Note: This is a pilot for a series of short stories inspired by Mike Flanagan's latest horror series on Netflix, 'The Midnight Club.' This story isn't horror, but I've selected 'horror' as the second genre because some of the embedded stories are.

I've written this in a different style, to reflect the happier vibe of their new life together, but this is still the version of the Madrigals from my main fiction, The Haunting of La Casa Madrigal. If I refer to something that isn't in the movie, you can assume it's headcanon from that.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Madrigals, and Julieta does not own Ariel, Eric and Max. All rights to these characters belong to Disney.

Happily Ever After

Julieta jumped with fright as she left her room.

"Dolores," she breathed, clutching her hand to her chest.

Her niece had stepped silently onto the balcony from the steps to Bruno's tower, taking her by surprise.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Julieta smiled. "It's lovely to see you're getting to know him again."

"Oh? He's not in there. I'm just borrowing some books."

After the new miracle was granted, and the family's gifts restored, the rooms also reformed. They were all somewhat similar to the previous rooms, but they were different; better. None had changed more than Bruno's, though. His childhood room of which the later iteration of the tower had been a grotesque parody, was now comfortably behind his door, no longer hidden behind the vision cave at the top of the tower. He had lost his kitchen, and now had to share the same bathroom as everyone else, but there was one more significant change. Long ago, when his room first appeared, the vision cave had been accessed via a platform at the top of a spiral staircase made of stone. After his room moved to the tower, the platform no longer led to anything and was simply used as a place to put his bed. In the newest version of his room, the platform now led to a tall, narrow library.

The circular floor of the library was a similar size to the vision cave and bore the same sunburst pattern, but in place of the central pit of sand, was a circular mosaic depicting emeralds and hourglasses. The room felt smaller, however, due to the rows of bookshelves that lined the outer wall, and the walkways that ran around them. Each narrow walkway connected to the one above by a steep set of metal steps, and so it continued, eight or nine times, creating a wonderous tower of books. It had a modest reference section, which allowed the family to get up to speed on events and discoveries in the world outside the Encanto, but most of the books were fiction. The room contained so many stories. Tales from long ago, books that had not yet been written. Fairy tales, comedy, horror, fantasy. It was all there in Bruno's tower, and he had invited everyone in his family to help themselves. 'We all need to be 're-storied,' he had said, though no one was quite sure what he meant by that.

"I'd forgotten about his library. I should probably take a look myself."

"You won't be disappointed."

A thought popped into Julieta's head. "You know, it actually makes sense now I think of it. That there's a library in there, I mean. Before my brother's room moved to the tower, we used to take our blankets in there and drink chocolate santafereño while Mamá read us stories..."

"Yeah, I remember you telling me once. 'Like Arabian Nights, or Brother's Grimm,' right?"

Julieta was impressed that Dolores could still remember that conversation all these years later. The time she spent with her uncle before he disappeared, must have meant a lot.

"That's right," Julieta smiled fondly. "And as we got older, my brother and sister would sneak into my room once Mamá was asleep, and we would tell each other made-up stories. We would take characters from tales we knew and put them in new scenarios. Or tell the same story, but with a dark or funny twist."

Dolores recalled the time she would visit her uncle in his room behind the vision cave to escape the noise of the Encanto. He would sometimes startle her by looking up from the book he was reading, staring into space and then chuckling. It seemed strange at the time, but Dolores finally realised what he'd been doing.

"I think he still does that," she said. "In his head."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

Julieta thought about how fitting it was that he should get the library. "I guess he has an endless supply of stories to play around with now," she said. She then glanced at the books under Dolores's arm. "What did you choose, anyway?"

Dolores took the books in her hands and showed the titles to her aunt.

"This one's apparently set in another galaxy, a long time ago, but they have really advanced technology. Then this one's from Japan. There's a kid who's from another world and he has superpowers. It sounded relatable. Then this one... I think it's set in a school, and the kids are witches and wizards."

That last one very much appealed to Julieta. "Oh, could I borrow that one, please? I promise I'll finish it quickly."

"Sure!"

Dolores handed the book over, as an idea came to her.

"You know... I'd really love to hear your stories sometime. Do you think Mamá and Tío Bruno would be up for that?"

Julieta's eyes lit up at the thought. She was delighted to have her brother home and to see her family so much happier and at peace, but something still felt missing. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more work to be done before they could truly let go of the past. Getting back to their roots—to a time before it all went wrong—and reviving her fondest childhood activity, may well be exactly what they needed.

"That's an excellent idea, Dolores!"

She glanced around the balcony. Bruno often sat in an armchair near the front stairs, as he had once done in his youth. It meant he could be alone with his thoughts to read, write or draw sketches, while still being able to hear what was going on in the rest of the Casita. It also meant that sometimes family members would be having a conversation under the arches and be suddenly interrupted as a disembodied voice joined the discussion from above. However, at that moment, the chair was empty. "Any idea where he is?"

Dolores cocked her head. "He's outside with Isabela. He seems to have a bucket on his head, and I think she has... ...maybe a plant pot on hers?... ...And they're talking in a made-up language. Pretending to understand each other," she explained completely unfazed. Dolores was already quite used to their antics.

Julieta laughed. "Do you want to speak to him, or will I?"

"I'll do it. Maybe you could have a word with Mamá."

.

When Dolores arrived at the patio, she was bemused to see that her cousin had created giant flowers; daisies bigger than dinner plates, roses the size of cartwheels. Isabela and Bruno were sitting together, dwarfed by the floral canopy, and talking to one of the oversized flowers in their made-up language.

Dolores squeaked, and they both removed their headwear. Isabela had seemingly decided on red hair with a green and yellow dress today, although that was always subject to change.

"What are you doing?"

"We're flowerpot people," explained Bruno, rolling his eyes as though it should have been obvious.

"You're what?"

Isabela answered. "We're the guardians at the bottom of the garden. We talk to the flowers and help them grow." She blew tiny white petals at one of the giant flowers and it became even larger.

"And the bugs..." Bruno added as though it were a very important detail. "Like the snail..."

"Or the butterfly..."

"Butterfly? Don't spoil the plot!" Bruno huffed. "He's still a caterpillar."

"I thought 'spoiling the plot' was kinda your thing," Isabela joked.

Bruno looked confused for a moment. "Oh, I see... because of my gift? Heh. Yeah... funny."

Isabela laughed. She obviously thought it was.

"Anyway..." Dolores began, getting away from the subject as quickly as possible. "I've just been talking to Tía Julieta, about the stories you used to tell each other when you were kids..."

Bruno smiled. "Yeah? What about them?"

"We thought it could be fun to do something like that again."

"Something like what?" Isabela asked with intrigue.

"We used to make up stories based on things we'd read. It would get kinda weird sometimes though." He turned back to Dolores. "Sure. When? Tonight?"

"I guess."

"Can I join in?" Isabela asked excitedly.

"Will all your stories be about flower men?"

"Flowerpot people," Isabela corrected, then added, "Maybe. I haven't thought of a story yet."

"You might wanna translate the dialogue, though," Bruno suggested.

"You mean 'go easy on the oddle poddle'?"

Bruno put his hand on her shoulder, "I know... it's a travesty." He turned back to Dolores. "We should invite Mirabel too. She'd be great at this... and of course Camilo... and... Let's just invite everyone!"

.

That night...

The whole family assembled at the dining table. Everyone, including Abuela, had been excited by the idea of telling one another stories at midnight.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Julieta asked, looking around the room. "Will we just tell our stories in here?"

"No," Pepa answered immediately. "We used to snuggle up under our blankets in our nightclothes, and drink chocolate santafereño..."

"And eat snacks," Bruno added.

"So it's got to be somewhere we can all take cushions and blankets," Pepa insisted.

"And snacks..." Bruno thought it necessary to mention again.

Mirabel had an idea. "What about Tío Bruno's library? What better place than a room full of stories?"

"Great idea," agreed Julieta. "What time is it, Mamá?"

Abuela glanced at her pocket watch. "Eleven thirty-five."

"Okay, then everyone go and get changed. We'll meet in Bruno's room in fifteen minutes. Mirabel, could you give me a hand to prepare the snacks?"

"Sure."

"Buñuelos, please."

"We have fifteen minutes Bruno. You'll get whatever I can find."

.

The family gradually gathered at Bruno's room, wearing their nightclothes and holding cushions and blankets. Bruno had cheated and thrown his ruana over his pyjamas. Once everyone had arrived, he led them up the short spiral staircase.

"Hey, nice socks!" remarked Camilo.

"Thanks," replied Bruno, looking at his feet.

"You wear socks for bed?" gasped Isabela, horrified.

"What? Well...yeah... but, when else could I wear them?"

Across the platform and facing the staircase were three thick steps leading to a circular entranceway with no door, through which the library was clearly visible. They began filing in, arranging themselves in a circle on the floor as they got comfortable on their cushions and wrapped their blankets around their shoulders or across their legs. From ground level, the room felt very cosy, and had a warm light from the candles that dotted around the outer edge of the walkways, and almost appeared to be floating above them. The triplets sat at the far end, facing the entrance, with Bruno in the middle. Julieta's family sat around her side of the room, and Pepa's around hers. As the last few family members, Abuela, Antonio and Mirabel, entered carrying the snacks and cups, it became apparent that it was just a little too snug to comfortably fit the whole family.

"We'll just have to make do for tonight, okay? We can think of somewhere else for next time," said Julieta in response to the grumbling.

"And maybe don't bring Parce in future, Antonio," suggested Félix.

There was a despondent growl from the platform outside, where the jaguar had been forced to remain.

"Well that's not fair," Antonio argued. "Tío Bruno gets to bring his rats everywhere."

"Oh, there's no 'bringing,'" Bruno explained. "They just come."

"And they take up a lot less space," said Félix.

"At least Parce doesn't pee on my clothes!"

Bruno sniffed his ruana and grimaced. Antonio had a point.

.

Once the hot chocolate had been passed around and everyone was settled under their blankets, it was time to decide who would go first.

"This game started with the triplets, right? So shouldn't they go first? Show us how it's done?" suggested Mirabel.

"Well I've got nothing planned," said Pepa, turning to the other two.

"I thought you just made up stories on the fly?" said Mirabel.

"It started out that way, but when we got older, we usually had a story in mind before we started," Pepa replied, then turned to Bruno. "You were always good at this. Don't you have anything?"

"Oh, loads... but there's no way I'm going first..."

"I have one!" said Julieta, and without a word, all attention turned to her, and she began to speak.

.

"Ariel had her legs and would remain a human for the rest of her days. She soon married Prince Eric and they both lived happily ever after..."

"Well that was short," remarked Camilo. He leapt up dramatically and grabbed his pillow. "Same again tomorrow night then?"

"Oh... No, you see... our stories often began at 'happily ever after'," explained Bruno, seemingly missing the sarcasm. "That's kind of the point."

"Have you never wondered what happens to characters after the story ends?" asked Pepa.

"Not really... If the story's over, then it's over. Who cares what they get up to after that?" Camilo replied, sitting back down.

"But real-life stories don't just end," Pepa explained.

"Not while we have life left in us, anyway," added Bruno.

"So why should the stories of fictional characters just end?"

Camilo did not quite understand but just shrugged. "Fine, then if you please, Tía Julieta..." he said, gesturing for her to continue.

.

"They all lived happily ever after," Julieta repeated, continuing where she had left off. "But we all know that's not where the story ends. Stories never really end at 'happily ever after.' Prince Eric stood on the balcony of the palace looking out over his kingdom. His eyes fixed upon the vast woodland that reached to the distant mountains. He had always been an adventurous type, travelling far and wide on his ship, and exploring new lands. Yet it suddenly occurred to him that there were still places on his doorstep that he had never ventured to.

"Eric climbed into their grand four-posted bed and chuckled affectionately. His beloved Ariel was sat at her vanity table, brushing her hair with a fork again.

"'My dearest Ariel,' he said. 'Would you like to explore more of the kingdom with me tomorrow?'

"Arial was excited by his offer. 'I would love to!' she replied with an enthusiastic nod.

"The following day, Eric woke to find that Ariel was not in their bed. He climbed out and went looking for her. After trying everywhere in the palace, he eventually found her outside, walking among the many hedge sculptures and laughing to herself as she went.

"'Ariel!' he called out as he approached. 'Are we still going to explore the kingdom today?'

"Ariel looked confused for a moment and then slowly smiled. 'Oh yes, Eric... yes we are! And let's start with the woods!'

"And so they set off together, hand in hand, walking towards the woods along with Max the dog who merrily sniffed the ground, but never wandered too far. Ariel seemed a little quiet as she looked around at the trees with wonder.

"'Is everything okay?' asked Eric.

"'Oh, yes... everything is perfect.'..."

.

"Oh, I know this one," Bruno suddenly interrupted. "You've told it before."

"To you and Pepa. Did you seriously expect me to come up with something new that fast?"

"Well I have loads of new stories."

"No offence Bruno," Pepa joined in. "But not all of us have had as much... you know..."

Bruno pulled his blanket tighter around him with a huff. "Whatever..."

.

"After walking for a few miles, Eric began to feel tired.

"'Ariel, would you like to stop for a picnic?' he suggested.

"'No thank you,' replied Ariel. 'I'm saving myself for later.'

"'For later? What's happening later?' Eric replied, confused.

"Ariel did not answer his question.

"They pressed on, and it suddenly started to rain. The rain quickly became heavy, and began to soak through their clothes."

.

"Let me guess... Ariel gets her mermaid tail back when she gets wet!" Félix called out triumphantly.

Pepa elbowed him. "Félix... it's rude to try and guess the ending!"

"And you're wrong anyway..."

"What happened to 'don't spoil the plot?', Tío Bruno," remarked Isabela.

The room went quiet again, and so Julieta continued.

.

"It was then that they stumbled upon a strange cottage in the woods. There was smoke coming out the chimney and light from inside, suggesting that someone was home. As they drew closer, they noticed a strong smell of cooking meat, like pork, mixed with fish.

"'Let's see if anyone's home,' suggested Arial. 'Maybe they'll let us shelter from the rain.'

"Eric agreed, and so they approached the cottage. When they got nearer, Eric began to feel uneasy. There was something off about the building, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Max sniffed the door and whimpered.

"'Hey.. what is it boy?' said Prince Eric.

"The dog barked and then started to back away.

"'If Max isn't happy, I think we should go.'

"'No! Insisted Ariel. 'I'm sick of water. I want to get inside and dry out my clothes.'

"She knocked on the door and then pushed it open. Nobody was home. Max panicked and suddenly raced off towards the trees, yelping and whimpering as he went.

"'Max!' Eric cried out, and then hurried after his dog.

"Ariel eventually caught up with her husband and they both looked around the woodland.

"'What way did he go?' asked Ariel.

"'I don't know. I lost sight of him. He just slipped away.'

"'I'm sure he'll find his way home. Let's not worry about him for now. Come back to the cottage and we'll look for him tomorrow.'

"Eric glanced around at the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of shaggy white and grey hair, but there was still no sign of Max. 'No... I need to find him now... I'm not losing him again!' ..."

.

Julieta paused and looked around the room. She wasn't sure what Eric had meant by 'again', but it didn't seem as though anyone had noticed, so she pressed on.

.

"... Then Prince Eric asked, 'But what way do we go?' realising they were lost.

"'I don't know,' replied Ariel.

"They had to do something, so Eric chose the direction his gut was telling him to go, and they set off. After a while, Eric noticed the smell of cooking pork mixed with fish again. His heart sank, as the strange cottage from before, suddenly came into view.

"'Oh no!' cried Eric. 'We're going in circles! I'll never find Max now.'

"Eric then had an idea. 'Hey, let's use the food from the picnic basket to mark out a trail through the woods. That way we'll know if we end up back on ourselves again.

"'Good idea!' Arial agreed.

"So Eric tore up bits of bread and dropped the crumbs to the floor as they walked. The rain started to get heavier still, and the sky was turning dark. Eric was very worried about his dog, all alone in the woods. Was he hungry? Was he hurt? Was he scared? Was he even alive? It was then that he noticed a light up ahead... and an ominous smell of pork and fish. It was the cottage again!

"'No, no, no... This can't be!' he yelled, looking around for the bread crumbs, but there were none.

"He walked up to the door, and there was something unusual about the walls. They looked... soggy. He pressed on the wall with his hand and it yielded to his touch, and he noticed a strong smell of ginger.

"'I think the house is made of gingerbread,' he exclaimed.

"'Don't be silly Eric,' said Ariel. 'You can't build a house from gingerbread.' The door was still open from when they'd been there previously, so she walked inside. 'Look,' she said, turning to Eric, 'I'm going to stay here and get dry, even if you don't want to.'

"Eric could not leave his wife all alone, lost in the woods, so he reluctantly agreed to stay. Arial put more logs on the fire and then went to the kitchen. She took off her shoes and placed them inside the oven to dry and then they both sat on the rug by the fire and hugged in the warmth.

"Eric noticed that Ariel's hair had become matted from the rain, so he reached into the picnic basket and handed her a fork. Usually, she would immediately start brushing her hair with it, but this time she just looked at him as though he had lost his mind.

"'For your hair,' Eric explained.

"Ariel ignored his comment and looked towards the kitchen area. 'Oh... Eric my love, won't you be a dear and retrieve my shoes from the oven? I'd hate them to become charred,' she said.

"Eric was a good husband, who always wanted to please his wife," Julieta threw a sideways glance at Agustín. "So of course, he got up right away and headed to the oven.

"He opened the door and retrieved the shoes, but then noticed there was something else inside. Was that a pig? He looked closer. No. It was not a pig at all. It was the roasting torso of a human woman!

"'You're next!' came a familiar but fearsome voice.

"He looked back in horror and watched as Ariel transformed into Ursula, the sea witch. Prince Eric realised he had been duped, but it was too late. He felt the fork jab into his chest, and the last thing he ever heard was the sea witch's manic laughter.

"The end."

.

"What's wrong with you?" gasped Luisa.

"Well it didn't really happen, Luisa. It's just a story," Julieta explained.

"I thought it was cool!" Isabela grinned.

"Are all the stories going to be like this?" asked Mirabel through a forced smile.

"Well, no...not all of them," replied Julieta.

"Your Mamá's are nearly always about witches though... and someone usually dies," said Bruno.

"Well I don't like it," said Luisa.

"So make up a story of your own," suggested Julieta.

"Okay then..." Luisa said quickly. "Just then, the real Ariel came running into the cottage. She like, stabbed the sea witch to death just in time to save her beloved Eric. He was totally fine. Oh, and then Max came running through the door wagging his tail."

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"But that's the fun thing about making up stories," said Pepa. "You have complete control over what happens."

"And there aren't many situations where that's possible in life," added Bruno.