We all gawked about the room while wandering more inside. At first the place seemed deserted, but that assumption was soon overturned by this frail, ancient presence behind the oversized cauldron. This old, short woman seemingly popped up out of nowhere, stirring the grey, foul-smelling goo bubbling in her pot. She wore a telling smile, and her eyes were low and soulful. "Take your time and have a look around, dearies. Let me know if you see anything you like."
As if operating in unison, we collectively blinked at her dumbfounded. Not daring to speak or move right away, it was me who took the first step forward after a minute. "You…. can speak Spanish?" I inquired while rubbing my hands together in an anxious rhythm. She just me such a look which indicated that my question was somehow silly. "I'm a witch; I can speak every language."
"You're a witch?!" I heard myself gasp. "Well, technically, aren't we all witches cause of, you know, our powers?" Bruno scratched the side of his head. "Ah, but my magical abilities are of a different sort, dearie," the witch said before spinning back around from where she'd set her spoon down behind her. That's when her eyes lit up slightly for the first time."Well now. In all my years, I've never seen a merman before; more commonly referred to as a sea monster, you know," she gazed in the direction of Bruno and the curly-haired man. I immediately frowned upset. "Uh, that's not a sea monster, ma'am. That's my uncle!" "Indeed. Now, what can I do you for?" "Huh?" "What brings you here, dearie?"
I was about to say something when the young man interrupted me by touching one of the bear statues. He was examining them with the upmost curiosity and confusion. "Che cos'è?" He pointed to one of the statues. "Si chiama orso; non originario dell'Italia," the witch answered him before turning back to me. "Well, if it wasn't my door you wanted to open then, which door were you looking for?"
My mouth dropped open, then closed, then re-opened again a second later. She really is a witch, this lady….. My thumb stuck back in the direction of the curly-haired boy. "Look, we need to get him back to Portorosso. I have this magical ability to open doors to different places…. Well, my bedroom door, anyway. But I can't seem to control the location. Can you tell me how I can so that we might return him?" Her shoulder shrugged nonchalantly. "Sorry, dearie; there's nothing I can do for that. You'll just have to figure it out on your own." "But we need to get him back home!" My hand now shot out at the young man, who seemed puzzled by the tone of my voice. The witch simply waved me off as she turned back to her cauldron. "You will, you will. In good time, you will."
She then grabbed a pair of iron tongs and stuck them in the bubbling dark grey goo in the cauldron to pull something out. It turned out to be this tart-looking thing with jam in a hole on top. We watched the witch hum to herself as she set it down onto a plate and cut it into three separate slices. Then she held out the plate for us, waiting for each of us to take a piece. Cautiously we did and, with a nervous glance at each other, held the piece of cake in our hands. "Go on. Tuck in then," the witch urged, putting the plate down somewhere behind her. Bruno took the first bite, followed by me and the young man. Immediately we all started hacking and gagging in disgust.
"Bleach! That's awful!" I wiped my mouth with my fingers. It was probably the grossest thing I'd ever tasted. And clearly I wasn't the only one who thought so. "What'd you put in this pie? Rotting meat?" The curly-haired man gagged with equal repulsion. We both stopped suddenly, jolting in shock. Our eyes met deeply again as we stared at one another in pure disbelief. Both our forefingers raised at the same time to point at the other. "I understood you!" We shouted simultaneously, followed by the question: "Can you understand me?!" We were so loud that our voices filled the entire room.
While we both wore an expression of astonishment, the witch merely grinned to herself. My uncle was having the same revelation as he glanced my way, then over to the young man's. Bruno's eyes were just as wide. "Wait….. Did he just say what I think he said? Am I going crazy?!" "No! I heard him too!" I confirmed to my uncle before spinning my head back over to the boy. "You understand what we're saying, right?!" "Uh, yeah? And you… know what I'm saying?" "Yes! I understand you! We both do!" My hand referred to Bruno and myself.
The witch clapped her hands together contented. "Wonderful! Now you three can talk to each other. That spell will let you communicate with every living thing you meet…. Well, everything that can speak anyway," her eyes rolled off to the side a tad like she was revealing some flaw in her potion. "You? You did this to us?" I blinked back to her in sheer disbelief. Stirring her goo sludge around again, she nodded while keeping her eyes down into her pot. "And as payment for that spell, you can let me come to your village for a vacation. I've never been to Columbia before!" "Done," I replied with zero reservation. My uncle, on the other hand….. "Mirabel, what are you doing?! We can't just let this strange woman come to Encanto like that!" "She's a powerful witch, dear uncle. Let's try not to make her angry," I hissed at him through clenched teeth. "Uncle? I thought he was your dad," the curly-haired boy noted, scratching his neck. "It's the hair," Bruno told him with a knowing shrug.
It took a moment for the young man to realize what this sudden rectification of the language barrier meant. Before I knew what was happening, I was being grabbed by the shoulders and shook furiously. "How'd you do that thing?! That thing with the door! One moment you were in my room, and next thing I knew, you were gone! And where was I?! Where'd that door lead to? Where'd we just come from? I have so many questions!" "I know you do! Stop shaking me!" My eyes winced at the motion. "Oh, sorry," he immediately stopped, yanking his hands back.
The witch stepped out from around her cauldron and came over to place her hand on my back comfortingly. "Don't worry, dearie. You'll get him back to Italy eventually. Beautiful country, by the way; I particular like Tuscany. But the door will open when the time is right for you." "Wait a minute. Are you talking about the door back to Portorosso? I've gotta go back! Massimo will be worried about me," the curly-haired man's hand slapped against his chest for emphasis. "Like I said, when the timing is right, you will. Don't you worry," she waggled her bony finger in his face. He did not look placated, and neither was I. My hands both threw out in front of me, palms upwards facing. "But I can't control my gift!" "But you still have your gift. You two will just have to stick together until the time comes. Oh! And keep trying different doors- that's important." "Different doors?" I blinked at her incredulously. My gaze next shifted back over to the similarly worried boy, and then to my uncle. Bruno rubbed the side of his arm, looking quite awkward and unsure what to make of the situation as he did so. His lips parted a sliver, but it took a moment for any sound to come out of them.
"Well, I guess we should head home," my uncle told me in specific. I hesitated a second, peering back to the old woman, who was busying herself with one of her carvings. "Are you sure you can't send him back yourself? You are a witch," I suggested. "Hey, yeah! That's a good idea! Good thinking, glasses girl," the young man snapped his fingers together like this was some sort of lightbulb moment. But she merely gave us a knowing smile from over her shoulder. Her eyes were narrow and sincere again. "Trust me- you don't want me to send him back.
The door will open at the right time, which is another way of saying that you won't see Portorosso again until you don't want to see it."
We blinked perplexed at her. "So you're saying that…. we won't see Portorosso again until…. he doesn't want to return there?" My thumb stuck out at the curly-haired man. "Why wouldn't I want to go back? Portorosso's my home," he inquired. "Yeah; his dad is waiting for him there. He must be worried sick," I tacked on. "Boss; he's my boss," the young man corrected me. Oh, now he knows how it feels. Once more, the witch chuckled to herself at this, like it was an in-joke of hers. "Oh? You can't think of any reason why you might want to stay in Encanto, dearie? Any at all?" She asked the young man in particular. He scratched his head. "No?" "Yeah. I can't think of a reason for him to stay either," I agreed. "Why would he want to?" Bruno tacked on.
The witch shook her head at this, still smiling. "My, but you two are innocent- such innocent creatures. Might be time to have one of your visions again, dearie," she patted my uncle's arm. "How did you…..?" "She's a witch, Bruno. Come on, let's go back," I motioned both of them toward the door, but not before glancing back at the witch. She was back happily carving another bear statue. "Uh, thank you for the spell, ma'am. Come to Encanto anytime." "Oh, I will! Probably soon after you return from the Marine Life Institute." "Huh?"
Before she could answer me, Bruno tugged on my forearm. "Let's go, Mirabel; everyone will be wondering where we ran off to." Turning around, I went to open the door but was again stopped by seeing the curly-haired man standing there. He was watching me, patiently waiting with an eager smile for me to use my gift. That's right about when it hit me. "Oh! We still don't know each other's names. I'm Mirabel," my hand reached out to shake his. "Alberto Scorfano," he took my hand, shaking it vigorously. Man, was this guy excitable or what? I then notioned to my uncle. "And this is my uncle Bruno." "Ciao," Alberto gave him a respectful head nod.
All the while the witch kept working away at her carving. "Oh! There's something I forgot to mention about the spell," she finally said back to us. "What spell?" All our heads shot back her way. She didn't even bother meeting our gazes. "The one you're under right now. Whatever you do, don't hold hands when you go through a door- any door you open, dearie," she meant me. We blinked at each other confused and slightly alarmed. "Uh, you mean like any of us?" "No, just you two," she pointed to me and Alberto from over her shoulder without looking. Alberto and I gave each other a startled glance. "Why?" He asked on both our behalf. "Time is wonky with that particular spell. It's already all jumbled up with your gift, dearie, and you don't want to make it worse." "Why would holding hands make that worse?" My eyebrow raised.
To our surprise, she set down her tools and threw both of her hands up in the air. "Ah, you won't believe me even if I did tell you. Here, maybe I better show you." "Show us what?" Bruno took hold my arm nervously as all three of us took a step back. It was me she was directly eying, grinning mischievously as she approached us. "Now don't be afraid, dearie; they'll both be with you on the other side." "On the other side of what? What do you mean?"
The witch didn't reply, instead grabbing hold of one wrist in one hand. She took Alberto's wrist in another. We both ogled in shock as she put our palms together, making our fingers intertwined. Then, clasping our connected hands with one hand, she made me open the door with my other hand. This all happened so fast that Bruno couldn't intervene, despite standing very near me. Before any of us could figure what was going on, the lady proceeded to shove the three of us through the open door in a huddle.
Then with one last wise grin, she closed the door.