**Explicit Content – For ages 18 and over**
Contains violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, death
All couples who wish to have children want to raise them in a place that is safe and allows them to instill good principles and moral values, but that can be difficult because such places are not easy to find. There is a town far from any city that seems to meet these requirements—Ecatrimburgo is like that and more. One of its characteristics is that it promotes the traditional family model where the man works to provide for his family, and the woman stays at home to raise the children. At first glance, it seems like the ideal place for any couple looking to fulfill the beautiful dream of becoming parents. However, as with most things, there is a catch: Ecatrimburgo is a town that remains faithful to its customs and traditions, making it nearly impossible for houses to be available since the same families have lived there for generations.
Ecatrimburgo is known for not accepting visitors often and for keeping its traditions alive. The only things known about the town are what the mayor or his close associates choose to tell the world, so there are very few people who have had the chance to visit this quaint town. This is why the images found of the town are somewhat old, showing only its festivals or its beautiful colonial streets, which can make people feel as if they’ve traveled back in time without losing certain comforts of the present.
Laura and her husband Emilio are members of this picturesque town, which means they come from families that have lived there for generations. Thus, it is also their responsibility to keep the traditions that define them alive.
In Ecatrimburgo, it is mandatory for every house to have a radio that remains on all day so that all its inhabitants can listen to the programs broadcasted on Patriota Ancestral, the town’s only radio station, especially the program “Devoted Wives,” which is specifically made for women. This program instructs all women on how to behave in society, but especially at home, so there is no chance that even one of the town’s women could miss the program.
Laura, having lived her whole life in the town and being an active member, continued the tradition. From a young age, she devoutly listened to the program daily without fail. She was simply following her mother’s teachings, which were passed down from her own childhood.
To most of the town’s people, Laura was a young woman with an attentive husband, also young like her. She seemed to have a perfect life, except for the fact that she had just lost her second pregnancy, which caused her such trauma that she began to lose her sanity and control of her actions. This trauma led to fits of hysteria where she sometimes tried to take her husband’s life and even her own. Because of this, Juan, her husband’s friend and the town’s psychiatrist, prescribed her medications that made her drowsy most of the time, which caused her to sleep a lot. As a result, Laura was not aware of everything that had happened to her, but it also meant she couldn’t do her household chores, so her sister-in-law Maria moved in with them to help with the chores so that Laura could fully recover from what had happened.
One day, Laura woke up feeling very energetic, as if she didn’t remember anything that had happened. So she resumed her usual routine, worrying only that it was late and she hadn’t yet prepared the meal, so she hurried to cook.
While Laura was preparing food for her husband and listening to the radio as usual, the town’s only station, Patriota Ancestral, was broadcasting its usual program “Devoted Wives,” the program that teaches women all the customs necessary to be good wives.
On the radio, an older woman’s voice could be heard saying: “A devoted wife is one who always puts her husband first in any circumstance of life. Her world begins with him and ends with him, or whenever he wants it to…”
Upon hearing this phrase, Laura felt something was wrong. It was as if her body was trying to say something because it no longer responded to her…
Laura tried to continue preparing the meal, but suddenly the knife slipped from her hands. That was the trigger that caused an explosion in her mind.
At that moment, her mind was filled with thoughts and memories that forced her to realize she was still in the same place. She lost her composure, started throwing everything around, and began screaming. The rage she felt was so intense that she couldn’t control herself, but her disappointment was even greater. This led her to the conclusion that the only way out was to take her own life.
But she made such a commotion that Maria, her sister-in-law, heard her even from her room. Maria wasn’t alone at that moment either. Just as Laura picked up the knife from the floor to end her suffering, someone entered the kitchen and grabbed her hand tightly, asking, “What do you think you’re doing?” To which she replied, “I’m taking the only path you left me.”
“Don’t be stupid. I won’t let you end your life just because you’re having a fit of madness!”
“It’s not a fit of madness, as you say! I just don’t want to end up like many women in this town. I don’t want to go through what my mother went through. I can’t bear what she endured for so long.” Laura said while noticing that her “savior” was missing his pants and that Maria, the younger sister of this monster, was standing behind him.
Emilio, tired of her, couldn’t stand listening to her anymore and shouted, “Shut up!” as he pushed her to the floor, demanding with blows and shouts, “Close your mouth! Who do you think you are to decide how your life will end? That privilege is mine, and I won’t let you take it from me. You’re not going to tarnish my honor!” He didn’t stop until he saw that the floor was heavily stained with Laura’s blood.
Seeing how her blood covered his face and that his clothes were torn from the struggle, her “savior” felt “inspired” to take pleasure in his wife’s fragile body.
As he got off Laura and wiped the blood off with satisfaction on his face, he said mockingly and ironically, “You should already know that in this town, women have no voice or vote. Their duty is to accept the will of us ‘Men.’ That’s how it has always been, and things won’t change just because a miserable woman like you disagrees with our traditions.”
“It’s time you accepted that your life belongs to me, and it will end when I say so. Is that clear? Now get up and clean up this mess you caused. You’d better not leave any trace of your disgusting, repugnant blood!”
While her “savior” reveled in his audacity, he didn’t notice that Maria, his younger sister, had picked up the same knife that had fallen to the floor during the argument—the knife Laura had tried to use to end her life. Maria gripped it as tightly as she could and lunged at him, stabbing him in the back over and over again until Laura embraced her and said, “Enough, Maria. It’s over. The ‘Monster’ is dead!”
That day, Emilio wasn’t the only man who had trouble at home. For some unknown reason, all the women in the town felt the same trigger that drove them mad.
“Maybe it was the phrase they heard on the program or maybe the sound of the shot that followed.”
But that day, in every house in Ecatrimburgo, the women who had been silenced and had suffered abuse for generations finally raised their voices and made themselves heard. They rose up and rebelled against their oppressors.
That day, a rare case of collective hysteria occurred in every house in the town, and each woman, regardless of age, had the same outburst. In every house, it led to the same conclusion—the extermination of each of the monsters that tormented the good women of the town. Although not all of them survived, those who did honored the sacrifice of every mother, sister, aunt, daughter, and friend who had perished for the salvation of their own.
That day was the last day all the programs of Patriota Ancestral were broadcast, especially the program “Devoted Wives.”
In the weeks that followed, anyone who visited Ecatrimburgo could feel the immense peace in the town. It was as if it had become a completely different place.
Now, Laura and Maria finally had the life they had dreamed of for so long—a peaceful life without abuse, just like the other women in the town.
