Imagination or Real? As a child I lived on the West Side in Santa Fe. One time my friend, Imelda, and I decided to ditch school. We were in 6th or 7th grade. We went under the bridge of the Santa Fe River off Alameda Street. It was kind of like an arollo because the river was pretty dry. We were talking about La Llorona. We were freaking each other out, trying to top each other's story, as kids do. Our stories were getting wilder and wilder. Then I started hearing this noise. It sounded like what I imagined La Llorona to sound like. It scared me. It gave me goose bumps. It sounded like she was saying, "Look. You've been bad. And I'm after you." I didn't know if I should tell Imelda or not, even though I was trying to top her story. Imelda looked at me and I thought maybe she had heard it too, but didn't want to admit it. We didn't want to be scared because we wanted to impress each other. We took off really fast. Later, I moved to the other side of Santa Fe near Canyon Road with my grandmother and I remember coming down by Delgado Street Bridge and my grandma saying, "La Llorona lives there, so you better watch out. If you don't behave she's going to come and get you." Then I moved to Taos. I was a young teacher teaching folklore. I remember my students got into an argument in class about La Llorona. Some of them said La Llorona was in Arollo Seco. And the kids from Ranchos said, "No she's not. She's in Ranchos." Then they asked me, "Where does La Llorona live, Mrs. Cordova?" They thought I was going to say El Prado, because that's where I was living. But I said, "She lives in Santa Fe, under the Delgado Street Bridge and near the dump on Alameda." And they looked at me horrified. Then I said, "And she also lives here. She lives everywhere. So you guys better all be careful." They were 7th graders, and they all looked at me as if saying "We know." La Llorona's everywhere. And we better all watch out. She may not just be in our imaginations.

Interview with: Kathryn M. Córdova Copyright 2001