I survived drowning as a child and now The Drowned Mother wants me back

When I was 6 years old, my parents organized a family trip for the whole family by the river. While the adults drank and talked, the children went swimming. I loved these trips, I got to swim to my heart’s content and would always win the swimming competitions against my cousins.

But on that particular day La Madre Ahogada, The Drowned Mother, made a visit. As our parents called us to get out to eat, we all hurried to the shore but then I felt my foot get stuck. Nothing to worry about, my dad had taught me how to get out when weeds tangled on my feet. But before I knew it, I was pulled down. A strong grip held into my leg, and as much as I tried to kick, it wouldn’t let go. I kept moving my legs, hoping to reach the surface and give my aching lungs some air. But the more I struggled the more entwined the weeds became. I opened my mouth, gasping for air, but instead my lungs filled with water. My resolve to get out was vanishing as the world around me started to darken. Right before the world turned completely black, I felt something embrace me.

Two miracles happened that day. The first was that my father was able to find me in the murky water. All the adults had dived into the river once they saw I hadn’t come back. My father had been the one to finally find me and pulled me out. The second miracle came in the form of my uncle. He was a doctor and as saw soon as he saw I wasn’t breathing, he began doing CPR. No one is sure how long I was gone, but the important part was that I was back.

I don’t remember much of what happened after, but I do remember seeing a lady standing by the river. Her dress was drenched, all of her seemed to have been in the water for too long. Her skin peeled to show a putrid inside. Clumps of hair stuck to her body, making it look as if she had a veil. And her smile extended more than naturally possible, showing blackened gums with rotten teeth. At the moment I didn’t find it scary, but now I shudder at the thought of her.

Everyone knew the local legend of The Drowned Mother. Sometimes, I think she may be a deviation from La Llorona as their stories do have similarities.

Many years ago, The Drowned Mother had taken her children to this river. She watched from the shore as her two children played in the water. But then, her children had an idea, what if they pretended to drown? So they did, and their mother rushed to their aid. The problem was that she got stuck, and no matter how much her children tried to pull her out, she drowned.

It is presumed her children survived, but what became of them after is unknown. What is known, is that now The Drowned Mother will pull down children and drown them, holding on to them as if they were her own.

Later on when I mentioned the lady staring at me, half the family thought it probably was a hallucination, the other half quickly mentioned The Drowned Mother. It didn’t matter what people believed, my family never went to the river.

But her haunting didn’t stop there/

“Don’t go into any source of open water, or anything deep enough to drown,” my grandma warned. According to her, The Drowned Mother would keep looking for me until she could bring me back into her embrace.

Obviously, as a kid, I took that to heart. I was terrified and refused to even shower. My mom would have to sit right outside the bathroom so I could do a quick shower. But as time passed and nothing happened, I started to think maybe that lady has truly been a hallucination, and things would be fine now. Years later, when my cousins invited me to a pool party, I finally said yes.

When I dipped my feet into the overly chlorinated water, I felt blissful. I had missed swimming, and for what? For something I had made up in my head after a freak accident. I laughed a little at myself and finally decided to jump into the pool.

But in those seconds between jumping and being in the water, I saw her. She stood by the edge of the pool with her arms extended, waiting for our embrace. I started to panic, and quickly made my way out of the pool. My cousins looked at me with a mix of pity and annoyance. I felt embarrassed, but once I was out of the pool, I could see her at the bottom of it, waiting for me. After that day, my cousins never invited me to swim again.

You will be surprised how hard it is to keep away from water. I couldn’t enjoy going to the beach, a pool, or even taking a shower in a bathtub without the fear of her showing up. When my husband suggested we have our honeymoon in Cancun, I had to pretend to be scared of what, when all I could really see was her smile. It broke my heart to see him sad, but I didn’t know what else to do.

So one day, when he prepared a bathtub for me, I didn’t have the heart to say no even when The Drowned Mother stood by it. I slowly dipped my body in the water, expecting for her to attack at any moment. My husband gave me a shoulder massage, trying to help me relax. I tried to keep focused on the massage but all I could see was her. But the moment I blinked, she was gone.

I looked into the water and there was nothing. I finally allowed myself to relax and enjoy the massage. My husband gave a small laugh when he noticed my change in mood.

“Told you this would work,” he said as he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

But as I was about to respond, I felt something pulling me down. I didn’t have enough time to grab air before The Drowned Mother had me fully submerged. I could feel as my husband tried to pull me out, but she was so much stronger. I kicked at nothing, and grabbed onto my husband desperately. My lungs burned and I felt once more like I had in the river. Would she be successful this time?

Despair completely took over when my husband let go of me. Why had he let go? The Drowned Mother put her arms around me and dug her nails into my skin. I yelp, swallowing soapy water. And then I realized why he had let go. He had taken off the drain cover and the water was slowly going down.

He jumped into the bathtub and pulled me as hard as he could. His eyes were filled with fear as he too saw her. And finally, she let me go. My husband held me as I threw up water and gasped for air.

Once I had calmed down, he asked me if this was The Drowned Mother and if this had been the reason I always avoided water activities. I nodded, feeling relief that now he knew the truth.

The Drowned Mother continued to appear anywhere with enough water to drown. I am still careful to not approach. But a new problem has arisen. I now have a daughter of my own, and The Drowned Mother no longer only looks at me, but at her too.

She welcomes my daughter with an embrace, just like she has done for me all these years. And my daughter… she sees her too.