Fresh 5 Writing Contest - Madre Del Muertas

In the mountainous region of northern Mexico above the town of Monterey is a small village, Sierra Hermosa. This area of Mexico is rich in copper ore and home to some of the largest copper mining operations on the North American continent. It is also home to the “Madre Del Muertas”; translated to English its meaning is “Mother of the Dead”.

The Mayan and Aztec cultures that form the backbone of ancestry for the native people of this area are all too familiar and respectful of this beautiful woman who keeps watch over the land she calls her “jardine” or garden. The Madre’s age is not known, her beauty defies all sign of age and she has ruled and watched over this land since before the tribes have been known to record their history. Her story and the respect for her have been passed from generation to generation in the native spoken word.

Her place of residence is the small white stone church, at the center of the town. Little is known about the origin of the beautiful and deadly seductress. It seems like she has been there forever and she has made it perfectly clear she will not leave her jardine.

She has secrets that she is unwilling to share and if you as much as lay a finger on her you have signed your own execution order. Several scientists and metallurgists have come to view the Madre and have not heeded the warnings of the local priest and the congregation, the small cemetery on the far side of the church is the final resting place for fourteen such people who cared not to believe the power of the Madre.

She once was a glistening sculpted figure of a woman, but her age has removed much of her shine. The locals say that each time she is touched by a man she turns a little darker in her appearance and her reputation grows a little darker as well. The man who created this stunning beauty is not known by name, he left no signature or mark on this piece he created. The legend that has passed down with time was that he created the Madre to honor the memory of his fiance who was kidnapped, beaten, assaulted and murdered by white men who had come to the area for copper ore.

As the man was completing his work on the statue a storm was brewing in the mountains. The legend says he lacked only a few minutes of completing his masterpiece that he had created in her memory. As fate would have it a bolt of fire flew from the clouds and struck the sculpture as the man was finishing the eyebrows on the statue. His hand and arm that he had wrapped around the backside of her head were completely blown off of his body. As the lightning bolt made its way through his torso his dying screams could be heard for miles, “Madre Del Muertas”.

The man died a lonely death, with only the memory of his beautiful fiancé; he had no family in town and very few friends. The sculpture was made of a shiny metal, it was thought to be solid silver, but it also had dark streaks that created her shadows and appeared to be different from the base metal. With the abundance of copper in the area the people were not sure that the man hadn’t concocted his own metal alloy using several base metals. What was known for sure was that it could withstand the high temperatures that the bolt of lightning would have generated, as not even a hair on the head was damaged in any way.

The people of the village decided it would be best to keep the statue in a safe place so that should an heir to the man ever come to town at least one item would be preserved for the man’s family. So the priest of the small church offered a spot in the vestibule of the church and provided a mantel to place the sculpture upon for viewing and safe keeping. A clear glass enclosure was created and added a short time later to completely enclose the statue; the enclosure was never to be removed.

The three men who moved the statue from the man's home to the church were the first three victims of the Madre Del Muertas, each dying within twenty four hours of touching the statue. The primary common denominator in the death of the three was that they had carried the statue with their bare hands. Each died a violent death at the hands of an invisible assassin. The dismembered bodies of two of the men were found in their own yards. The other man was walking home from the local cantina and appeared to be fighting with someone according to witnesses. The witnesses described how the man was thrown to the ground and then picked up equal to the height of a six foot tall man’s head and slammed to the ground again. The man then appeared that he was being choked as both his hands were near his neck like he was trying to push someone’s hands off of his neck, after about three minutes of struggling he lay motionless in the street. None of the witnesses saw a physical presence of the person fighting the man; they each described the fight as a fight with an invisible man. The legend has it that the spirit of the man who created this work of art has stayed to protect his lady, and he will kill anyone who violates her with even as much as a touch of a finger.

The estimated weight of the “Madre Del Muertas” is around 200 lbs, but no one has ever weighed the sculpture. Many a desperate man has tried to steal the Madre from her place in the church, each one has met the end of their existence here on earth in very short order; a couple of would be thief’s never made it out the door of the church.

It is also rumored that the Madre’s powers can be negated by the use of a cloth or blanket to keep your skin from making contact with the statue. I think that rumor can be put to rest, the photo of the latest attempted theft of the Madre shows her wrapped in a course woven thick wool throw blanket. The two thieves are not pictured but are lying fifteen feet west of the Madre, in a field of tall grass, the condition of the bodies are not for the faint of heart. The Madre appears so peaceful in that photo, her hair seems to intertwine with the soft blades of the coastal Bermuda grass, as she lays there waiting for her next victims are to arrive.

The tragic part of this situation is that for every two thieves that try to make off with the Madre two additional people besides the thieves will die; as the Madre has to be returned to the church and placed in her eternal spot. The local policia are well aware of the power of the Madre, they also know that it is wise to keep a couple strong men from a foreign country in lock up. Without prior knowledge foreigners are more than willing to earn their release from lock up by agreeing to carry the beautiful lady back to her mantel in the church.

The people of Sierra Hermosa have learned to live with her and the spirit that protects her, and unless you are born in the area you will never be told of her story. This may be the only warning you ever receive with regard to the power of the “Madre Del Muertas” so file it in your memory and stay away from Sierra Hermosa, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Photo Credit: @alexandravart