STATE of TEXAS - A lone walker makes his way along the banks of a river. For him this is a familiar path, one that he navigates each day. Keeping his eyes on the ground, he is disturbed by the one difference between this and all the other times his feet have sought purchase here: this time it is night. Usually the man leaves town much earlier, but tonight he was detained, and as he hurries toward his home he is at least thankful for the full moon lighting his way.

A soft sound comes to his ears, possibly some animal he thinks to himself. Concentration must be reserved for any hazards lying in front of him. Then from the other bank he hears it, a long sobbing wail that ends in a scream. The man stops in his tracks and listens, his ears straining for any sound. Again the voice comes to him, this time just behind him on his side of the bank. In the darkness directly behind him a pitiful, but frightening scream filled with pain and anguish momentarily petrifies him with sudden fear. Another cry that turns into a crazed keening wail resonances along the bank sounding even closer still, this time the man turns and begins to run no longer fearful of any object in his path. He will not stop running until he reaches home. He has heard –her. He has heard the cries of La Llorona.

La Llorona was a young widow with small children to care for, and few means to feed or clothe them. Either out of the desperation of her circumstances, or a desire to start a new life for herself without responsibilities, she drowned her own children in a river. Madness came upon her immediately after her rash act and she spent the rest of her short life following the river along its banks lamenting her lost children.
All these years after her death her lonely cries are still heard along the banks of rivers. No one is sure how old this tale really is, but generation after generation of Texans have heard this story which originated in Mexico. 

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