0:09
myths or that stories are
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true you know what in fact it doesn't
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really matter what you believe in
0:27
either because I know it's true
1:29
2 months had passed since that fateful
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night no one in my family had spoken
1:34
about what happened that evening i
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didn't mind i had already decided to
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uncover the truth myself all I needed
1:43
was the right moment and that moment
1:45
came during the monthly deep cleaning of
1:47
our home this cleaning ritual might
1:50
sound strange to you it was different
1:53
from regular cleaning because we used
1:55
things we wouldn't normally use like
1:57
apple cider vinegar its sharp scent
2:00
lingered in my nose long after my mother
2:03
and grandmother avoided using their
2:05
usual cleaning supplies like bleach
2:08
white soap or detergent during these
2:11
cleanings instead the entire house was
2:14
scrubbed with apple cider vinegar from
2:16
windows and doors to even the bathroom
2:19
and toilet they also added a pinch of
2:22
rock salt to the vinegar everyone in the
2:24
house bathed before evening pouring
2:27
apple cider vinegar over themselves
2:29
afterward small glasses filled with a
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mixture of apple cider vinegar and salt
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were placed by the windows in the
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bathrooms and toilets even the exteriors
2:40
of windows and doors were cleaned with
2:42
the same mixture and rock salt was
2:51
yard but that wasn't all once the
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cleaning was done they burned bay leaves
2:57
in the center of the house then sage was
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burned as incense and carried throughout
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every corner of the house i should
3:06
mention that the type of sage used for
3:08
this ritual grows naturally in
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landscapes particularly in the southwest
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USA and northwest Mexico native
3:18
Americans in these regions use it for
3:22
rituals yes the monthly cleaning day was
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the perfect time to play the spy my
3:29
disappearance wouldn't be noticed much
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amidst the chaos i helped my mother and
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grandmother with the cleaning wiping
3:36
down areas they couldn't reach alongside
3:38
my sister if anything was moved out of
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place during my search I could blame it
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on the cleaning that way neither my
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grandfather nor my father would suspect
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a thing the best time to execute my plan
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was right after the vinegar cleaning and
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just as the bay leaves and sage incense
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were being burned while my mother and
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grandmother began the incense ritual on
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the veranda I could sneak upstairs and
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carry out my mission before they reached
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the second floor my sister was too young
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to be involved in the operation i
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trusted her but I couldn't risk her
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letting something slip by mistake i told
4:19
her we'd play a game i would sing about
4:22
everything I cleaned and applaud myself
4:24
afterward my sister's job was to loudly
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announce each room's name when my mother
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and grandmother entered and left it
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saying something like "Finally the
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living room is done i'm the incense
4:37
girl." Then she'd applaud herself too
4:41
this way I'd always know which room they
4:43
were in before they reached the stairs
4:47
my sister's final announcement would be
4:49
"It's finally done." I'm the incense
4:52
girl i'll climb the stairs two at a time
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i'm the incense girl if I didn't put
4:58
everything back in its place by then I'd
5:00
be caught finally the cleaning was over
5:04
my mother and grandmother started
5:06
burning the bay leaves in the living
5:08
room they slowly moved through each room
5:11
with the sage incense the moment they
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began I tiptoed into the study where was
5:19
notebook it took me a while to find it
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my grandfather had hidden it among the
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blank papers he used for his typewriter
5:28
he had crafted a box out of the stack
5:30
cutting it just large enough to fit the
5:33
notebook from the outside even if you
5:36
removed most of the papers on top all
5:39
you could see was blank paper there
5:41
wasn't just one stack of paper though
5:44
there were multiple piles spread across
5:46
the shelves it wasn't a particularly
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clever hiding spot but for someone
5:51
unaware of the notebook's existence it
5:54
was a tedious and tricky place to search
5:57
the study was filled with books
5:59
documents typed on his typewriter and
6:02
various official papers still why go to
6:06
such lengths to hide just one notebook
6:09
never mind i slowly opened its cover
6:13
surprisingly the notebook seemed much
6:15
newer than the stack of papers hiding it
6:18
this couldn't be the only one would this
6:21
notebook answer my questions or confuse
6:24
me further it didn't matter i was
6:27
determined to read it no matter what
6:30
finally I turned to the first page but
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this wasn't a book it wasn't even a
6:36
typical notebook it was a diary my
6:39
grandfather had kept and judging by the
6:41
date it was relatively new i didn't have
6:44
time to read it all i needed to quickly
6:47
find the date of my sister's birthday
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and start from that night to piece
6:55
together what bizarre things my
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grandfather had written i wanted to read
7:00
everything but I didn't have the luxury
7:02
of time i couldn't get caught some pages
7:06
had been torn out maybe he didn't like
7:09
what he wrote or perhaps he had only
7:12
taken notes and discarded them or maybe
7:15
he had been afraid of what he had
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written could it be connected to what he
7:19
said to my father that night i got so
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close this time i'm losing my mind you
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wouldn't believe what I've discovered if
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they didn't need to hide this from
7:30
people I'd go out and tell the whole
7:33
city what I've seen because people have
7:35
the right to know said my grandpa so
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what had he found that made him tear out
7:42
pages from his diary let me read the
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h if I hadn't made it back tonight I
7:51
could have lost my entire family my
7:54
grandchildren are to blame but if this
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isn't revealed to everyone it might be
8:00
too late and unfortunately I'm too old
8:04
to stop them anymore i should have
8:07
married earlier my grandchildren would
8:10
be adults by now last year after the
8:14
disaster we faced I warned my son but as
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always he was too busy with government
8:20
work to care about his family a man who
8:24
can't protect his family can't protect
8:26
his country i nearly shot my grandchild
8:30
my grandchild isn't ready yet i know
8:33
that but I suspect my grandchild is
8:37
starting to realize something if they
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hadn't gone into shock that night and
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taken one more step toward me I would
8:45
have had to kill them my grandchild
8:48
isn't ready for this responsibility yet
8:51
no way my grandfather would have had to
8:54
kill me finally the living room is done
