spell to extinguish the lights of the Prince's towers, to attack directly and destroy him. Suddenly, the cloud-shaped Witch launched her sinister black magic attack, which rapidly headed towards its target.

​Despite this, just as the dark ray was about to touch the towers, a transparent spirit descended from the heights at the speed of light and placed itself in the middle. In this way, it divided and scattered the evil ray in different directions inside the walls.

​This extinguished the light of several buildings and houses, but the light of the Prince's towers remained intact. The evil Witch clenched her teeth in anger and vanished into the clouds upon seeing her plan had been frustrated. The invisible being also vanished, and immediately several white rays shot out from the Prince's towers, re-igniting the lights of the dwellings that had been extinguished; thus, the City of Eternal Light shone brightly again, as it always had.

The Shadow People Attack (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

A few years ago, he had a dream that he unfortunately doesn't remember, but he distinctly recalls its very strange ending. It was a landscape featuring a palm tree; at its base, there was a beautiful flower, a grassy field stretched in the background, and the sun was shining with high intensity. Suddenly, the landscape dissolved, and he began to see his room in the gloom, yet he was still asleep and his eyes were closed.

​In that moment, he saw a body swiftly peer around the upper-left side of his doorway, which had no actual door. He could only see a head, the top part of its chest, and the sides of its arms. It was a completely black being with no face or hair.

​The creature quickly dropped down and moved at high speed in his direction. It teleported rapidly from side to side, finally stopping at the head of the bed. There, it immediately opened its mouth wide on its face, showing him its thick, long black fangs.

​The monster had a tall, thin body. It was so gaunt that its ribs showed through its chest, entirely made of black, leathery skin. Suddenly, the image of his mother came running into his room, stopping at the entrance and standing there, watching what was unfolding.

​The look in her eyes, filled with the concern only a maternal figure knows, was fixed on the entity. It seemed she already knew that something highly unusual was happening in his room and had come to check. When the entity registered the presence of the female being, it looked back. Instantly, the woman rushed forward at great speed, heading straight for the spectre. They fought, grabbing each other’s hands and looking face-to-face, and she gradually forced it backward until they reached the foot of the bed.

​There, they both disappeared. The young man woke up in the darkness and there was nothing; just absolute silence, his heavy breathing, and the concentrated heat of the room. He wrapped himself in his bedsheet and writhed for hours until he finally fell back asleep. The next morning, his mother approached him, unsettled by something that had happened to her in the early hours.

​She gets up every day before sunrise to prepare breakfast. That morning, she was at the sink washing dishes in the cupboard when she suddenly caught sight of something or someone quickly walking out of her son’s room. She had seen a black shadow heading toward the patio door.

​She thought it was him, so she walked over with a knife in her hand to scare him. The refrigerator stood in the middle of the kitchen and the patio entrance, so she thought he was hiding behind it. When she reached that spot, she pointed the knife and said, "Boo!" But there was no one there, and the door was closed.

​She immediately looked toward his room, and there he was, sleeping in his bed. That night, he didn't know why he felt compelled to take a photo of the bedroom entrance. When he looked at it, there was a standing shadow, also faceless and hairless, diagonally positioned near the refrigerator in the background.