As fast as my feet could fly, I made a mad dash out of the kitchen and into the enter room. Everyone was there, still getting ready for my cousin's party- not that I noticed. The first person to see me was Abuela, who was carrying a basket of flowers on her arm. She spotted me standing there as I panted heavily, and immediately frowned.
"Mirabel, I told you to get the table runners." Table runners…. I'd completely forgotten all about that by now. Instead, I ran over to fling my arms around her neck. "Abuela!" I sobbed into her dress. She pulled back in a start. "Mirabel? What's wrong?" By now my parents and a few of the other family members were coming to see what was going on. My arms went from my grandmother to my mother, who looked just as startled and alarmed. "What's going on?!" She asked stunned.
"Mom! Mom, I'm back! I'm back!" Yanking my head away, I clung to her arms desperately. She blinked at me, unsure what to make of what I just blurted out. "Back? W-What do you mean?" "Mom! I've been gone for hours! Didn't you notice I was missing at the party?!" I gawked at her in disbelief. How could she even ask me that?! They must have noticed I wasn't there! They must have! But Mom's expression was so sincere with its confusion. "The party? But… Mirabel, the party hasn't started yet. Mama just asked you to go fetch the table runners from your room, remember?"
I could only behold both her and Abuela incredulously. But…. No. No! I know I've been gone for longer than that! It hasn't just been a minute! That's impossible! I was unconscious for a long time. It's been half a day at least, and they're acting like I wasn't gone at all! I gripped the sides of my head, now all mixed up myself.
"No… No! No, no, no! It's not possible! I just got home! I just got back!" "Back from where?" My uncle Félix asked me. "You're not going to believe this, but I've gotten my gift!" I cried out. Everyone gasped, especially Abuela. "You have?" "Yes! I was going to my room to get the table runners, and when I opened my door, I was facing a cliffside! And not just any cliffside: one overlooking the sea!" "Really?" Antonia gasped in delight. I rapidly nodded my head before continuing. Everyone was listening very closely by this point.
"That's not all! When I went to get a closer look at the ocean and the town down below, I slipped. I fell into the sea and went unconscious. But a man saved me! Two men- I think they were fishermen. They brought me to their house where I woke up! They were speaking a language I didn't understand, and that's when I realised that I wasn't in Columbia anymore! So I tried to leave the room and figure out where I was, but when I opened the door, I found myself back in our kitchen! I came in through the kitchen door! That's where I've been all this time! That's why I was gone for so long! I was wherever the heck that seaside town was! That's where I was, Abuela!"
I paused here to take a much-needed breath, grinning eagerly back at everyone. But no one else was smiling. No one made a peep; they simply side-eyed each other like they thought I was insane. Even Bruno looked like he didn't know what to make of everything I'd just said. Eventually Abuela tilted her head down slightly toward me. "Mirabel…." She started but I didn't let her continue. I excitedly took her hand, pulling her to the kitchen door. "Come on! Come on! I'll show you!"
The entire family crowded around as I stood in front of the kitchen door. Cracking my knuckles, I placed my hand on the doorknob. "Ok, ok, do the thing, Mirabel," I couched myself. They all held their breathes, as did I, as the knob slowly turned. I flung the door open, expecting to see the seaside town on the other side. Imagine my shock and horror when I found… the kitchen.
Literally gasping aloud, I frantically eyed around bewildered. "What?! No! It was right here! I just came in through here!" Shutting the door and reopening it did nothing to help my situation. My family members were looking pretty dubious about now. Meanwhile I was having a mini panic attack trying to get my gift to work again by repeatedly slamming the door.
Abuela had seen enough by then, getting that stern expression back on her face. "Mirabel. Mirabel!" Her tone was firm and unimpressed. "No! It was here! I really did go to the sea! I really fell into it! Here, look at my dress!" But she and my mother merely side-eyed each other. Mom then approached me, stretching out her hand to touch my cheek. "Maybe you dreamt you were at the sea," she suggested. "W-What? No! No, I was actually there, Mom! I would have drowned if that boy didn't save me!"
Abuela let out a huff, rolling her eyes. "We don't have time for this. The guests will be here any minute. Enough of this nonsense, Mirabel; we have work to do." Her words cut me like a knife. Nonsense? Nonsense?! Me nearly drowning and getting my gift were nonsense?! They would be, if I wasn't telling the truth- which I was! I was practically begging them at this point, desperate for someone to believe me.
"Why won't listen to me?! I'm not lying! I would never lie about something like this! I was right about the magic before! Why don't you trust me?!" "We do, sweetheart. But maybe you're just…. confused," Mom tried to placate me. But I pulled myself away from her with force, shooting them all a glare. "I'm not confused! I know what happened! I saw it!" "That's enough, Mirabel. We'll talk about this later," Abuela warned before leaving with the others. The last ones there with me were my mom and Uncle Bruno. They both watched me very, very concerned. "Julieta!" Or at least Mom did until Abuela summoned her. Bruno watched her leave before gazing back at me. By then I was already marching steadfast up to my room in a huff.
"Mirabel, wait!" Bruno called over as he run up behind me up the staircase. "It wasn't just a dream," I muttered viciously under my breath. "Mirabel, calm down," my uncle told me. Oh, that was the WRONG thing to say to me at the moment. "Calm down? Calm down?! How can I calm down?! The most fantastical and scary thing just happened to me, and no one believes it!" My arms angrily flew up into the air. Bruno made sure to keep pace with me. "Are you sure you weren't just hallucinating?" "I wasn't hallucinating, Bruno! It really happened. I was gone for hours! I didn't know how I'd return home. I was terrified! And I don't understand why no one believes me!" Reaching my bedroom door, I grabbed the knob tight. Bruno stopped right up behind me, panting a little. He gave me a sympathetic look.
"I believe you; I do. It's just that you haven't…." His voice trailed off into nowhere when I re-opened my door again. His jaw dropped, as did mine for a second time. Right in front of us was a brand-new location, sort of. It wasn't the cliffside this time, but in the seaside town itself. Opposite us a cobblestone street which looked like an alleyway with the rest of the village in the close distance. Bruno appeared even more astonished than me, his jaw perpetually open. While he didn't physically react beyond that for the first minute, my feet did what they did exactly the first time this happened.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was walking out into the middle of the cobblestones.