Mirabel sleeps in on the fifth day, the events of yesterday wearing her out much more than she previously thought. At the sound of a small squeak, she slowly opens her eyes, sitting up and shaking the leftover dream cobwebs from her brain. She looks down at the rat sitting beside her and lifts it, holding it gently in her hands as she pets it.

"Did Bruno send you to wake me up?" She asks the rat, giggling a little. She then hears a knock at the door. "Oh, come in! I'm awake!" She calls out. Soon enough, the door opens up and Bruno steps into the room, wiping a bit of gunk from his eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead. You sleep well? I've got some good news." He grins as she quickly puts on her glasses, standing up from her bed.

"What is it, tío?" She asks, setting the rat on her shoulder. It climbs from shoulder to shoulder, squeaking softly.

"Julieta gave me the okay to go to the festival today. I would love to go again, if you'd go with me of course."

She smiles brightly at the good news, giving him a tight hug. "That's wonderful! I'm so glad you wanna go again. I was worried that last time was such a hassle that you wouldn't wanna go again." He shrugs while returning the hug, rustling her hair.

"It wasn't fun being stared at and whispered about, but I think I can handle more of that if it means making my sobrinita happy." He smiles and heads toward the door. "Make sure to ask Julieta for an arepa before we go, we wouldn't want you to have a headache from that bump while we're trying to have fun at Festival de Madrigal."

She nods as he leaves the room, quickly turning to her wardrobe to get all dressed up. As soon as Mirabel steps out of her room, she gets tackled to the ground, her head being protected from the wood floor by a hand.

"Ack! What are you-?" She stops speaking as she realizes it's Camilo. He holds her close as they sit on the floor, crying softly to her.

"I'm so sorry…" He whispers, his voice soft and broken.

"Don't be. It's okay…" She replies, hugging him tightly. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me." He doesn't respond. Instead, he reaches up underneath his ruana, pulling out a relatively fresh arepa and handing it over.

"Here. I lied to tía Julieta and told her I had a stomach ache. This is for your head." He hands it to her, a shocked look on her face. She smiles, taking a bite as she feels the pain quickly disintegrate.

"You always know just how to make things right." She pulls him in for another hug, giggling softly. "You have such a big heart, Camilo." He smiles slightly, standing up and pulling her with him.

"If you'd like to, I wanna make it up to you by taking you out to the festival. Have some fun and all that." Mirabel sighs and shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, but I promised Bruno I'd take him out again today. He's feeling better than he has all week and wants to try again." Camilo looks somewhat disappointed, but nods in understanding.

"I get it. I hope you have lots of fun." He gives her a quick squeeze before heading downstairs.


Mirabel leads Bruno from the house, the two of them walking into town. It seems especially bright and cheery today, but she can't put her finger on why.

"So uh, what do you wanna do?" Bruno asks, a slight nervous tone to his voice. He was trying his best at least to not be bothered by the staring and whispering of the townspeople. She smiles and turns to him, gripping his hand tightly.

"Come on, tío. All we did the last time you came out here was do things I wanted to do. How about we do something you wanna do for a change?" He hesitates for a moment, looking around at the watchful eyes staring as they pass by.

"Well… I know it's not really part of the festival per se, but maybe we could go out to the creek? I like it down there, it's uh, nice and calming…" She tilts her head slightly, thinking on it for a moment.

"You know, I've had a lot of excitement over the past few days. A little relaxation by the creek doesn't sound too bad." She starts heading towards the canyon in the mountains with him following behind quickly. "Let's go then!" She grins, picking up the pace as the two start their journey to the creek.


With a roll down the hill, Mirabel tumbles until she reaches the edge of the water, laughing from the exhilaration of the fall. Bruno tumbles down next to her, going further and into the actual water. Mirabel gasps before laughing at him, taking in gasping breaths from how long she had been laughing. He pops out of the water, shaking his head and pulling wet silver and black locks from his face. A sly smile crosses his face as she laughs. Forming a plan in his mind, he grabs her wrists, pulling her into the water with him. She yelps at the coldness of the creek seeping into her skirts, trying to get out. He pulls her into a tight hug, making sure that she got just as soaked.

"Brunooo!" She whines, hugging him back despite complaining.

"Te quiero, sobrinitaaa." He says in a feigned sugary sweet voice, tossing up some water into her face and laughing.

While he is playfully taunting her, she tackles him further into the water. The two tussle and roll around in the water, laughing and flinging water at each other. As he begins to grow tired, Mirabel begins to outplay him. She eventually is able to grab his wrists and pin them to the creekbed, a triumphant laugh coming from her. "I win, tío!"

He laughs, out of breath. "Okay, okay, you win! Let's get out of the water before you catch a cold." She lets him go and he slowly stands up, lifting her from the water and carrying her back to the banks. He sets her down gently on the grass, flopping down beside her and working to squeeze cold water from his ruana. She does the same with her skirts and shirt frills, having a hard time seeing with all the water droplets all over her round glasses.

As the warm sun slowly dries the water from their clothes, they relax in the grass, Mirabel listening to the soft running of the water from the creek.

"I'm so glad that you're feeling better. I did my best to hide it, but I was really scared after what happened on the second day of the festival. Despite having a hard time, it seems like mom's been able to heal you." Bruno smiles at her, but it seems somewhat sad.

"Yeah, Julieta's great at what she does. There doesn't seem to be anything she can't heal." She nods in agreement, turning her gaze to the sky to watch the clouds slowly float by, the sun starting to set.

"Twilight's gonna be here soon. We should start heading back." Mirabel states, standing up and heading back up the hill. Bruno stands as well and quickly follows, catching up to her to hold her hand. She pulls him to the top of the hill and they start walking through the wooded area back to Casita.


As they step into the house, Abuela greets them with a shocked gasp, noticing that their clothes were still wet. "Dios mío, children! What have you gotten yourselves into?" She asks, rushing to them and feeling their wet hair. "You need to be more careful, Mirabel. You know that the water down at the creek is cold. Brunito still isn't completely over his sickness either, so the cold water could make him worse." Bruno puts a hand up defensively in front of his niece, giving Abuela a steady look.

"Mamá, it was my idea. Don't you blame Mirabel for any of this. I'm the one who started it, so don't get mad at her." Abuela quiets down before sighing, hugging Bruno.

"Mi hijo, please don't do something so reckless that could jeopardize your health. You aren't as young as you used to be, even if you are the most agile 51-year-old I've seen." He returns the hug, rubbing her back in a calming manner.

"Please don't worry about me, alright? I'm gonna be okay. This little flu thing isn't gonna knock me down. I promise."

"You two can change and go hang up your clothes outside so they can dry." Abuela says as she lets go of Bruno. She turns to Mirabel, smiling softly. "Mirabel, if you would, Julieta and I would like to accompany you to the festival tomorrow. We both need a break from the house and we would like to take you with us." Mirabel smiles, hugging her abuela.

"Of course! I haven't really got the chance to actually hang out with you guys since I've been too busy with everyone else. I'd love to go with you guys!" Abuela gives her a chuckle, ruffling her hair softly.

"Well, you should head to bed then. You'll want some rest. Each day so far I bet has been exciting and draining all at the same time." Mirabel nods, humming in agreement before hurrying upstairs to her room. She thinks to maybe take her clothes outside to dry, but decides against it. She yawns and hangs up her skirt and top on a small rack to let them dry instead. She climbs into bed and places her glasses on the nightstand, curling up and getting comfy before slowly drifting off to sleep.