“Don’t go to the river at night, or else the llorona will get you.”

“What’s a llorona?”

“A lady who drowned her children in the river, so now her spirit wants to drown other people.”

It was so fun listening to this legend because it sounded like a different version of the Loch Ness Monster or some type of mythical character. The Llorona being a woman who drowned her own children makes it even scarier. I was just slightly confused that it was her spirit that wanted to drown more people, not her children’s spirit. This seems like a well known legend after searching it online, but it was my first time hearing it.

Janneth Galeno is my co-worker. She works in an office. She was born in Mexico but moved to the United States and she has been living here ever since. She is married and has one daughter. She told me these traditions and stories during break at work.

With this specific legend, Janneth had grown up hearing about this and has even passed it onto her child. She told me that this legend was told because long ago, it would be dangerous at night to be walking around by someone alone. This prevented children especially to not wonder off somewhere by themselves.