Prologue

I can't remember what happened. One moment I was performing a vision and the next I was laying on a hammock in the entrance lobby stairwell, listening to my Mamá being scolded by someone.

"You shouldn't be pushing your children so hard, Señora. If I had known your boy was this weak I would never have asked him to perform a vision."

"I'm so sorry. I did not realize he was in such a state," my mother sounded heartbroken and ashamed.

"How can his own mother not see that he was exhausted?"

Everything went dark and then my mother was by my side. She was stroking my black, curly hair and singing softly to me. There was fear and worry in her voice, but her sweet song was very calming.

The next time I woke, for real this time, it was my sister who was by my side. Pepa had pale skin and wavy, red hair that she kept in a single, thick braid. She had bright, emerald-green eyes and a thin frame, just like me, and she wore a simple, yellow dress that resembled a raincoat.

She wasn't singing or stroking my hair but she was watching me. She must have seen me stir and she yelled into the kitchen.

"Julieta! He's awake!"

There was the sound of shuffling feet as Julieta rushed over. Pepa helped prop me up into a sitting position as she brought a tea cup with aguapanela to my lips.

As soon as I had taken a sip of the sweet drink, I felt instantly better. Still fatigued, but I was alert and no longer needed Pepa to prop me up.

"Bruno? Are you okay now?"

Wiping the weariness from my eyes, I tried to get my bearings before nodding. Pepa gave me a relieved smile and a hug. I returned the embrace, still not quite sure what was going on.

Julieta was looking at both of us with soft concern, holding the tea cup in front of her, "You had us worried, hermano."

Juli was the first born of us triplets. Her wavy, black hair was kept shoulder length, framing her round, kind face. Her eyes were brown, the same brown eyes I had before receiving my Gift. She wore a teal colored dress with a matching teal apron.

My memory slowly returned as Juli's aguapanela took effect. For the last several months, my mother bartered out our Gifts, mine as well as my sisters', in order to give my hermanas the Quinceañeras of their dreams. Since we're all triplets we all turned fifteen on the same day. It was such an important milestone that our mother decided to have three straight days of celebrating; Julieta's Quinceañera on day one, the Festival del Encanto on day two, and Pepa's on day three.

I hadn't considered how expensive that would be until…

"How many?" There was no hiding the shock in my voice.

We were in the kitchen, me holding a platter in my hand waiting for the patacones Julieta was cooking. My mother had finished putting together a tray of sliced fruit and was busy with the fancy cocktails.

Mamá's a regal, well-put-together middle-aged woman. Her black hair was kept in a tucked bun, her ears adorned with pearl earrings, and her simple maroon dress was embroidered with candle flames. She often wore a black-lace shawl, but she wasn't wearing it right now.

"Well, I don't have my books in front of me, but I believe you'll be doing the Torres and Zapata families tomorrow, the Herrera's on Wednesday, the Parras on Thursday, the…"

"The Parras?" My voice cracked. "All of them? They're huge! That's over twenty people."

"Twenty-four, yes, but I put an age limit on the use of your Gift. Only those over ten-years-old. So it should be…" she stopped a minute to calculate it in her head, "eighteen."

"eighte…" the thought made me sick to my stomach. "Mamá, the most I've ever done was twelve in one day, and I was so exhausted I slept well into the next day. I can't do that many."

"Nonsense, you were only a child when you did that many. You're practically a man now, so you should be quite capable"

My age had nothing to do with it. Performing a vision takes a lot out of me, which is why I limited myself to so few in one day. Not to mention the emotional toll it can take.

"Can't we just spread it out over more time?" I beseeched her.

"I'd rather we not stay indebted to anyone for longer than is necessary," she waved away my concern like a bothersome nat.

"Why mine, though? What about Juli and Pepa's Gifts?"

Mamá sighed and gave me a sympathetic look, "I offered up all of your Gifts, but Julieta's Gift is only useful to those who are already sick or injured, and only farmers and celebrants are interested in Pepa's. Yours, however…well, everyone in the village has a future to see. So most of them asked for you."

"Mom, that is too much! I can't do it."

"Nonsense, you'll be fine. This will only be for a couple of weeks and you can go back to normal again."

"Mamá, I…"

She raised her hand up and I stopped talking.

"I am done arguing with you. You will be fine," she placed a hand on my shoulder. "You are a Madrigal, and you are strong." She made a fist with her other hand to emphasize. "You will do this, for your sisters, for your family, and for the Encanto."

Shereleased me and went back to stacking the platter with drinks. I wanted to argue. The whole thing made me so angry. It wasn't fair! Yes, I agreed to allow my Gift to be used to help my sisters, but I never agreed to do eighteen visions in a single day. There was no point arguing with my mother, though. Her word was final, and I was just going to have to deal with it.

She had finished loading up the plate of drinks and picked it up. "Once you bring the platter out, we can start the dance, so don't take too long."

My pleading eyes watched her walk away as if that would somehow make her change her mind. Glancing back at my sister, I saw her pull the patacones out of the fryer and she was flattening them down with a plate before putting them back in. For a while it seemed like she was avoiding talking to me, or even looking at me, but I chalked that up to her concentrating on her cooking.

It wasn't long before she had everything cooked and placed on a dishcloth to drain.

"Bruno? The platter?"

I handed her the tray and she arranged the fried plantains around the sides, along with a variety of cheeses and dips. She still wasn't looking at me or speaking to me, and I was starting to wonder if I'd upset her somehow. I'd learned a while ago that girls are weird like that, and sisters are even weirder.

She spoke up again before handing me the plate, "Pepa and I appreciate what you are doing for us, hermano."

"Huh?" What was she talking about?

She finally turned to look at me, wiping her hands on her apron before continuing.

"I can try talking to Mamá about the work you're putting in."

"Oh," was she feeling guilty? Did I still have a bitter look on my face? For her sake I took a slow breath to calm myself. "That's okay. I don't think it will do any good. Mamá has made up her mind."

"I'll check in on you," that was Julieta in a nutshell. Always wanted to fix the unfixable. "I'll bring you some food and drink. Maybe that will help with the fatigue."

"I won't say no." Her magic didn't work on the fatigue produced by my magic. Food, though, especially Juli's cooking, always made me feel better. Magic or no magic.

Julieta grabbed a platter of sliced fruit and I gathered up the plate of patacones as we prepared to head out to the courtyard.

As we left the kitchen, I whispered to her, "Juli, don't tell Pepa about any of this, okay? Not until after the party. I don't want her to get upset."

She nodded, "I wasn't planning on it."

It was tradition in the Encanto for the Quinceañera to start the celebration by dancing with all of her male relatives. She first danced with her father, then her brothers, then her uncles and other relatives of her choosing. Only then would she be allowed to dance with any eligible young man in the village.

In our case, however, "all male relatives" meant me. Just me. I was my sisters' only male relative in the entire Encanto, so I would be the one to dance with them. Any other family we had were left behind when my Mamá and papá fled our previous home. Since my papá was gone, our family consisted of just Mamá, my sisters, and me.

Juli and I carried the refreshments out and set them on the table. The entire village was already there, mingling and laughing while waiting for the main event. Several converged on our platters of food before they even hit the table.

The moment mother saw me, she snapped her fingers and gestured towards the entrance lobby, mouthing the words, "help her." With a laugh I headed in that direction, knowing full well what I was going to find in there.

The lobby was veiled by two bright red curtains, concealing the Quinceañera herself inside. I entered through the gap in the curtain, mindful of spoiling the surprise, and found…rain. The ceiling contained a large storm cloud and the tiled floor was treacherous slick. The entrance lobby, unlike the courtyard, wasn't exposed to the sky, but showers were never surprising where my more emotional sister was concerned.

"Pepa!" I called to her. "It's almost time."

My sister was standing in a dark corner, nervously stroking her long, thick braid in front of her. She spun around at the sound of my voice and rushed over to hug me.

"Bruno! I'm so sorry, I can't make it stop!" She sniffled next to my ear. "Mom's going to be so mad!"

"No, she's not," returning the hug, I patted her back reassuringly. "She made sure your dress was waterproof." My suit, too, thankfully.

She released me from the hug in order to glare at me properly. "I'm being serious, hermano. I don't want to rain on all the guests."

This was the first time I got a good look at her Quinceañeras dress. It was a bright, sunny-yellow, with raindrop sequins down the torso and spiraling down her round, full skirt. She also sported a diamond tiara in her red hair.

"So what? This is your Quince, so rain all you want. Everyone's expecting to get wet. They all brought umbrellas."

She gave me a pouty look. "Yes, Mamá recommended them in the invitations." She dabbed her eyes with a yellow handkerchief. "Still I want it to be sunshine and rainbows tonight."

"Pepa."

"What?" she sniffled.

I held out my hand and looked towards the ceiling. She hadn't noticed that her cloud had already disappeared, and there was a rainbow spanning across the room. She let out a calm breath and smiled.

"See," there was more smugness in my voice than I intended, but she didn't notice.

She was calm now, though she still had a little tear in her eye, "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything," which was mostly true. Sometimes all my sister needed was to have her feelings validated, something Mamá didn't understand. My sister suffered just as much pressure as me to conform to our mother's demands, sometimes more, and it had a noticeable effect on her Gift.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, brother," she gently dabbed the tear away with her kerchief before handing it to me to put in my pocket. "I'd be a wreck without you here right now."

"And you'd probably drown the whole encanto, too," I teased, which earned me a painless smack on the arm.

Mamá poked her head through the curtains long enough to say, "It's almost time. Get ready!" and she was gone again.

Pepa and I walked towards the curtain, me standing on her left and slightly back. I put one hand behind my back and brought my other hand up, level with her shoulder, and she took a hold of it. We both stood up straight and poised, just like we'd practiced.

She whispered to me as we waited, "What do you think of my dress?"

"I think you look like an old church bell. ¡Ay!" She squeezed my hand a little too hard, and when I glanced at her she gave me a look that said she was either going to kill me or laugh at me. "I'm kidding, you look beautiful," I whispered to her. She smiled.

As the music died down, the curtains rose, revealing the two of us standing together. Casita shined a spotlight on Pepa as we walked to the center of the courtyard.

My family had spent months in dance rehearsals to ensure everything was perfect. Julieta's Quince was just two days ago, so all of it should have been easier this time. It wasn't; my hands were trembling, my heart racing, and I felt a little queasy to my stomach. The spotlight wasn't on me, as this wasn't my special day, but all eyes were on us and that made me very nervous.

Thankfully, it was just a matter of getting into the rhythm of the dance and the steps came naturally. I hated the dance lessons, but I was grateful for them. My dance with Julieta went perfectly, so maybe Pepa's would be the same.

And it was, until Pepa got it in her head to use her height advantage to spin me when it was time for me to spin her.

"Pepa," I scolded her in a whisper. "Don't! Everyone's watching." She just grinned at me mischievously. She would do that during rehearsals, too, despite being berated by the instructor. Our dance teacher would scold me, too, for not keeping control but I don't know what she expected me to do when my sister was a full head taller than me.

"I gotta do it while I can," she whispered back. "It won't be long before you're too tall." That time couldn't come soon enough.

She ended up spinning me again, despite my best efforts to prevent it. "Stop!" She just laughed at my protest. My friends are never going to let me live this down.

The celebrations were over, and it was time to get to work the very next day.

Pepa was furious when she found out how many visions I'd have to do. She understood how taxing my visions were, even if Mamá did not. Her arguing on my behalf was appreciated, even if her fight went as well as mine.

At least I got a brand new ruana out of it. My mother even had the local weaver create wool cloth specifically for it. It was green-dyed with dark green hourglass designs, just like the ones all over my magical room.

In anticipation of a grueling day, I did my best to get a full night's sleep. The night proved restless, though, and I woke up exhausted. If the next couple of weeks are like this, I was not looking forward to them.

The Torres family was very nice. There were ten of them; their Abuela, her two sons and their wives, as well as five grandchildren. None of the grandchildren were old enough for a vision per mother's rules, so I only had to do five. I found out when they arrived that they'd made a family event out of getting their fortunes told by me. All of the families had made an event of it.

The first part of my magical room was a normal bedroom, not unlike any other in our village. The magic happened at the hour-glass archway towards the back. Behind it was a continuous sheet of falling sand that cascaded down like a waterfall. When you got close it parted, allowing entrance into the magical portion of my room.

Our magical rooms were always bigger on the inside than they appeared from the outside. Mine resembled a beautiful desert cavern, full of sandstone rock formations and indigenous carvings. Beyond that was a stone temple with a circular metal door that led to my vision chamber.

My vision cave was dome–shaped and filled with similar beautiful patterns. And sand. Lots of sand, particularly in the center where I performed my ritual. The ritual wasn't necessary to have a vision, but it made things easier and also allowed me to create an emerald-glass tablet with a physical image of the prophecy.

The entire Torres family entered my vision chamber, most of them standing along the edge of the sand pit or leaning against the walls. One by one, each member entered the circle to have their fortune told. I performed visions for each of them without incident, and I wasn't even all that tired when we were finished. The Zapata's who came the same day, also had five and by the time I finished them I was very tired, but I was fine. Ten visions in total on the first day and I was doing okay.

Sleep didn't come to me any better the next night. It was the Herrera family's day, and they were a much bigger family; fourteen people, twelve of which would be getting a vision. They were all smiths, so they were all stocky, muscular, and very intimidating.

It was this day that things started to take a bad turn.

Edgardo, the second son of the matriarch, stepped forward to receive a vision. He was older, about mom's age, and was very tall, with dirty blonde hair and leathery skin from many years of working the forge. He wasn't the biggest of them, but he was still incredibly broad and muscular.

He asked me to look into the future of his craft, of which he was very proud. As the sands swirled around us, the visions in emerald green formed and we saw his forge, a series of ax heads on the table and one on the forge. Something was wrong with them, though, a discoloration in the metal. A fatal flaw in the crafting of all of them. The image faded away and was replaced with another; a young man without a face was chopping wood with a flawed ax head. As the blade came down on the wood, the ax itself shattered, and a shard of steel came flying towards the faceless owner.

We were spared the gruesome aftermath, and the tablet began to form in front of me. Standing up, I took a hold of it, gazing down at the image of a broken ax head.

The vision ended and the sands fell around me. I was about to hand the tablet over to Edgardo, when, without warning, he lunged at me like a mad man. Dropping the tablet in the sand I fell over backwards trying to scramble away from him.

"You insolent little trickster," he looked as if he would have lunged at me again, if several of his family hadn't jumped in to literally hold him back. "You have the gall to tell me how to do my work? You look like you've never worked an anvil in your life!"

He wanted to kill me! The insane rage in his eyes told me he would have if his family hadn't intervened. Just as I was about to flee the vision cave, their matriarch grabbed a hold of me, helping me to my feet.

"Edgardo! Stop it, right now! You're embarrassing us." She continued to hold onto me, one arm around my shoulders and the other on my hand. She was trying to support me, but she was also keeping me from running away. All I wanted was to get as far from Edgardo as possible and I couldn't.

Her commands worked and I saw Edgardo straighten up and calm down enough that his family let him go. He still stared at me angrily.

"Goodness, I'm so sorry, young man," Señora Herrera addressed me, giving me a reassuring squeeze on my shoulder. "I don't know what came over him, but I promise it won't happen again." She turned back to Edgardo. "Apologize to him! Now!"

"I'm sorry," he spat out the words as though they were meaningless. Edgardo may not be coming after me anymore, but he was still looking at me with pure hatred. I can't remember the last time I was this scared.

Señora Herrera took a hold of my chin and forced me to look at her. "It's alright now, Bruno, we can continue now." She guided me back to the circle and to my place in it. She wasn't rough or forceful, but it was as if I had no other choice but to do as she wanted.

It was more difficult than ever to concentrate, but I continued to perform visions for the family. Every once in a while I would glance in Edgardo's direction and find he was still glaring at me. It was a long and grueling session, and by the time I had completed the last vision I was too weary to even hold the vision tablet. I just grabbed it and let it flop to the soft sand.

"Thank you so much, young man," Señora Herrera leaned down and took a hold of my hand and shoulders again, helping me to my feet. She all but carried me back to my bedroom, where she sat me down on my bed.

Everyone else in the family also expressed their thanks as they left, each holding an emerald-glass tablet in their hands. Everyone except Edgardo, who refused to take his. As he walked by me, he mumbled something about me being "weak."

As soon as the entire family left I laid my head down on my pillow. With the exception of my Mamá waking me up to bring me a sandwich, I slept through till the next morning.

It was also Mamá who had to wake me up again the next morning. The Parra family, all twenty-four of them, were already waiting for me. I still felt exhausted, physically and emotionally, from the night before and the last thing I wanted to do was perform more visions.

Everything I could think of to last the day I did. Drinking copious amounts of coffee, eating every snack Juli brought me, I even paced around the vision chamber several times, earning me odd looks from the of it I had passed out was humiliating. If I'd thought even for a moment that would happen, I would have stopped. There was a hard limit, I knew that, but I assumed the visions would simply stop coming. This was the first and only time I'd ever lost consciousness. The Parras are sure to tell everyone.

Now here I am, miserable, sitting in a hammock I didn't put myself in, my sisters fussing over me like I'm a baby.

"What happened?" my head was fuzzy and muddled.

Pepa released me from the hug and got off the hammock, causing it to swing. "According to Señora Parra, you were performing a vision for her grandson. She said your eyes glowed, the magic picked up like it had before, but then it all stopped suddenly and you just…collapsed."

Julieta looked at me with pity, "She came running out of your room calling for us to help, her son carrying you out in his arms. So we brought you out here." Her lips tightened with concern. "I couldn't do anything until you woke up."

While I was shakily climbing off the hammock I heard the front door open and my mother rushed into the house. She looked in my direction and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness, Brunito. Are you alright?" She was by me and lifted me into a hug before I could say anything. I made a point not to hug her back.

"We were all so worried," she released me, cupping my face in her hands. "Will you be okay?"

This time she waited for an answer, but I didn't give her one. Instead, I pulled myself from her grasp, almost stumbling backwards, and started walking past her on unsteady legs.

"I'm going to bed." Walking up the stairs was taxingin my condition, but I'd rather sleep in my own bed than in a hammock in the lobby.

"Bruno?" Mom's voice was confused, but also stern enough to stop me midstep, just as I'd reached the first landing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I snapped without looking at her.

"Talk to me," there was authority in her voice now, and I knew I wasn't going anywhere. "Bruno, what happened?"Since I wasn't coming down to her, she started climbing the stairs to join me. My hands gripped the railing so hard my fingers turned white. As she approached, I stood unmoving, not saying a word or even looking her way.

"The Parra's told me you fell unconscious. How did that happen? What did you do?"

"I don't know."

"Bruno," her tone sank deeper, turning from concern to annoyance. "I cannot help you if you do not talk to me."

"I don't want your help, I just want to go to sleep."

There was only one more landing before the next set of steps, and I moved towards it. Mom quickly moved to intercept me, blocking my route.

"You're not going anywhere until I have answers."

She was always so stubborn. "I told you the other day, Mamá. I can't do that many visions all at once."

"And why not?" her voice went cold and inflexible as she spoke.

"I don't know," my voice was harsh. Anger was winning over fatigue. "I just can't."

"That is not an answer," she matched my tone and she shook her fist at me. "Your sisters have never shown weakness while using their Gifts. How is it you have limits when they do not?"

"I…I don'...I can…" Words escaped me, so I looked to my sisters who were still watching us from the bottom of the stairs. They looked away the moment my eyes would have met theirs, and I knew they wouldn't help me. It was unthinkable to stand up to Mamá.

She continued, her voice as cruel as ever, "Every family you performed visions for has had grievance with you. You were supposed to make them happy. Our gifts are supposed to help the community. Yet, you have somehow turned this blessing into a curse that is hurting our family."

She may as well have punched me in the gut. I couldn't move, could barely breathe, as mother cut me down.

Her voice lowered to a softer, though condescending tone, "What can I do to help you use your Gift for good, Bruno?"

"I don't know," steeling myself, I tried one last rebuttal. "Maybe I shouldn't be doing visions anymore!"

"What?" The shock in my mother's voice brought me a bit of smug glee.

"If my Gift is a curse, then I shouldn't be using it, should I?" Folding my arms in front of me I gave my mom a fierce glare. "That's it! I'm done giving prophecies!"

My mother stared back at me, and I suddenly realized how difficult it was to look her directly in the eye, so I turned away.

"That is not acceptable," she spoke in an icy whisper that frightened me. "You were not given a Gift just to abandon it as soon as it becomes trouble."

"Trouble?" It came out as a choked yell. I was fed up with Mamá. She didn't understand. "You're the one that called it a 'curse.' Why would you want me using it if you think it's a curse?"

"Your Gift isn't cursed, what you are doing with it is 'cursed," her voice rose in volume to match mine, making me flinch. "I'm telling you to stop using your blessings to hurt this community and this family."

"How?" There was no hiding the desperation in my voice.

"Have you at least tried to control them? To give people visions that will make them happy instead of miserable." It seemed like such an obvious thing to her.

"Yes, Mamá, I have tried!" there was a growl in my voice now as my anger grew. "If I could give everyone a future full of hugs and butterflies, I would!"

"Maybe you are just interpreting them badly," she practically snarled it out. "Perhaps if you thought of them in a different way…"

"It doesn't matter how I interpret it," I was on the verge of shouting now, gesturing towards the front door for emphasis. "They're interpreting my visions as being terrible. Did you know Edgardo tried to kill me yesterday?"

"He tried to…?" Her anger left her at this revelation. She was genuinely horrified, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't have a chance to." It was taking everything I had not to cry, so I clung to the rage. "I was off doing more visions immediately. Non-stop. One after another after another. And they were awful. I don't control the future, Mamá, I can only see it."

"You can control what futures you see," her voice rose again to match mine. "That must be the case. There is good and bad in our future, but you only show them the bad.""I can't…"

"Yes, you can," she interrupted me. "You used to give beautiful, joyful visions when you were a child, Bruno. What changed?"

She didn't believe me. She was right that most of the visions I gave as a kid were happy and fun, but not anymore. How was I supposed to know why that changed? Why didn't she believe me?

"What changed, Bruno?" She repeated softly. She brought her hand up, index finger in, other fingers out. "If you do not know, then we need to find out. I can't have you making terrible predictions and needlessly terrifying our village."

My eyes moved to the floor and I did not respond. Fatigue won out, and with it the tears. There was no fight left in me.

"I have spoken to everyone and I've changed your schedule." Her words were clear and enunciated, but she still sounded so angry. "You won't be doing more than twelve visions a day, from here on out, even if it means some families will have to return another day."From the corner of my eye, I could see Mamá stand up straight, pulling her black shawl closer.

"It's going to take well over a month, maybe two, to repay everyone, but at least you shouldn't faint again." She said the word "faint" with enough disdain that I flinched, but still stayed quiet.

"I'm going to head over to the Herreras and speak to them about Edgardo. I will not tolerate anyone threatening our family."

She finally walked away, down the stairs and out the door again, leaving me alone on the staircase landing.

The Vergara family would be here soon. Another day and another round of visions.

Mom's new schedule was still tiring, but far more manageable. The visions were awful, though; more so than usual. Every once in a while I'd give someone a good prophecy, but the majority portended doom.

It wasn't intentional, despite what mom thought. I tried desperately to figure out how to see more good futures and less bad ones. But the harder I tried, the worse they seemed to get. Mamá was not happy.

Hopefully my latest bright idea would help.

Four candle holders was all I could find in the kitchen; one that held three candles, and three that held one. They all came with me, along with six white candles, a book of matches, and even our old broom. The candles were now set up in various places around my bedroom and I used the matches to light each and every the last candle was lit, I went to grab the broom.

"Bruno?"

The familiar voice of my mother startled me, and I spun around to see her standing in my doorway, looking at me in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Um…I…uh," what do I tell her? Not the truth. "I figured I could use more light in my room?" I ended it like a question. Why did I end it like a question?

She stared at me, then glanced at my magical door. The doors to our rooms appeared as carved wood, with intricate patterns on them depicting ourselves and a symbol of our Gift. Mine showed me, arms raised, standing behind a large hourglass and surrounded by swirls, stars, and more hourglasses. It was also brightly lit as though filled with candle-flame.

Bright enough to easily light up my room without the effort of six candles.

"I see," she didn't believe me, that was obvious, but she didn't say anything. She was being shifty about it, which made me even more anxious than if she'd started scolding me. "And what is with the broom? Isn't that the one I threw out the other day?"

She was referring to the broom I was hugging to my chest like a child holding a security blanket. Relaxing, I set the broom against my dresser, trying to act casual.

"Oh, I just figured I could sweep in here, because, um…lots of sand. It gets everywhere, ya'know," I chuckled nervously.

"You want to sweep with it?" she raised an eyebrow, and I knew she wasn't buying it. "Bruno, we have a new broom that works far better than that old thing."

"Yes, but…I didn't want to ruin the new one. I figured I could just use this one."

She didn't look mad, but she also didn't look convinced, despite me giving her the most genuine smile I could muster. Thankfully, she chose to change the subject.

"I came here to let you know that the Vergaras have canceled. They won't be coming."

"Oh," It was a relief, but I tried to act disappointed. I sat down on my bed, hanging my head to keep my mother from seeing my face.

"There's been an accident," her voice was so casual, that it took a minute to realize what she said. "A young man was hurt. Julieta has already left to help. The boy was chopping wood when the ax head broke. The pieces struck him and hurt him pretty badly."

It was clear where this was going, and she saw it in my face.

"It was one of Edgardo's ax heads, yes. Just as you predicted, it failed."

"I tried to warn him!" These were never the predictions I wanted to come true, even if I knew they would. "No one should have been hurt.""I agree," she sat down on the bed next to me. "Edgardo is blaming you, though. He's claiming you cursed him and made this happen."

"Wha…" The color blood drained from my face as I looked at my mother. "But I didn…I only saw it!"

"I know," she reassured me, patting my hand. "And so does most of the village. Most of them recognize that he is responsible."

Her phrasing didn't escape me. "Most?"

"I'm afraid some do believe him, Bruno. That's why the Vergara's canceled. They're afraid you will curse them."

Even if they were afraid I'd curse them, I wasn't disappointed they canceled. I never liked the Vergara's. They tended to be vulgar and unruly, saying what was on their mind with no regard for anyone. The thought of having to perform visions for them frightened me.

My eyes moved over to the broom, still sitting on the dresser. That meant the broom worked! It actually worked!

Mamá saw where my gaze went and stood up to walk over to the dresser. She picked up the broom, making my heart leap into my chest again as she examined the bristles. Turning it over she started sweeping around my room.

The sand wasn't a lie. It had a tendency to seep into my bedroom from the sandfall. Casita herself was good at keeping it at bay, but there were always grains crunching under feet.

"Hmmm," she said knowingly as she gazed at her work. "I don't think this broom is going to work for you. Not for cleaning, anyway."

She was right. Looking down I could see that the gaps in the bristles left streaks of sand instead of pushing it all along. If my goal really had been to use the broom for cleaning, it would be a tiring, frustrating job.

It was at that moment that I knew she knew. She knew all along what I was doing. My shoulders tensed and gripped the sheets on either side of me. It was impossible to lie to my mother. She always saw right through me. She was going to be angry, and all I could do was brace myself for the onslaught.

"I can think of a better use for it." She spun the broom so the bristles were facing up again, and walked over to my magical door. She set the broom against the wall, right next to the opening, then stood back to admire her work.

When she looked back at me, there was no anger there. Her smile was soft and sympathetic.

There was a lump in my throat that I swallowed down before I spoke. "I thought you wouldn't approve."

"I know the importance of rituals, Bruno," her voice was gentle and loving. "I asked you to find a solution. If these old spells work for you, then I fully support you."

It felt like I had just come up for air after almost drowning, and I let out a long sigh of relief.

"Have you tried touching wood?" she suggested. "That has always been my favorite, and seems most appropriate for you and your visions of the future."

"Yes!" it came out as a loud gasp, and I rushed over to grab the broom again. "In fact, that was the other reason for the broom. There's no wood in my room, so I figured I could carry it with me and use the handle." Hugging the broom against my chest, I weakly knocked on the broom handle to demonstrate. "Knock on wood!"

She gave me an amused half smile. "You know, in my old home, where I lived before we received our miracle, I used to know a man who worked at a steel plant." She approached me until she was standing right in front of me. "He said there were a lot of rooms in his shop with no wood, just metal and concrete, and it was a dangerous place to work. So when he needed a touch of luck he would," she made a knocking fist and, to my shock, struck me gently on the head.

"Ow!" it didn't actually hurt, but it came as a surprise and I touched my head where she had hit me.

She laughed. "It works for those times you don't have any wood."

She stood up straight again, smiling at me. My mother was very strict, but sometimes she could be very kind.

"Thank you, Mamá."

She smiled at me, nodded, then moved to the back. The sandfall parted, and she entered the magical portion of my room."Mamá? Where are you going?" The sandfall parted for me as well when I followed. My mom had stopped in the middle of the cavern, looking towards my vision cave.

"I thought you said there was no wood in your room," she didn't look at me as she asked, but continued to gaze straight ahead.

"There isn't. Look around, Mamá. It's all sand and stone."

She turned to face me, and it was then I realized she had been blocking my view to my vision cave. And something was different.

Stairs! There were now a handful of steps leading up to my vision chamber. They were not there before; it was always a straight-shot from the cavern to the cave."You see?" she waved her hands towards them. "The rope railings have wooden posts. You can use that for your…Bruno?" She finally took notice of my shocked expression. "Did you really not notice?"

My gaze went to her, "Those weren't there before."

"Are you certain?" She didn't seem to believe me.

"I know my own room, Mom!" Maybe I shouldn't have raised my voice. The look on Mom's face was angry and frightening. "Sorry, sorry, I just…I swear the steps weren't there before!"

"Odd," she calmed down after my apology, looking back at the stairs. "What does it mean?"

I didn't have the answer to that, nor did I know that as the years went by there would be even more stairs.

A lot more.

Next: Chapter 1: Gift Ceremony

"Mirabel smiled at her mother and rushed over to me, holding out the piece of paper Juli had picked out. 'This is for you, Tío!'"