"Dolores, are you okay?" Pepa knelt down next to her daughter, a worried mist around her head.
It had been a week since Dolores had received her gift from the miracle candle and gotten her own room, but rather than looking energized and excited the child was barely able to keep her eyes open long enough to walk down the hall. Her eyes were red and demenor twitchy. And she had grown quite. Much quieter than she had been before she had received her gift.
Was she ill? A storm cloud started forming over Pepa's head, checking Delores's cheek for a temperature.
"I'm fine mama." Dolores said, voice just barely above a whisper. She jumped, squeaking a little. "I think the priest just stubbed his toe on a pew. And Miss Abigail's baby won't go down for its nap."
"Are you sure you're okay my sweet? You look so tired, have you not been sleeping well?"
"Nuh uh." Dolores shook her head slowly, rubbing her eye. "It's too noisy."
Pepa bit her lip, a small roll of thunder storming of her head. "Oh, go away." She said, waving at the cloud. She turned back to Dolores and scooped her up. "Come here, let's go see if titi Julietta can't perk you up a little with a snack."
Dolores sat on the counter, nibbling at the snack Julietta had made her, watching the empty doorway. Just beyond it she could here her mother and aunt's whispers as they talked about her.
"I don't know what to do." Pepa said sounding tired. "She can't go on like this, and if she can't go on like this then I can't go on like this-" The rest of her words were drowned by a rising wind.
"Pepa, Pepa, calm down." The wind died down and Dolores could pick up Julietta's voice. "It'll be okay. Dolores just needs to learn to work around her power, and until then we can help her get the sleep she needs."
"It's almost more of a curse." Pepa murmured.
Next to Dolores a voice sounded out. "Hey."
Dolores jumped, letting out a little squeak, turning to her uncle Bruno stuffing his face next to her.
"Whoa there, I'm sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to, you know, scare you. Just thought I'd grab a snack."
Dolores scooted over a little, patting the counter next to her. Bruno shrugged and hopped up next to her, the casita moving Dolores a little further down the counter a Bruno just barely missed accidentally hitting her with his elbow.
"Mmh." Bruno said, mouth full. "I don't know how Julietta does it, you know? I'm not even sick and I feel better. Well, I guess it's her power , but still. Man these are good." He stuffed the rest in his mouth, licking his fingers. "So, what do you think they're talking about over there? Seemed kinda serious so I snuck in the back way."
"Dio Bruno?" Dolores turned to him, looking up, red eyes large. "Am I cursed?"
Bruno choked a little, coughing. He turned to Dolores, uncomfortably meeting her intense gaze. "What? No, no. We have gifts, gifts. Not curses. Though, well, sometimes it's a little hard and feels like a curse, but-"
"So I am cursed then?" Dolores asked, voice trembling.
"No, no!" Bruno said, quickly backpedaling. He jumped off the counter, spinning so he was looking her straight in the face. "You're not cursed. I promise. You have a gift, just like the rest of us, and you'll find a way to make it useful to the family. It's better than mine at the very least, I mean, seeing the future sound useful until someone blames you for killing their goldfish. Then it's all, bad omen this, Bruno makes it happen that, and-"
Dolores giggled, cutting her uncle off. He smiled and ruffled her hair, mussing her ribbon.
"You'll be okay Dolores, you just need to get used to it. Like Luisa did. Remember how she kept on accidentally breaking the door?"
Dolores giggled again, hopping off the counter. "You and titi Julietta say similar things." She took a deep breath. "I just have to get used to it. But, Dio Bruno," She tugged at his sleeve till he knelt down to talk to her, "how do I get used to it?"
Bruno blinked, a thoughtful crease appearing between his eyebrows.
Dolores continued, voice unconsciously getting quieter. "I hear everything. Every time a baby cries, if someone laughs or gets hurt. At night I hear a thousand snores at once, or someone pacing if they can't sleep. I hear them fighting or chatting or crying. I hear everything Dio Bruno." She pulled him closer. "And I can't sleep."
Bruno opened his mouth. Then closed it. He opened it again. "I, uh, wow. That bad huh? Well, I'm sure we can think of a way to, err-"
"What a vote of confidence." Julietta said from the doorway, a kind laughter in her words.
"Julietta!" Bruno said, bouncing back up and awkwardly clapping his hands together. "H-how long have you been standing there? Where's Pepa?" He stood on his toes, peeking over her shoulder.
Julietta chuckled, shaking her head. "I sent Pepa out on an errand to help her calm down. Now then," She put a gentil hand on Dolores's head and smiled, "it sound's like you're trying to take everything in at once. Why don't you try focusing on one sound at a time, find something soothing when you're trying to sleep."
Dolores shrugged with a little hum. "I guess I can try."
That night Dolores stared up through the darkness, eyes burning with sleep. The voices in her mind weren't echoes, it was as if the village surrounded her bed, clear as day. A couple arguing, children crying because they don't want to go to bed, teens sneaking out, old men snoring. Dolores groaned, squeezing her eyes shut tight, but it only seemed to make the sounds sharpen and become more clear. She turned to her stomach, holding her pillow to her head in an attempt to muffle out the noise.
She took a deep breath. "Okay," she whispered to herself, "Okay, try and focus in, like titi Julietta said."
She searched through the voices and noises for something calming. Away from the yelling, away from the snoring.
"Okay mama, I'll read it to you."
The voice was clear, a boy about her own age. Maybe a bit older. It was pure, calming. She focused in.
"Deep in the shady sadness of a vale / Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, / Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star, / Sat gray-hair'd Saturn, quiet as a stone, / Still as the silence round about his lair;"
A woman's voice cut in. "Mariano dear, isn't this poem a bit complicated for you? Wouldn't you rather read mother goose?"
"No no mother. You said you like Keats the best, so I like him too."
Dolores snuggled in, listening to him read.
"Forest on forest hung about his head / Like cloud on cloud. No stir of air was there, / Not so much life as on a summer's day / Robs not one light seed from the feather'd grass, / But where the dead leaf fell, there did it rest."
For the first time since she had gotten her gift, Dolores drifted off warm and dreamless.
"Dolores! You look so much better. Did you sleep well?" Felix lifted his daughter up into the air, spinning her around.
Dolores spread her arms out, laughing. "Papa, papa, put me down!"
"Why Dolores," he teased, "I think your gift is flying, because you're going higher!" He threw her up, catching the squealing child in his arms.
"Papa," She said, laughing as he out her down, "Do you know about a boy named Mariano?"
"Hmm, Mariano." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I think that's the name of Mrs. Guzmán's son. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious." She skipped off, heading down to the village.
"Pepa!" Felix cried, running in to the casita, "I think Dolores has a crush! What do we do if she get's married?"
Dolores darted through the village, following her chosen voice. She ran to the Guzmán's house, peeking in the window where she heard Mariano speaking to his mom.
"Mariano darling, this is sweet, but don't you want to go outside and play?" Mrs. Guzmán was sitting in her bed, toys and books piled up on and around her.
"It's okay mama. I don't want you to be lonely so I'm going to stay right here until you feel better. Now then, I'll be the lion and you can be the giraffe." Mariano shoved the spotted plush in her face. Dolores watched him with interest. He was a year or two older than her, perhaps a bit large for his age. He was dressed neatly, his hair wavy and combed just so.
She hopped back down from the window, holding her face. It was strangely warm. All of a sudden her plans to introduce herself was cut short.
"Oh no." She whispered. "What do I do? How was I supposed to talk to him again?"
"Now, now," Mrs. Guzmán was saying, "I think I would start feeling a lot better if you went out and some fun for me. Why don't you go and play with your friends."
"Will that really make you feel better mama?" Mariano asked.
Dolores moved away from the window, hiding around the corner.
"Yes dear."
"Then… okay. I'll go play enough for the both of us!"
Dolores watched from behind the neighboring house as Mariano skipped out of his home, running down the road to the town square.
"What do I do? What do I do?" She whispered to herself, turning back to the casita. In times like this there was only one person to turn to.
"Dio Bruno! Dio Bruno!" Dolores banged open the door to Bruno's tower, not even stopping to feel the waterfall of sand. She slid down the dune and started running up the stairs, past the villagers lining up to have their future told.
She reached the top, carelessly brushing by the man at the from of the line, and burst into the fortune telling room, the sand settling from Bruno's latest reading.
"A gut," the man who had just gotten his fortune told mumbled, heading out. "I can't believe I'm going to grow a gut."
"Dio Bruno!" Dolores said, breathless.
Bruno turned to her, surprised. "Dolores?"
Dolores grabbed Bruno's shirt, tugging at it. "I need you to help me Dio Bruno! Quickly, quickly, tell my fortune!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's got you in such a tizzy?"
"I wanna know who I marry! I wanna know how to talk to him."
Bruno chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I see. You have a crush, huh? Just give me a moment to set up."
Dolores bounced on her feet, barely having the patience for him to finish getting ready. She took his hands and the sands started to blow around her green light projecting images across the desert wall. There two images took shape, her and Mariano. They started to grow, to age. They turned from children into young adults, side by side. The figure of Dolores turned to Mariano, reaching out, but he turned away. Walking in the opposite direction.
"What's going on?" Dolores asked, voice small. She followed the figure. He came to the silhouette of another young woman sitting in a chair. He knelt down, holding out a ring to the woman. Dolores watched on with her older self, excitement falling. Bruno looked at his niece, expression saddening. He stopped the vison, down cast.
"What was I expecting." He mumbled as the sand fell. "It's always like this. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have-" He cut off, looking at Dolores.
Her eyes were wet, but she wasn't crying. Her lower lip stuck out, her fists balled.
"Dolores-" Bruno started.
She turned and ran out of the fortune cave. She ran to her room, the world around her seeping back into her ears even after she had closed the door. She dove into her bed, throwing the covers over top her head.
"That's in the future." She murmured to herself, searching for the boys voice through the echoes of the village. "That's in the future. Right now, at least, I can like him. I can rely on him."
She found his voice.
"Why are you sitting there alone? Come play with us."
She smiled. He was so nice. Maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but sincere. Playing with his sick mother, making sure everyone was included. If only he could do that for her sometime. If only he would notice her. She left her bed and went to the window, watching the dots of people mill about in the village below her and listening to their conversations.
"I wonder if he'll recite some poetry tonight as well." She murmured, smiling. Perhaps she would tune in again, falling asleep to his rhymes, dreaming of him. Ignoring that, one day, he would be just out of reach.
For now, this was enough. For now, she could sleep with ease.