[Chapter 9]
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The ground made a terrifying sound before breaking apart. Mirabel ran to Bruno who was standing at the other end of the central courtyard as the house came crashing down on them. Mirabel watched Isabela and Camilo try to save what little was left of the candle. However, she just wanted to get through the house to get to Bruno.
"Mirabel" Bruno yelled as everything fell around her. "Mirabel" Julieta also shouted as the house seemed to try to get them away from her. Mirabel looked up, realizing that the rubble was going to hit her, but the house protected her every moment. "Get them out of here, please" Mirabel asked the house, referring to Julieta, Agustín and Bruno, as they refused to leave the house without her.
The walls collapsed, to the point that she could no longer get out. Her only option was to try to hide under an object heavy enough to protect her. However, that was not necessary, since the house itself moved a couple of pieces of furniture and a beam, creating a shelter for her. Casita saved her with the last breath of its magic.
Mirabel looked around her. The landscape was desolate, as a gray cloud of dust rose above her. Now everything was clear: Mirabel really must have loved that house in some distant past, since that tragedy did not bring her the least satisfaction.
"Mirabel" Julieta said as she removed the door that protected her. Her mom seemed to have superhuman strength since she made everything with one hand. Julieta said a few words to her as her mom lifted her chin to check her wellbeing.
"Julieta! Pepa yelled. Julieta asked Mirabel to wait for her. Mirabel's gaze met her grandmother's who was sitting a couple of meters from her. Mirabel no longer felt the same anger. She felt hopelessness, which supported her to get up and leave. At that moment, she decided that she would go back to Tocama even if Mirabel had to do it completely alone. Encanto would be from now on just a stone on the road, a stumbling block in her very perfect life. Mirabel could act as if nothing had happened.
She took one step after another in the direction of the forest. No one saw her leave, because there was no place for her in that house. Mirabel did not know exactly where she was going, it was already dark, and she was in the middle of the forest, illuminated only by the moon. Mirabel let herself fall on a stone, if she was going to die, it would be her fault, she should have waited for her father before escaping from Encanto.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps on foliage alerted her. Mirabel saw the branches move, so she got up, while she silently prayed that it wasn't a wild boar or a cougar.
"Doctor Calle?" Mirabel asked, seeing the old doctor approach. He was wearing some sort of green hiking suit, he was looking almost ridiculous, like a tourist ready to take a walk in the park. However, only one detail made him look menacing: he had a revolver in his hand. Mirabel took a couple of steps back, preparing to run if necessary.
"Hello, dear, I heard what happened to the Madrigal house, a real tragedy, everyone is looking for you, but I was the only one lucky enough" answered Doctor Calle. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going back, I want to walk to Santa Rita" Mirabel replied. "I'm sorry, dear, but I can't let you get away, you'd be surprised at all the information that court clerks and telephone operators can give you in exchange for a few pesos," he replied. Mirabel looked carefully at the revolver, because her suspicions were completely true: he was aware of her conversation with the police.
"Please don't hurt me" Mirabel requested. "It's a pity, a real pity, you're a lovely girl, I felt great sympathy for you, but you had to be nosy," Doctor Calle replied. "The police already know that you killed that girl, if I die, you will be the first suspect" Mirabel murmured. Doctor Calle laughed when he heard that. "They have no proof," he replied. "The only clear thing here is that Mirabel Madrigal brought herself to an untimely death, she fled into the woods, alone, in the middle of the night, and without the necessary equipment to survive. No one will be surprised if you disappear without a trace."
Mirabel took a couple of steps back, and without even thinking twice she started running through the trees. She screamed at the sound of a shot hitting a tree trunk. She ran without looking back. It was lucky that Doctor Calle was so old, but even so, the shots were heard getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Mirabel found herself in a beautiful river bed covered with red algae. She ran but her espadrilles were insufficient to walk on top of the stones, so he fell and hit her knees hard. She turned around and braced herself to be shot.
"Stop!" Bruno yelled as he stepped between Mirabel and Doctor Calle. "Stop" Bruno repeated as he tried to defuse the situation. "Please, let her go, kill me if you want, you can say that I kidnapped her again. She will leave, and she will never set foot in Encanto again, Julieta will not recover this time" Bruno said. Mirabel knew that Doctor Calle would never accept his offer. After all, the safest option was to kill them both and say that they had escaped together.
"I do not think so…
Bang!
The loud sound of a gunshot alerted them all. Mirabel closed her eyes and braced herself for the worst. However, when she opened her eyes she saw Doctor Calle lying on the floor, in the middle of a pool of blood. She turned her face and saw the culprit had been her own mother. Julieta stood to one side as she held a shotgun still smoking from the shot, while Alma and Agustín watched the scene from a horse.
"I want to hear it from your lips, Calle, I want to hear exactly how you killed Mrs. Rosario's daughter," said Julieta, who raised the shotgun and directed it at the old man. Mirabel couldn't help but be surprised by the contrasts in her mother's personality. She could be very sweet, but at that moment there was only fury and hate in her eyes. "I don't…" Dr. Calle stuttered.
"Don't you dare deny it, I know it. Those two muleteers died a couple of days before the police interviewed them, that obsession with secluding me in a nursing home. My mother didn't even know that girl had died until she saw her in the morgue" Julieta accused him. "They did not kill her, I did, I put her body in the river, I followed them and stole the clothes they left her dress as a false decoy, but they had seen me earlier on the day. I met the girl in my office. Her mother took her a day after Bruno and Mirabel disappeared, the resemblance was incredible, her name was Mariana" he said.
"Don't you dare tarnish her name, you have no right to talk about her" Julieta replied without lowering the shotgun even a little. "I should kill you, killing that girl was monstrous" Julieta continued. Doctor Calle closed his eyes as he sweated profusely.
"Mom, please, if you kill him you will go to jail, leave it. Mrs. Rosario has the right to know what happened to her daughter," Mirabel said. Julieta didn't lower the gun, but she changed her position, aiming at a new target. "You're right, Mirabel," Julieta replied. "I had never used a gun in my life. Oscar Ruiz Diaz was a member of the army, so I asked him to teach me, in case I ran into a particular person" she continued as she pointed at Bruno.
Bruno took a couple of steps to her, while he moved away from Mirabel, with the intention of protecting her. He raised his hands on either side of his head and began to walk toward Julieta, until he found himself right at the end of the shotgun. "Julieta,please, stop," he begged. "How could you do this to me, Bruno?" Julieta asked. "You know well how much I loved you, I defended you despite everything, I would put my hands in the fire for you, you should have told me what she intended to do, together we would have found a solution" she shouted with a broken voice without lowering the gun an inch.
"I know, I know" Bruno agreed, "but you weren't there, mom seemed determined and I couldn't think of another solution" he said. "Of course, you acted like the perfect mommy's son and took care of getting rid of Mirabel, just to please her, right?" Julieta asked. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Bruno apologized, so his sister raised the gun again. "Apologizing isn't going to give me back the lost years," Julieta said.
Mirabel knew that if her mom had wanted to shoot, she would have done it a long time ago. Something stopped Julieta. "The only thing I can't reproach you, is that you took care of her and loved her as your daughter," her mother said. "I love her as my daughter," Bruno replied. Something in Julieta seemed to break upon hearing those words, so she lowered the gun very slowly. "I'll never fully forgive you, Bruno," Julieta said, "but I don't want her to get away with all her plans. I don't want to lose a daughter and a brother on the same day" she said as she pointed to Alma.
Alma got off the horse with great difficulty. She walked towards them as they all watched her. "I had only been back to this river once since the night Pedro died," Alma said with a lost gaze, almost as if her mind was in the past. "This is the river where the miracle was given to us, maybe it can undo Mirabel's memory," Alma said.
"I'll take this guy to town" Agustín said as he took Julieta's gun and put Doctor Calle on the horse without any delicacy.
Mirabel, Bruno, Julieta and her grandmother stared at the river, until her grandmother approached her. "Ten years ago I asked this river and Pedro to give you something that would give you happiness outside of Encanto. The miracle erased your memories, perhaps that was how you managed to live so long away from this house, away from your parents. I want to warn you that your life will change as soon as you recover your memories, and it can be painful. The truth can be painful" Alma murmured. Mirabel nodded. She knew it would, and yet Mirabel walked very slowly into the river as a flurry of yellow butterflies danced around her.
Mirabel saw in the past, the omnipresent violence, her grandparents' escape, their love story. However, her vision did not stop there, Mirabel saw herself in front of the door, as the light disappeared. Then the scene changed, she was in her grandmother's room.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Alma Madrigal was sitting on her bed looking at a green tablet. Mirabel knew right away that it was one of Bruno's visions. Her dad entered the room. Mirabel looked at him closely, his hair was black and he had a few extra pounds, which made him look healthier.
"Mom, I know you're still worried about the vision, but it's not very clear, even I can't tell you what it means," Bruno said. He sat on the bed next to his mom. "For me it is clear enough. That girl will bring misfortune to this house" replied Alma who seemed to be on the verge of tears. Suddenly, Mirabel had the impression of seeing panic on her grandmother's face, her expression was the same as that young woman with three newborn children, realizing that she would have to leave her town.
"I have to do something, we can't lose our home" her grandmother said as she stood up to the window and stared at the candle flickered on and on. "The best thing would be for that girl to disappear, for that girl to die"
"Mom!" Bruno yelled as he jumped to his feet. "How dare you? How can you say something like that? he asked.
Something in her grandmother's gaze changed, it was as if she had woken up from a long nightmare. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly" she answered, but Bruno didn't seem very convinced. "Maybe, we could get her out of here, let her live with a good family in the country, far from here, we'll bring her to spend the school holidays, but she will never be close enough to damage the magic" Alma said .
"Julieta and Agustín will never allow it. I am sure that Agustín would prefer to leave with his family and live in Bogotá with his mother than to authorize such an insane plan, "Bruno answered. "He certainly will. I'll find a way to send the girl away without Julieta or Agustín finding out," her grandmother said. Bruno held his breath as his eyes widened. "Mother, that's incredible, you can't just give Mirabel away to strangers, she's your granddaughter," Bruno said. Her grandmother looked at him for a few moments.
"What do you propose, then?" Alma asked, " I am not going to allow her to stay here, for her to destroy the miracle, all of us in this town have already been through a lot, we cannot see our homes destroyed again. I am no longer who I was, we will not be able to get up. That girl cannot live in this house" she said. Bruno thought for a few moments as he stood up and looked at the candle.
"You have always said that our gifts are a miracle, but for me, my gift has always been a curse, I wouldn't mind losing it" Bruno said. "Instead, Mirabel and Julieta are very important to me, this family is very important to me" Bruno continued.
"I'll take care of her," Bruno said suddenly. "I will take her away from Encanto, and I will give her the best life possible. Mirabel will not go to live with a stranger, and I will not endanger her life either. I will take care of her as my own daughter" said Bruno.
Mirabel followed the scene as a simple spectator while they entered her room. Her grandmother began to prepare a suitcase without even stopping to look at the girl who was asleep in bed.
"Where is Julieta?" Bruno asked. "She is dividing the leftover food from the party among the guests. I guess it will take a few hours" Alma answered. "And Dolores?" he asked again. "On her room, she won't hear a thing".
"Mirabel, mariposita, wake up, let's go for a walk" Bruno said as he picked up the girl who was sleeping with her face on his shoulder. Mirabel followed her grandmother along the forest path where she used to walk with her father, until they reached the river.
Mirabel from the past woke up and looked around her. "Where are we?" the girl asked. "On the river, it's just a little walk," Bruno said. Mirabel must have understood that something was wrong, since her little face was convulsed.
"Do you want to kick me out of the house because I don't have powers?" Mirabel asked horrified. "No, my love, just…" her grandmother replied, but she was interrupted by a scream. "Mom, Dad!" the girl yelled. That broke Mirabel's heart, since she suddenly could remember her pain at the thought that she would not see her parents again. "Isa! Luisa!" Mirabel from the past yelled as she moved her small legs to free herself from Bruno's grasp.
"Mom, help me!"
Bruno carried her into the river and the girl stopped fighting. Her uncle Bruno was crying. They looked exhausted and trying to catch their breath as the echo of Mirabel's screams still seemed to resonate in the air.
"This is terrible. We still have time to stop" Bruno said as he passed Mirabel's wet clothes to her grandmother and put a dry dress on her. "We can not do it. She has to go," Alma replied. "Mom, this is crazy, we are going to ruin the lives of Mirabel, Julieta, Agustín and the girls. If Mirabel stays and we lose the magic at least we will be together, but this will only add another layer of tragedy to our story, please, you have to think twice...
"If you don't get that girl out of here, I'll get her out myself, even if I have to throw her into the river" Alma answered. Bruno frowned. "You're making a mistake mom, but she'll be safe with me, I'll take care of her as my own daughter, I assure you of that" said Bruno before the scene dissolved.
Mirabel opened her eyes again in a dark room, with hanging lights that seemed about to fall. It looked like some kind of hospital, but she wasn't sure. Suddenly, her grandmother entered the room, while a nurse helped her walk. "Mrs. Madrigal, you have to talk to the police, you have to tell them that this is your granddaughter."
"I don't know, that girl seems dead for days. That's her clothes, I'm sure of that" Alma replied while she continued crying. "Do you have a phone here, miss?" her grandmother asked. "Yes, ma'am, there is a pay phone in the lobby," the nurse replied. Mirabel followed her grandmother and the nurse through the gloomy corridors of the morgue until she reached the lobby. Her grandmother got rid of the nurse and picked up the phone in the hall.
"Operator, I want a long distance call, I need to communicate with the Patria hotel in the municipality of Tocama in the department of Boyacá, room 103," Alma said, and then she dictated the number to the operator, after which followed a terrifying silence. "You are a monster, Bruno. How could you? you promised me that you would take care of her, you are a monster "her grandmother cried without any shame. "You told me that you two were fine, and out of danger, you told me that you would take care of her, and now she is dead."
"What are you talking about, mom?" Bruno asked. "Mirabel is taking a nap. We both spent the day looking for a house. I warned you the last time we spoke, she is here, next to me" said Bruno. Alma explained the situation to Bruno. The police had found a dead girl wearing Mirabel's clothes, and now everyone was convinced that it was her.
"Mom, I assure you Mirabel is fine, she's sleeping next to me," Bruno said. "Put her on the phone, I want to hear her voice" Alma asked. Her grandmother smiled when she heard a childish voice on the other end of the line. "Take good care of yourself, mijita" Alma said before talking to Bruno again. "This was a mistake. I have done a terrible thing. How could I be so blind? this was a serious mistake, I don't know how I could have done this, I lost my mind that night, if only I could turn back time." her grandmother rambled.
"We're still on time, we can…" Bruno said. "No, it's already too late, the police are involved, the investigation continues, there is a dead girl and Julieta knows it, Bruno, she knows that there is something very suspicious here. She knows that this girl is not her dead daughter, if she finds out it will be the end of this family" her grandmother said. "It will be the end of you in this family, mom, but I assure you that everyone will stay together" Bruno replied.
Mirabel left the scene, and for a moment she felt like she was swimming in a void. She now understood her grandmother much better, her struggles, her pain, her past, even so, she couldn't justify everything she did. The history of the Madrigals was not exactly new or exemplary in this land. Thousands of families had lost everything, were still losing it, and will continue to lose it in the future.
Apparently, the legends of the indigenous people were true, everyone in this land was the son of the jaguar, and they came into the world with the lines of pain and hatred tattooed on their skin as eternal and indelible stains. They were all experts at surviving no matter how bad the situation was. In a world where dog eat dog, the most important thing was to get up and move on no matter the cost. The problem was that this expertise had pushed her grandmother over the edge, to a tipping point where she had done nothing but destroy what she had tried so hard to protect. She would have had no problem forgiving any other circumstance, but this was too much for her.
Suddenly, all the memories from her past life came to her, even those that she should not remember because of her age. She saw her mother hugging her after treating a wound on her knee, her father playing with her and her sisters, Isabela placing flowers in her crib and Luisa accompanying her to school. Mirabel saw this and much more. Her grandmother was right: Digging into the past was more painful than she had imagined.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mirabel opened her eyes very slowly. She stood in the river and looked around. Her skirt was soaked, but she didn't care. Mirabel found just the person she was looking for: her mother.
"Mom!" Mirabel cried out as she ran to involve her in a tight hug. That hurt a lot. The separation, the lost time, the betrayal. Alma Madrigal was right, it would have been easier to remain in ignorance, but it was not what Mirabel wanted, what she really wanted was to have her family back.
"Mirabel, you're finally back" Julieta replied as she hugged her even tighter. Mirabel cuddled herself in her familiar scent, her warmth. For the first time, she was able to appreciate the tenacity of Julieta Madrigal, sometimes missguided, sometimes not. She had crisscrossed the country looking for her, despite everything, despite that no one trusted her. Mirabel took a couple of steps away from her mom and looked at her face. "I'm finally back, mom".
"Uncle Bruno" Mirabel said as she gave him a look. Bruno was not her father, but she had to admit that he had kept his promise to her, had taken care of her, loved her and given her a home. "I'll understand if you decide to hate me from now on," Bruno answered. "I could never hate you. I don't think you did the right thing, you shouldn't have separated me from my parents, but I could never hate you," Mirabel said. Afterwards, she gave him a hug.
They returned to Casita. Mirabel led the horse and Bruno walked slowly with the rein in his hand. The entire town seemed to calm down when they saw Mirabel and the rest of her family. Apparently, the news that Doctor Calle was the murderer had spread like wildfire and everyone was nervous about the fate of the Madrigal family.
The rest of the family was in the ruins of the house, and everyone was glad to see them. "What should we do, Julieta?" Pepa asked as she looked at the house. "We should go?" she asked. "Do you want to leave?" Julieta said. "No," Pepa replied. At that moment, Julieta stood up and looked at the family.
"Mom isn't the only one who has worked for Encanto. We have worked very hard to build this house, to make Encanto a prosperous town. It's not fair to leave because of the actions of one of us. This is our home," Julieta said. Mirabel watched her mother, while everyone else listened silently. At that moment, she understood that Julieta would be the perfect person to be the new head of that family.
"I'm not going to leave, this is my home, I like to live in Encanto" Camilo said as he stood up. One by one the members of the family stood up, and Mirabel felt happy. Despite her grandmother's mistakes, her hatred and mistrust were not enough to break them. However, not everything could be peace and harmony.
Julieta and her family, as well as Bruno, stayed at the house of some family friends. That night, Julieta, Pepa, Bruno and her grandmother retired to the living room after dinner. Mirabel couldn't hear the conversation, since it was behind closed doors, but Bruno gave her a brief summary.
"Julieta told mom that she can't live under the same roof as her," Bruno said. "What will happen to Grandma, uncle?" Mirabel asked. " Julieta told her that the family will bear the costs of her care, but my sisters want her to move to a retirement home in Manizales, where she will be safe and she will give the family space to heal from all the wounds that she has caused" Bruno explained.
Mirabel got up very early the morning her grandmother left for Manizales. Since her vision in the river, Mirabel had remembered more and more. Especially moments that she had shared with Alma Madrigal. She taught her to sew, she took her to the park, the two of them often spent entire afternoons in the garden. Together, they used to do all the activities that the old woman couldn't do with a naughty and difficult boy like Camilo. Her memories told her that despite Isabela being her favorite, Mirabel had been very close to Alma until the night her gift did not manifest. Probably, this was the reason why her betrayal hurt even more.
"Mirabel" Alma said as she left the house to face her grandmother who was about to get on the cart that would take her to her new home. "You and I never got to talk, Grandma," Mirabel said. "What do you want to know?" Alma asked. " The obvious thing: Why?" Mirabel responded. "Because I was afraid, I didn't want to lose my home, but my great fear drove us apart," Alma replied. Mirabel took a deep breath. "I know there's no point in telling you that you did something terrible, because you already know that," she said.
This time, it was Alma's turn to sigh deeply. "Please forgive me," Alma said, to which Mirabel shook her head very slowly. "I can't, not yet, '' Mirabel answered. "I lost ten years that I could have spent with my parents. My life in Tocama was good, but it was a mirage, a lie, a fantasy that you and Bruno built, and now I don't know what is real and what isn't, what I should leave behind, and what I should chase, and this feeling is your fault" Mirabel responded.
Alma apologized once more, but Mirabel did not return the gesture. She just gave her one last goodbye as she watched her go.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
[Epilogue]
.
.
.
.
[1948]
.
.
.
Camilo lamented that the trolley had been burned in the riots a couple of months earlier on April 9th, since he had to take a cab. He remembered his first time in the town, it was a beautiful sight and his impressionable teenage mind regretted living in such a secluded town. However, the classical buildings had been reduced to ashes and now those buildings were under reconstruction as a testimony to the violence and madness in which the entire country had been engulfed ever since.
Despite the above, in Agustín's mother's house, time did not seem to have passed as it was in one of the many neighborhoods where the riots never arrived. The mansion looked just as impressive as it had the last time he was there. However, that day everything looked more beautiful, covered with white lilies from the moors and foliage, as well as tables decorated with silver dishes and imported crystals.
Agustín's mother had spared no expense. After all, it's not every day that she gets the chance to arrange the marriage of her favorite granddaughter.
Camilo stayed in a corner watching the people go by and the waitresses in charge of the catering service finishing their preparations. All that commotion reminded him of the days of Casita's rebuilding. His grandmother was sent to live in Manizales, and Doctor Calle was arrested. Camilo never imagined seeing so many journalists in Encanto as in those days.
Every newspaper in the country wanted to hear the crude story of the murderous Doctor. It was a dream come true for many journalists, a "decent person" being a cold blooded murderer on a idilic secluded town in the middle of nowhere, it feed their pages for months. Camilo read in the chronicles of the case that Doctor Calle was suspected in numerous cases, but the evidence was insufficient in every single one. Unfortunately for him, Encanto ended up being his downfall. The only good thing was that Mrs. Rosario was finally able to find the peace that she needed, since that uncomfortable truth was better than any uncertainty. Encanto was left once again without a doctor.
"Don't worry," Pepa said, "I still have the president of the phone company. He fears me a lot. I'll tell him if he doesn't help us to get a doctor quickly, I'll put a black cloud over his head again" Pepa commented as she smiled. "Mom, you no longer have powers," Camilo said. "It could be, but he doesn't know it," Pepa answered. A couple of days later, a newly graduated doctor arrived at Encanto.
Mirabel and Bruno remained in the Casita during the reconstruction. Later, they decided to return to Tocama, since Mirabel had to finish her studies there. However, the most surprising thing of all came the day of the completion of the work. The whole family got together. They wanted to put something from Mirabel in the new house. After all, everyone in the family could feel her cousin's pain for the lost time.
Julieta had kept the doorknob of her room, so Bruno was in charge of delivering it. She gently put it in its place. Then, a true miracle happened: the magic of the house returned to its place. Camilo understood Bruno's vision. Mirabel was destined to tear the house down, but also to rebuild it from the ground. He couldn't help but feel some pity for his grandmother at that moment. After all, she had precipitated her own misfortune, all because of a prophecy that would be fulfilled in the most unexpected way.
Mirabel seemed determined to stay with her parents. However, everyone in the Madrigal family knew that it was unthinkable to finish school in that town. It was a tradition among people from the wealthiest families in each municipality to send their children to study high school in the city or a larger town, so the poor Mirabel had to get away from them once again.
Her cousin stayed with the Madrigals on vacations, always accompanied by Bruno. Two years later, she finally decided to study at a technical school for girls in the Capital, where she lived with Agustín's mother. She also continued her relationship with Alberto, who was there also studying to become a lawyer like his father.
"Hey, Camilo," Alberto said, as he approached him. Mirabel's boyfriend looked especially handsome that day in his black tuxedo. Camilo smiled. His relationship with Alberto was far better, but he continued to be a presumptuous jerk.
"Oh my, but if it is the groom himself. Congratulations" Camilo replied as he gave him a strong handshake. Camilo had learned to tolerate Mirabel's cocky boyfriend over time. After all, he seemed like a nice person and loved his cousin very much. Suddenly, Camilo remembered the reason why he had arrived so early, and gave Alberto a brown envelope.
"Mom sent me this a couple of days ago, her letter says that she did everything you asked, but I only received it yesterday. The mail hasn't been the same since the April riots, I guess the police opened the envelope. Mom and dad couldn't come to the wedding. If things are getting ugly in the city, you can imagine how everything is in the country. Encanto is peaceful, but you never know." Camilo said. Alberto took the documents and looked at them clearly. "I must thank Mrs. Pepa, for everything she has done for me, she searched for these documents and found a house for us," Alberto replied. "What's that?" Camilo asked.
"It is the copy of the public act of my appointment as Municipal Judge of Encanto. Normally, the Council does not allow choosing the municipality, but nobody wanted the job, it is a very remote place "
"Are you planning to live in Encanto?" Camilo asked, "That's wonderful. Mirabel will be very happy. She has always wanted to return to her family. I will come back in a couple of months after my graduation. I know mom and dad are planning the biggest party the town has ever seen to celebrate my graduation and your marriage" Camilo said.
"We'll go in a couple of weeks. Dad will manage Mr. Bruno's properties in Tocama, and he's going to live with us. Mirabel says that he is very lonely and she doesn't want to be separated from him" he said.
Alberto said goodbye to Camilo, since the ceremony would start soon and he needed to take his place. The religious service started. Isabela and Luisa were Mirabel's bridesmaids, both dressed in light blue with fine dresses that had surely been made by Mirabel herself. Her cousin looked beautiful, while Agustín took her to the altar. Camilo sighed when he saw that Bruno was waiting for her at one side. He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and let her go to Alberto's side.
Camilo knew that Mirabel's relationship with Bruno changed a lot since she recovered her memories. For starters, she no longer referred to him as dad. However, she decided to return to Tocama with him. They seemed to love each other as much as possible in a situation like this. Bruno was completely alone and Mirabel clung to the remnants of her old life.
Despite the above, Julieta's relationship with Bruno improved. They seemed to have found common ground in the knowledge that they were nothing more than victims of an overly controlling mother who created the rift between them. Camilo never saw the brothers sharing a friendly conversation, but at least Julieta didn't want to kill Bruno and that was a step also saw Julieta apologize over and over again for the food thing (although, she never apologized for the attempted murder). Her aunt knew that if she followed that path, only she would end up committing some unforgettable mistake just as Alma Madrigal.
"You can kiss the bride" said the priest, while those present applauded the newlyweds. Camilo felt like crying when he saw Mirabel's happy face. He was involved in that story unwittingly from the beginning. Camilo had to see the unwanted consequences of his actions: Mirabel's sadness, the destruction of her house and the exile of his grandmother. However, there was something about the end of this whole story that made him feel hopeful. To think that even after the lost years, sadness, hate and death, some happiness and reconciliation could be found at the end of the tunnel.
Perhaps the Madrigals could find peace in the midst of so much pain, and if there was hope for them, then for everyone else too.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
[The End]
.
.
.
.
.
Thank you very much for reading. It is so satisfying to push that "complete" box.