The night Bruno entered the walls, Dolores knew instantly. Her Gift, granted by Casita, is to allow her to hear everything. Sometimes she hated it, but this time, it was important. If her Tio needed help, she could be there for him.
She went to go and see if her Tio is okay. She knows about Bruno's hiding place. He would go there sometimes to get away from the townspeople. Sometimes, she even helped him make it.
She stopped down the hallway, around a corner. She could hear talking coming from her Mama and Abuela. "Mama, where is Brunito?"
"Bruno...he left," Alma replied.
"He left?" Pepa cried. "Why did he leave? What happened?"
"He had another vision."
"What was it?" Alma said nothing and began to walk away. "Mama! Answer me! Why did he leave? What did he see?"
"It's not important, Pepa," Alma said gruffly.
"It is important, Mama!" Pepa remarked. "Tell me! Where did he go?"
"He's gone. He's not inside Casita anymore. There's nothing you can do."
"Why did you let him leave, Mama? Why didn't you stop him?" Dolores could hear her Mama crying.
"It's what he wanted, Pepa. You can't find him now. You can't help him. It's too late."
"It's never too late, Mama!"
"Yes, it is." With that, Alma walked around the corner, ignoring Dolores. Dolores decided to talk to her Mama, but stopped. What if she had believed Abuela? What if Tio Bruno really did want to be left alone? What if he is faking his departure? Would he be making him mad by showing someone where he's hiding? His little hiding spot in the walls has been his secret with her. It would be a little rude to just tell someone about a secret. But...what should she do? Should she tell someone?
She decided now wasn't the time. She couldn't think straight. Besides, she could hear her brother getting in trouble with Papa again. She flopped on her bed. Her room. She loves her room. It has sound proof walls. Casita installed them so she could hide in her room when all the noise became too much. She could rest there in her room to drown out the sound.
She closed her eyes. Maybe she could take a little nap. All of the noise died down, except for one. One she hasn't heard enough. One she wished she would never hear. The sound of someone crying. Except, it wasn't normal crying. Just because she's in her room doesn't mean the noise next to her doesn't die down.
But, who could be crying? And crying so quietly? She left her room to follow the spot the tears are coming from. Someone needs her help. She checked in the kitchen. The sound is in there but her Mama isn't doing it. "Mama, are you okay?"
"Si, I'm fine," Pepa said. She paused. "Did you hear?" Dolores nodded. "I'm sorry, mi hija. Your Tio Bruno can't be found now. If only I was there to stop Mama...he never would've left." Dolores put her hand on Pepa's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Mama. It's okay."
Pepa hugged her daughter. "Thank you, Dolores." Dolores smiled at her and walked away. The crying never stopped but it was coming from the kitchen. Her Mama isn't taking Bruno's departure that well but at least she's not crying. Not now anyway.
She walked down the hallways until she heard the crying, clearly, coming from a painting behind the wall. The painting of flowers. Her Tio's secret hideout.
Her heart broke in two realizing that her Tio never wanted to leave. She has to help him.
She walked back into her bedroom. She pulled out a paper and a pen. She stared at it before she began to write. 'Tio...I'm sorry. I heard you enter your hideout and knew something had to be wrong. I was going to check on you before I heard Abuela and Mama talking in the hallway. Abuela said that you had left...
'Mama was sad that you left. She blames herself for not stopping Abuela from letting you go. Tio, I know you're there. I'm sorry. I can help you. Just let me know. Dolores.'
She folded the paper and walked towards the painting again. As she walked past it, she tapped the picture, put the paper on the floor, and walked into her room again. She did it. Well...kind of. She let her Tio know that he's not alone.
A few minutes later, Casita flipped a tile, getting Dolores' attention. The tiles shifted to bring her a paper. She unfolded it and saw her Tio's messy handwriting inside. 'Thank you, Dolores. I'm happy to know that Pepa wants to help me. If you don't mind, I'm going to stay here. I've thought it through for a while and whatever you write won't change my mind. It's actually quite comfortable in here.
'There are a lot of rats but they seem to like me. Don't worry too much about me, Dolores. I'm glad you'll be there helping me though...in fact, since I'll be staying inside, you don't mind bringing me some of Juli's arepas do you? Bruno.'
She smiled. Knowing that Bruno is okay and well inside the walls made her feel better. But she needed to get a few things done first.
She talked to her Papa about getting extra food. She told him that it would help her calm down when she felt overwhelmed, which was a half truth. She needed extra food to bring to Bruno, since he won't be coming out. Thankfully, he agreed and told her that if she ever needed a break, to just head into her room and he'll guard her from Abuela, which she agreed to.
Once she got some food from diner for her Tio, she made sure she was sneaky about bringing it to him. It was a little harder than she thought since around that time, everyone was returning to their rooms, except for those on dishes.
She did manage to get her Tio the food he wanted. She slipped him another note she wrote as well. 'Tio, I want to ask you. Do you want to stay there where no one knows where you're hiding? Everyone is worried about you. Abuela doesn't seem that sad though...'
Another letter that Casita had gave her told her his answer. He preferred to stay hidden. He would come back, maybe, but that would have to wait. Alma needed time away, and maybe it was better for everyone this way.
Dolores knew the decision he had made was wrong. But, no matter how many times she told him, he would always decline. After a while, she told herself that it was for the best.
Every year on his birthday, she would drop off small gifts for Bruno. She would give him food every day. She made it a habit of herself, while everyone was getting the table ready for dinner, that she would let Bruno know dinner was ready. She would tap on the wall near the table.
After a while, Bruno had become friends with the rats. He began making Telenovas, which Dolores would listen to. Those Telenovas would help her focus on one things, instead of doing everything at once. Plus, it was dramatic and she loves drama.
The one thing she hated about her Tio being in the walls was that sometimes, he would cry. She hated that. She always wanted to help him but she wasn't sure how. Mostly, he would cry during dinner. He was probably sad because he couldn't join them. He was probably sad because he couldn't see them. He was probably sad because he couldn't talk to them. The only thing that she knew is that sometimes he would cry and she hated it. Sometimes, Antonio and Mirabel would ask about him. Every time they did, Abuela would always push them off with that one rule, 'we don't talk about Bruno.'
Sometimes, she would see her Tio walking around the hallways. She never said anything. He wanted to stay hidden and she had to respect it, no matter how much she hated it.
Mirabel started doing the forbidden, she asked Pepa about Bruno. After he left, Abuela made a rule, for everyone in Encanto to follow, 'we don't talk about Bruno.' She had no idea why but Abuela would always tell her to get to work when she asked.
Pepa told her that they weren't allowed, but she let it slide since she really loved him. She never wanted Bruno to leave. She said she deserved the right to know about her Tio. She explained about her wedding and the rain. Dolores decided that now was the best time to let her secret go. She didn't tell her head on, but she gave her cousin little hints about Bruno, about how he never left. She would put the pieces of the puzzle together eventually. She had to.
Mirabel figured it out. She found Bruno. Dolores let out a sigh of relief and tension out when she had found him in the walls. She had finally put the puzzle together and discovered Bruno never left.
The house collapsed. The Miracle was gone. Their Gifts were gone. Dolores has never felt so relieved in her life. Not because Casita was gone, but because she couldn't hear everything at once.
Then she worried. Looking at the rubble frightened her. They have no home. What if Bruno was crushed in the rubble? What if he never made it out? She wished she could hear him. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make him out. She could only hear her own heartbeat, a few pillars of wood splintering, coughing, and Tia Julieta asking everyone if they're okay.
Everyone replied with a 'yes' but it still scared her. She never heard Bruno answer. She doesn't even know if Mirabel told Bruno about Casita cracking and Luisa loosing her Gift. She doesn't know if she told him the house was coming down. She doesn't even know if he made it out alive, all because her Gift vanished before it crashed.
Mirabel began to lift their spirits. She suggested building the house again. Abuela apologized. Maybe he did make it out. Maybe it will be just fine in the end.
That's when she felt relieved. That's when she started crying. Her Tio Bruno. He made it out. He lived through Casita's crash. He knew it was going to happen and was ready for it. He was in the walls repairing the cracks he could find. She tried to hide her tears. The familia is one again. Bruno, Pepa and Julieta gathered in a hug. She had longed to see that. She wanted to see how the familia would react if Bruno came back. She was so overjoyed. She let out a small squeak. The whole family went in to hug Bruno. She could see on his face that he had waited for this. He had never been happier.
She was glad that Casita was built. Dolores could hide in her room again. She had finally got the man of her dreams, Mariano, and had gone out with him once. He was all she had hoped for and more. But that wasn't the only reason Dolores was happy. She was glad that her Tio came out of the walls. She was glad that Abuela had become less strict. And, she was glad she no longer had to keep a secret. The familia is back together again. All thanks to the real Gift, Mirabel.
Author's Note
I just couldn't help but imagine, "Poor Dolores could hear Bruno crying in the walls. Poor Dolores kept her secret so long. Poor Dolores was the only one who knew he was in there. How did she feel about that? How did she feel about him hiding in the walls the whole decade? How did she feel when she could hear him crying?" That's how this story came to be. Anyway, I hope you like it!