First of all thank you for checking this out :)
When I saw Encanto I was fascinated by Pepa and immediately thought that she deserved much more representation.
A gift like that for a spirited woman like her must have been a lot to handle, so I wanted to explore that a bit.
TW: self-harm in later chapters!
I will point this out individually when it happens.
For now, just enjoy!
And if course, feel free to comment and subscribe :D
Be gentle, please. English isn't my mothertongue, so I probably made a few mistakes... I'm open to corrections :)
...
Glowing doors
Pepa was having the most wonderful dream.
There were clouds everywhere with little rays of sunshine breaking through them and rainbows that were radiating with colour. She was literally dancing in the skies, laughing as tiny raindrops hit the top if her head and snowflakes appeared in front of her eyes, glittering bright as diamonds. It was beautiful and breathtaking and every other amazing thing she couldn't think of right now. The sunlight was warm on her skin and the clouds tickled her bare feet. Her simple white nightgown shined as a rainbow reflected of it and gently swayed in the warm winds. A light breeze swept through her red curls making her feel so free and content that for a moment she just closed her eyes and pretended to fly.
Boom!
Sudden thunder had her open her eyes. But as soon as she did she wished she hadn't. The white fluffy clouds had turned a dark grey, almost black and they didn't look soft anymore but rough, threatening and dangerous. There were no raibows or glowing snowflakes, but crackling lightning and icy rain. The wind had picked up, now an unforgivable storm that had her hair wildly flying around, hitting her in the face and was howling so loudly that she could barely hear herself scream. She looked around, trying to find anything she could hang on to. There was nothing to see but darkness and she felt fear creep up her spine. She turned, trying to get away, to get to safety, to get home. And when she finally glimpsed below herself, trough the cracks of the grey floor she saw…
"Casita?"
She couldn't tell if she had actually asked this out loud, her voice once again silenced by the thundering storm. She could see her home, her village, her friends and.. "Mamá?"
There was her family. Julietta, Bruno and her mother. For a moment she wanted to cry with joy. But...they looked scared. Especially Bruno who seemed to try to hide behind his sister, who just stood there in a terrified stupor.
"Julie!", this time Pepa was certain she had spoken aloud but it was still to no avail.
Lightning was starting to crash into the ground, destroying houses and splitting rocks apart, breaking trees in two and setting fire to the ruins that used to be homes. People were running around in panic, scared for their lives and the animals were trashing in their stables, trying to break free and escape their doom.
"Julie! Run! You have to run!"
Pepa kept trying to get her sister to listen but it seemed pointless. Her family stood froozen in place as a tornado made it's path trough the streets, heading straight for her Casita.
"Julie! Run! Please Julie, run!"
She was sobbing by now. Noone heard her, not even herself. All she could do was to soundlessly scream and cry and beg for it all to stop, as she watched her family getting sucked into the swirling abyss…
"Pepa! Wake up!"
When she opened her eyes the first thing she notices was her sisters face staring back at her. Her black curls messy and her eyes wide open. She was holding her wrists in a tight grip and was pretty much sitting on top of her.
"Julie?" It came out breathy and hoarse as if she had been screaming or crying for hours.. had she? She couldn't say. "What..?", she looked around. They were in their room. The window was letting the first light of sunrise shine through, illuminating the small space.
"Are you ok?", Julietta asked softly while slowly letting go of her hands.
Pepa dazedly looked around, still trying to figure out what had happened. "It sounded like you had a bad dream", her sister once again tried to help her back into the here and now. Slowly she shook her head.
"I think I did."
Carefully bringing her body into a sitting position Pepa peeked around the room once more.
Two beds stood by the opposite wall, each accompanied by a little nightstand. A small table rested just beneath the window to her right, three tiny and modest chairs set around it. The chairs were empty, as well as one of the beds. In the other one however Bruno seemed to be sleeping soundly, which didn't really surprise her. He usually fell asleep very late but when he finally did not even an earthquake could wake him up.
"Are you ok?", Julietta repeated her question, worry shining in her eyes.
Pepa turned her head back to face her sister once more. She is fine, she thought. They are fine. Everthing is fine. A small sigh of release escaped her lips.
"I'm fine."
Julietta hadn't believed her sister for a second, but Pepa refused to say anything else. They had to get dressed anyway, the sun was coming up. If she had taken a closer look, she would have seen the tightness in her sisters face and the tenseness in her body. But she was frustrated and a little hurt by the obvious lack of trust, so she didn't look. Instead the black haired girl made her way over to her brother to wake him up.
- Which, mind you, was not an easy task –
Gently she crawled onto the mattress.
"Bruno. Come on, wake up", she muttered while softly shaking his shoulder. He didn't even stirr. "Bruno!", she tried a little louder this time, not really wanting to yell at him. But when he simply rolled over on his side she apruptly forgot all about that.
"Bruno!", she screamed right into his ear, making him jump and fall out of bed with a thud.
"Ups.. Sorry hermano", she said sheepishly looking down at him from his bed. He huffed and stood up, rubbing his poor behind.
"Ow", he managed, pretty sure he would get a bruise. "What did I do to you?", he was only half-joking.
Julietta looked across the room to her sister, who was almost done getting dressed for the day. Pepa could feel her eyes on her but didn't aknowledge it in the slightest.
"You didn't do anything, Bruno", eyes still on her sister, who simply continued with the task of braiding her flaming curls into a somewhat neat braid.
"Good to know", Bruno hissed one more time bevor seemingly noticing his whereabouts for the first time.
"Dios mio!", he exclaimed. "Guys! Do you know what day it is?"
Julietta turned her gaze from her sister to look at him in confusion. Pepa just kept doing her hair as if she didn't care, she had always been the stubborn one. But her ears were peaked and you could see her head tilting into his direction ever so slightly.
Brunos eyes shined with excitement. "It's our birthday!"
"Ohhh, right", Julietta said and couldn't help the grin forming on her face. They were turning five today.
"It's our Birthday! It's our Birthday!", Brunos voice had become a singsong while he jumped around the room. Even the red haired sibling had to smile a little at that. Bruno kept dancing around, almost breaking his neck and some furniture in the process.
"Slow down Chico!", his sister laughed, still ontop his bed. "I don't wanna patch you up again!"
She had had to so often.
Not that she complained. She liked taking care of her little brother, who was so clumsy she thought it a miracle for him to still be alive and on his whole two legs, no less. She also liked taking care of her little sister (hey, younger by 3 minutes still means younger), but she was too stubborn to let her help and too proud to ask for it.
Speaking of which, Pepa was just about to leave the room. Her mind was still in a turmoil after the dream-turned-nightmare but she was determined to not let it show. Mamá had always said she was just too emotional, letting the tiniest problems get to her. And she wanted to do better, to make Mamá proud.
So, keeping feelings to herself had become a regular thing. She knew it most likely hurt her siblings and if she was being honest it hurt her too. But she had already made up her mind about it.
If Mamá thought this was better for their family she would do it. If Mamá needed her to do this, she would. She could be strong.
There was no turning back now.
She had already stepped outside, a hand resting on the doorknob, about to close it but..she hesitated.
"Pepa?", Julie asked curiously.
Bruno finally stopped running around, having noticed his sister standing frozen in the doorway. "Are you ok?"
Again that stupid question.
"I'm fine", she said. A finallity in her voice that made Bruno press his lips together and Julietta furrow her eyebrows in frustration. So damn stubborn.
"It's just..", she paused for a moment before opening the door wider, so her siblings could see the hallway as well. "Are those doors new?"
Across the railing the could make out three seemingly new wooden doors. Each glowing in a golden light.
"Woah.."
...
Sooo?
What do you think?
