After moving to an apartment in the center of the city, my oldes daughter, who was 12 years old at the time, began to suffer from continuous allergies caused skin rashes and swelling of the mouth, nose, and eyes.
The doctors who treated her could not find the origin of her body's reaction to the environment, and as is common with allergies, they prescribed medication to control it.
Maxy, the diminutive by which we used to call her, had told me a few years before that she wanted an image of the virgin of Coromoto, and I had bought her a small statuette of the virgin seated with the baby Jesus on her lap. At that time, I did not imagine that I was going to make a promise to the virgin. It would be an intuition of what would happen years later?. I don't know, but a series of surprising events did occur.
On one occasion she had to be hospitalized for treatment. I saw her there so small but always very strong, without complaining, that at that moment I asked the Virgin to help her to heal and I promised to take her to the sanctuary that was built near the city of Guanare, in the place where according to the story she appeared to the Indian Coromoto back in the 1600s.
Time went by, and Maxy was getting better, but the promise had not yet been fulfilled, I kept postponing it and almost forgetting it between the demands of the family and work. But at times, she would come back to my mind to remind me that I had to make that trip.
Years later, my daughter Mary who lived in Colombia , called me one morning and told me what she had dreamed.
"I dreamt that a woman whose face I could not see very well and whose long black hair told me that I had to help the two people get to the gray temple".
The temple, which was built in homage to the virgin, is a work in gray.
"I woke up thinking about how to interpret the dream, and it came to mind the promise that you made to the virgin of Coromoto and that you have not fulfilled"
To reassure my daughter and me, I told her that I was going to plan the trip for the month of December. But we did not do it, and six more months passed. From time to time, a memory would come to mind, and I would feel anxiety, a state of uneasiness like the one you feel when you have something pending to do.
One morning I was at home; it was early, at about 8:00 a.m., and I received a video call from my daughter. I was surprised because she was not used to calling me so early in the morning. One always tends to think it's an emergency.
"Hi mommy, how are you?"
"Fine, my girl. God bless you and how are you?"
"I am fine, but I dreamed again".
"This time, it was a dream with more details. I was in a hospital, and I entered a room that had a number 15 on the door. As I passed by, I saw a woman with her back to me. She was dressed in white. She spoke to me and said:"
I am still waiting for those two people to go to the gray temple, and you have to help them
"Mommy, tell me something. How old was Maxy when you made the promise?"
I didn't remember exactly, but I told her.
"I think I'm between 12 and 13 years old".
"She was 13 years old, Maxy is 28 years old, that's 15 years from the promise and that's the number I saw on the door".
My skin crawled, and I didn't know what to say to her; it seemed so surprising what she was telling me.
His voice was anguished, and I could see his urgent face.
"They must go as soon as possible, this weekend. I will help them with the expenses".
"Okay, daughter, you are right. Let me talk to Maxy, so we can plan the trip"
That following Saturday, we traveled to the city of Guanare. But for work reasons, we had to go and return the same day, even though it is about a 5-hour bus ride.
We arrived at the terminal in Maracay very early. It was raining, and we left the city at almost 9 a.m. I thought we had little time left to go to the temple on the outskirts of Guanare and return. But then I stayed calm and enjoyed the trip. All the way, it was raining, and the landscape of green hills and then the green plains made me comment to my daughter.
"How beautiful this landscape is. We hadn't been out of the city for a long time"
We arrived at the Guanare terminal almost at one o'clock in the afternoon and without knowing how to get to the temple. I asked a man.
"They are coming to fulfill a promise?", he told me
"That's right"
"I recommend you to take a cab from the terminal line and if he wait for them it is better".
So we decided to follow the advice and we left in a cab. To get to the temple we drove 25 km on a road that passed through a town called Quebrada de la Virgen and then about 15 minutes away in an open place in the middle of the vegetation was the Sanctuary.
The cab driver gave us a very cheap rate that included waiting for us and taking us back.
When we arrived we saw people on the stairs and behind the beautiful and imposing figure of high ceilings and grandiose architecture of the temple, that moved me.
I entered with my daughter to the first room full of huge stained glass windows that covered the walls and ceilings, the colorful painted light illuminated the room. The atmosphere was humid and even though there were people sitting on the benches and walking in the different rooms, it felt quiet. We went up some granite stairs to the place where the image of the virgin was, a holy card that according to the story was found in the hand of the Indian Coromoto when he died.
I approached and looked through the glass that protected it, it was very small. I said to her.
"Virgencita here I bring my daughter, I come to fulfill the promise I made to you fifteen years ago"
And I silently thanked her for helping her. I turned to look at my daughter.
"Daughter you are not going to say anything".
"No mother because the one who made the promise was you". And she continued taking pictures and admiring the temple.
I think I was right, the thanks at that moment was mine.
After touring the temple, we returned to the cab, the scenery was beautiful, the vegetation was very green and a very fine drizzle continued to fall.
When we arrived at the town of Quebrada de la Virgen, the cab driver asked us if we wanted to get out and visit the park of the Apparition. Of course we said yes.
At the entrance there were some children who asked us for money in exchange for telling us the story of the apparition of the Virgin. We told them we didn't have any cash but the girl, about 12 years old, smiling and cheerful, told us.
"I'll go with you, it doesn't matter if you don't pay me".
We began to walk along the path that bordered the creek, everything was wet from the rain. The vegetation was very abundant and large mosquitoes began to bite us. I put my hands in my pockets and found a one dolar bill that I gave to the girl.
She had begun to tell us the story of the apparition in her clear voice and with a little song typical of the local people.
When we arrived at the statue of the virgin we admired the flora of this wonderful place. The girl cut some yellow manzanillo flowers and gave them to us.
On the way back along the same road we said goodbye to the girl and returned to the Guanare terminal under the rain that did not leave us all the way. We thanked the cab driver for his kindness and looked for the bus to return.
During the return trip it was already dark and we were on the last bus leaving the terminal, coincidentally the same one we had left Maracay with in the morning. There were only a few people and they were getting off along the way until only one lady, my daughter and I were left.
We arrived in the city of Valencia, one hour from Maracay, and the bus terminal was very lonely. The bus collector helped us to find a car to take us to Maracay, because otherwise we would have to stay in that loneliness until dawn.
We arrived in the city not only with the peace of having fulfilled the promise I made but with a great feeling of gratitude for the people who helped us to make it possible. My dear daughter with her great sensitivity, they driver and the bus collector, responsible for their passengers and who made sure we arrived at our destination. The cab driver, who seemed to enjoy himself beyond his job, taking us to know the temple of the virgin of Coromoto and the beautiful girl who accompanied us to that sacred place without expecting a reward. I like to think that the protection of the virgin helped me fulfill my promise.
Thank you for reading my story in No ficción creativa en The Ink Well Prompt #41
The image of the presentation was edited in Canva with my own photograph.
The other pictures were also taken by my daughter 
The English translation was done at www.deepl.com
