The following version of this story was used to create this study guide: Allende, Isabel. “The Woman at the Store.” The Stories of Eva Luna. Scribner, 2017, p. 3 – 12.

Belisa Crepusculario gave herself her name. She named herself after the twilight, going against the norm of using the name she was baptized with. Belisa rose from poverty and tragedy to become a travelling salesperson. She sold words of many kinds, from stories, to news, to poems, to personal biographies.

One day, she was approached by El Mulato, the henchman of a Colonel of the civil war. Belisa Crepusculario was summoned to his main camp. the Colonel demanded that she write him a campaign speech, because he wanted to run for president. Belisa wrote a speech and gave the Colonel two secret words that he was not to share with anyone else.

As time passed, the Colonel used Belisa Crepusculario’s speech, winning the vote of many citizens, and Belisa Crepusculario continued her travels. El Mulato noticed that the Colonel had grown weak, because he was tormented by Belisa Crepusculario’s secret words. So El Mulato tracked Belisa Crepusculario down and brought her to the Colonel, demanding that she remove the curse of her words. However, when Belisa Crepusculario’s eyes met with the Colonel’s, she approached him and held his hand.