March 6, 1905
A 5-year old girl in green glasses sits on her grandmother's lap with her eyes closed, seemingly waiting for a surprise. "Abre los ojos" the grandmother said. However the girl still keeps her eyes closed. The grandmother then tries again, "Open your eyes." Finally, Mirabel Madrigal opens her eyes and her face brightens with happiness as she looks at Abuela's magical candle.
Mirabel then looks back at Abuela and asks, "This is where our magic comes from?" Abuela then nods her head and begins, "This candle holds the miracle given to our family." Mirabel, who is extremely invested in the magic, wants to know even more about it. "How did we get a miracle?" she asked, wanting to know its history.
Abuela then pulls Mirabel closer into a hug with one of her arms and begins to explain the story. "Long ago, when my three babies had just been born, your Abuelo Pedro and I were forced to flee our home." Abuela new that the next part will be too dark for little Mirabel to hear, so she decided to make it a bit simple for her. "And though many have joined us, hoping to find a new home…we could not escape the dangers…and your Abuelo, was lost." she said with a saddened voice. She then brushed her sad feelings to the side to finish the story, "But in our darkest moments," she said with a little bit of pride rising in it, "We were given, a miracle." Mirabel's face lightens up even more with a rush of excitement.
"The candle became a magical flame that could never go out and it blessed us with a refuge in which to live, a place of wonder." She was then about to say the name of their village that is surrounded by tall mountains, but Mirabel learning more about it beats her to it, "An Encanto." Abuela looks down at her youngest nieta and nods, "An Encanto, correct." With that out the way, she continues her story, "The miracle grew, and our house, our casita itself, came alive to shelter us. Then, when my children came of age, the miracle blessed each with a magic gift to help us. And when their children came of age-" She was cut off by Mirabel attempting to fill in the blank, "They got magic too." Abuela nods, "That's right, and together our family's gifts have made our new home, a paradise." As she finishes her story, she turns her head towards Mirabel, "Tonight, this candle will give you your gift, mi vida. Strengthen our community, strengthen our home. Make your family proud."
Mirabel's face then fills with determination as she states, "Make my family proud."
Just then, a firework outside goes off during the party that is happening. Casita uses its floorboards to knock a clock in front of them, showing that it is time for Mirabel to get her gift. "Yes, yes Casita we're going," Abuela chuckled. Mirabel then jumps off the bed and Casita moves her slippers in front of her to slip on. Once she's done that, she helps Abuela off her bed so they can walk towards the ceremony. Mirabel then excitedly asks, "What do you think my gift will be?" She then bends down to Mirabel's level and simply states, "You are a wonder, Mirabel Madrigal. Whatever gift awaits, will be just as special as you." They then walk off to Mirabel's new door.
Once outside, the curtains pull back, revealing an excited Mirabel. She is then met with most of the townsfolk and some of her family in the courtyard, with a staircase leading up to her glowing door with her parents and Abuela next to it. She then slowly marches towards her new door with everyone's attention focused on her, making her a bit nervous. Once she reaches the top of the staircase, Abuela then says a little speech to her to give her vows to help the community with her gift. She then touches the candle as she has the biggest excitement rush of the night. Then, she turns to her door, about to open it. When she is ready, she wipes her nervous sweats from her hands on her dress then places a hand on her doorknob.
Then all of Mirabel's excitement, fades away.
Everyone watches in horror, as her door fades away into nothing. Abuela's face that was full of joy turns into confusion, and to make matters even more worse, the candle flickers. Mirabel, who's once happy face that is now flushed with sadness turns to her Abuela for questions, but she is more worried about the candle then her nieta. Tears start to form in Mirabel's eyes as she storms towards the nursery sobbing with her parents going after her to comfort her.
Abuela then turns to the crowd, "There will be no after party tonight, but don't worry everyone, I can reassure you all that the magic is still strong." The guests then start to file out of Casita, leaving only the Madrigals in the house with a now crying Mirabel.
Later that night, all the adults are having an argument about the magic in the kitchen. "What if the magic really is fading? What if the Encanto breaks? What if everything falls apart?" Pepa asks nervously as a cloud forms over her head. Her husband Felix places a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Agustín embraces his wife Julieta, who is worried about her daughter, "Mama, why didn't Mirabel get a gift like everyone else?" Abuela then looks back at her oldest triplet, "I don't know Julieta, but everyone needs to calm down, I already sent Bruno to do a vision to see if something is wrong with the magic." Felix then chimes into the conversation, "What if he sees something bad, you know how his visions can be." "Listen, calm down, I know he hasn't had good visions lately, but we need to protect our miracle."
Just then, Bruno enters the room with a vision tablet, exhausted from running down all of the stairs in his room, "I have. No idea. What I just saw." Abuela then walks over to him, "Let me see." He gives her the vision tablet and on it, she sees an explosion in the background. In front of it stands an older version of Mirabel, smiling at a boy who is taller and slightly older than her who is also smiling at her. A worrisome face appears on Abuela, "Bruno, is this…" He then walks over to everyone else so he can explain the vision, "The Casita or Encanto exploding, no. I don't even know what that explosion is from, it just appeared out of midair in my vision."
Agustín then looks over at his brother-in-law, searching his eyes, "What else did you see Bruno?" He then takes a deep breath before he begins, "Well I also saw some other stuff that I haven't seen before, like all of us in a big place with huge buildings that doesn't look like the Encanto, and I also saw what appears to be a giant ball with multiple limbs sticking out of it with claws the shape of x's. I know, that whole vision is weird."
Abuela then turns to her only son, "Did you see anything else about this boy in your vision?" The only other thing that Abuela is worried about other than the explosion is the boy in the vision. "I didn't see anything else about him, just that part. And it's weird as well, I have never seen that boy in my life." Abuela lets out a sigh, "Gracias Brunito, you are dismissed." Without another word, Bruno leaves the room to go back to his room.
Julieta who is more worried about her daughter in this situation walks up to her mama, "Mamá, what are we gonna do about Mirabel?" Abuela then looks back at her with the same worried face. "I don't know mi hija, but no matter what happens, we must do whatever it takes to protect the miracle" she answered. She walks off to her bedroom to go to sleep, but she then looks back at her daughters and their husbands. "And for that boy that's in the vision with Mirabel, FIND HIM" she said with venom in her voice at those last two words.
First chapter done, what do you guys think about it so far. Provide some feedback if you have any.