Panic - The ink well fiction Prompt #128.

Source from pixabay

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In a city of many squares with ornamental plants that visualize a natural beauty described with aromatic flowers. Near one of them, there is a school where Leonarda, 8 years old, studies. She is in third grade. She is very diligent in her studies and likes to paint,

As a child she was very sickly, she was admitted to a hospital, cared for by nuns, so she was afraid of them. She is the daughter of Maria, a housewife, and Pedro, a worker in a fish cannery.

In her spare time, she studied painting at a free academy near her home.

In that town, there was a rumor that there were nuns who extracted all the blood from children with a syringe, leaving them like a sheet of white paper. And unable to walk.

One morning, when Leonarda's mother was taking her to school, she stopped at a natural juice store. There, while buying juice, she heard the comment about the nuns. She was terrified. Her face and lips turned snow-white and her voice cracked with fear.

When she could articulate words, she said to her mother:

"I'm afraid to go to school because of the comment I heard at the juice stand!".

Her mother, trying to reassure her so that she would not feel insecure, replied:

"Don't be afraid, there are people who like to make comments that spread like gusts of wind during hurricane season."

"The objective of this rumor is to create panic to a large group of people, that is to say to a collective".

When they are arriving at the school, Leonarda says to Maria:

"Put your hand over my heart".

Her mother does as she tells her, and she feels the little girl's heartbeat accelerate, her little face is unhinged with fear, she clutches her mother's hand very tightly and begs:

"Please don't leave me!".

Her mother strokes her head tenderly and adds:

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to you". Her daughter replies:

"Mother I am terrified, at this comment, I am so afraid!".

. Maria hugs and kisses her. Then she adds:

"I'm going to pick you up before the office".

He takes her to the classroom door, greets her teacher and explains to her the factors that have generated this comment, which has spread throughout the city. The teacher tells her:

"Don't worry, I will keep an eye on your daughter and the other students."

After two weeks of class, the girl, guided by her mother's advice, has relented a little in her fear.

One morning, on her way to school with her mother, she noticed that there were a lot of cars on the street, especially parked in front of the school,

She asked her mother, a bit terrified:

"Why are there so many cars parked?" her mother replied:

"Today they are going to present an act in the Theater of this school, in honor of a hero of the Independence of our Country."

Leonarda burst out laughing

Her mother asked her:

"And that smile?"

"I got scared, I thought they were some nuns that had arrived in those cars".

Leonarda said goodbye to her mother and went into the school.

That day, when they were at recess, Leonarda was playing hide-and-seek with other classmates. She went to hide behind the medical office that is inside the school, when she was arriving she saw two nuns dressed in brown, talking with the person who attended that department.

She was so terrified that she ran and got into the basket that contained the leaves of the trees, which fall to the ground and are collected and deposited in that container, to be delivered to the cleaning department. There she was terrified, hiding for a long time. In that hiding place, she cried a lot.

A worker who was carrying several leaves in a shovel to collect garbage from the trees when she went to put them in the basket, heard the cry of a little girl, she approached and when she touched her by one arm, Leonarda jumped and ran away terrified. She left the school so terrified that she crossed 3 streets, without realizing the danger she was in.

Until she managed to reach her house. Frightened by the fear. She knocked on the door of her house and screamed:
"Mom, Mom, run, run. Open up, they're chasing me!

Her mother heard, and frightened by the fear, ran to open the door. The little girl jumped on her mother's neck, squeezing it tightly, she cried for a long time, her mother caressed her hair and her little back and told her:

"Calm down, my love, so you can explain what happened to you!"

Her mother carried her to her bedroom, because she wouldn't stop crying, made her some chamomile tea, made her drink it, went to bed with her and hugged her. After a while, the girl still could not come out of her terror. Fear were reflected on her face. She closed her eyes and did not want to open them. After her mother spoke to her and promised to sleep with her, she fell asleep until dawn.

The next day, the girl explained to her mother what had happened to her. She understood and told her:
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"In the face of fear, animals and people run away without measuring the consequences".

Then she added:

"Come on, let's go to school so they can explain to us what those Christians were doing at school".

When Leonarda and her mother arrived at the school, they explained to the principal the dangerous situation that Leonarda had lived yesterday, as a consequence of the visit of those nuns in the school.

The Principal replied:

"The reason was that they came looking for children to give catechism lessons to those who wanted to take their First Communion".

The Director addressing the girl explained to her:

"Look, my love, that comment about the nuns is a lie. They are women just like us. Those clothes they wear are their uniform".

Her mother and the girl thanked the headmistress, and as Leonarda said goodbye, with a happy smile on her face, she said:

"What a fool I was to believe that comment!"

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This is a fiction story
I hope you like it
The image is from Pixabay
I used Translator Deepl
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