We all like to be told stories that allow us to imagine other worlds and live in them. But we also like to recreate stories, to tell them, because that allows us to connect with the fabulator that we all carry inside: to build stories is to build worlds. Although listening to stories is fundamental for children who need to understand how the world is created in order to inhabit their own universe, adults also need to reconnect with that child they carry within to continue dreaming and believing, and what better way than telling stories.

In this series of posts that I have proposed I have had the opportunity to remember children's stories that lead me to a past of innocent games and activities, where believing and imagining was part of everyday life. As well as, it has led me to investigate and find stories that I didn't know, and that have opened more my experiential spectrum and my curiosity. From these memories remains the image of my grandmother as the centre of my universe, as a magician and speaker who painted supernatural and exciting universes.

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I remembered, for example, as a result of the darkness that has enveloped Venezuela for three consecutive days, many stories about nocturnal and flying animals: butterflies, bats, birds. The birds as bearers of natural and incredible signs, emissaries of good news, but also of misfortunes.

As I said, I remember that once, although it is not a bird, a long time ago, in the state where I live, Sucre, there was a proliferation of a type of butterfly night, black, large and hairy. Specifically, they spread through Carúpano, Tunapuy and El Pilar. The lint that comes off these butterflies causes scoriations and irreversible visual damage. When these butterflies appear, it is ideal to light large bonfires to attract them and burn them in the fire. It is said that these butterflies are evil beings that appear in the darkness and that they arrive to bring misfortunes so when they arrive, beyond the bonfires, in many villages masses are made and holy water is poured through the squares and streets to clean them of possible misfortunes.

Just like these butterflies, I remembered that there are legends that speak of birds that with their flight can predict beatitudes, economic bonanza and love, but also unhappiness and sadness. I would like to talk about some of them.

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In Venezuela there are countless birds considered as bad omen, such as the Pavita, the Piscua or the Chaure. The song of these birds announces the death of someone close or misfortune. Normally when you hear the song of this type of bird, people cover their ears or try to scare them away. For example, it is said the singing of Chaure resonates in the distance, like a fateful echo, that predicts the death of the person who hears it or of someone close to it. If people listen to their song, they should shout: Go and suck the bones of the Blessed Sacrament or Saint Jerome, take it away. These words are a strange spell for the bird to move away or the evil does not the evil does not fall on the person who hears it.

Similarly, when we read the famous novel Doña Bárbara by the great Venezuelan writer Rómulo Gallegos, we will find that Juan Primito, one of the emblematic characters of this story, talks about the Rebullones, strange birds thirsty for blood, bearers of tragedies and deaths, which were only appeased with warm blood. To do this, the character had to put cow's blood on the roof of the house or else the birds would come in to steal the blood of its inhabitants.

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There is the same belief with the zamuros. These animals have always been considered turkeys because they are close to the dead. It is said that if there is no animal in a state of decomposition and the vultures appear, they are presaging bad times and desolation, so it is necessary to scare them away. I even once heard an uncle say that vultures advise women to leave their husbands and go with other men. I think he really talked about some men being considered vultures because they may be turning someone else's flesh. ;)

Just as these birds that foreshadow bad things, there are others that can predict various things, like the pigeon or the swallow, that if they suddenly come to your house is synonymous with happiness and abundance. That is why it is said that killing a swallow brings you bad luck and can even make you blind.

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Case apart is the famous Alcaraván, which according to some elders, if this bird sings near a house, is announcing the pregnancy of a woman. About this belief, I once had the good fortune to visit the Venezuelan plains.

There, in the middle of the night and among cattle, the singing of the Alcaraván was heard. At that time all the women looked at each other and the oldest said: Here is a pregnant woman and she doesn't know it. We all deny the omen and even laugh at beliefs. A month later, one of the women who was present that night gave the news that she was waiting for the stork (another bird). The Alcaraván had not been mistaken.

I don't know about you, but I like to listen to people who awaken my imagination, even if it's with stories that are hard to believe, with impossible and fantastic stories. In this time when dreaming is impossible and reality is a daily and systematic slap, we need to open doors that take us to other worlds, whether listening to music, reading books or listening to stories. I know that many of these beliefs have some naivety, superstition and even ignorance, but even so, I transmit them to you. Because I don't know about you, but in spite of adversities, I don't intend to give up dreaming.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Remember to vote for @adsactly as a witness and join our server in discord. Until a next smile. ;)