"Querido diario,

On the first day of el Festival de Madrigal, I went out to town and got caught up in an interview with a bunch of kids from the village. Luckily, Camilo came in and rescued me. We went on a hayride and had lots of fun before I started to feel sleepy. He took me to the plaza to find something that would keep me awake. We found Dolores and Isabela dancing in the square and decided to dance with them. After that, I went home with Isa, joking and laughing with her on the walk home.

On the second day of el Festival de Madrigal, Abuela asked me to take Bruno out into the town so he wasn't trapped inside all day. He got sick on day one of the festival. I took him out to the town, but he was feeling paranoid and overwhelmed by everyone watching him. I managed to get everyone to leave him alone and we walked to a small stage to listen to village elders reading old stories. After that, I took him on a short hayride. However, he had a very sudden, horrible fever and I had to take him home. (NOT A FLU!)

On the third day of el Festival de Madrigal, I hung out with Luisa and Dolores. The three of us had an awesome time riding down one of the mountains on a slab of wood! It was a bit scary at first, but I enjoyed it the longer we did it. After that, we played those silly little carnival games. Dolores saw Mariano and decided to spend the rest of the day with him. When twilight came, I went home to visit with Bruno for a bit. After his fever calmed down, he was starting to feel much better. (LIES!)

On the fourth day of el Festival de Madrigal, I went out with Tía Pepa, Tío Félix, and little Antonio. We discovered that Camilo was having dance battles with random teens from the village and encouraging people to bet on them, which sorta led to a physical altercation between me and him. He went home, warning to not follow him. The bad thing is that it was twilight at the time, the usual time I've been going home to visit Tío Bruno. So when I got home, Camilo lashed out at me and hurt me pretty badly. I had this nasty bump on my head after I hit it on the pillar. Luckily, Bruno came to stop it before it got worse and took me up to my room. He tucked me into bed and everything, worrying over me rather than himself. He made it clear that he wasn't actually supposed to be out of bed. He told me that he hoped he could go with me tomorrow. (NO… NO! DON'T GO!)

On the fifth day of el Festival de Madrigal, Bruno got the okay from my mom to go out. (NOOOO!) We went to the creek and got ourselves all soaking wet after our little water fight (I won, by the way). We laid out in the grass for a little while to let our clothes dry and pretty much stayed there until twilight. After that, we went home and Abuela greeted us at the door. She scolded us for going down to the creek because the water was cold, saying that it could've made Bruno's sickness worse. Bruno told her not to worry, that it's just a little flu and it's not gonna knock him down. (LIES... LIES. LIES!)

On the sixth day of el Festival de Madrigal, I went downstairs to the kitchen and heard Abuela, Mamá, and Tía Pepa talking. Mom was worrying about Bruno and what she'd do if something happened to him while she was gone. Abuela asked Pepa to watch over him while they went out to the festival with me. We then went out and went to the booths selling various charms and jewelry. I bought a necklace with a green hourglass on it. Soon after we bought our things though, the sky started getting stormy. When the wind picked up and the rain started, we realized something horrible must've been happening at the house. Mom left me with Abuela to hurry back and take care of Bruno. I arrive back soon after with Abuela and we go to her room. Seeing Bruno convulsing like that… It really scared me. I hoped that after this all blew over, I'd be able to give him the necklace. If it all blew over. (SPOILER ALERT: IT DIDN'T…)

On the seventh day of el Festival de Madrigal, all I felt was dread. I walk into Mamá's room and everyone is there. Pepa and Félix were crying. Isabela and Luisa were crying. Antonio and Camilo were crying. Má and Pá were crying. Dolores was crying. Abuela was crying. And when I approached the bed… and Tío Bruno put his hand on my cheek… I was crying. He took off his ruana and tried to give it to me, but I refused. I held him in my arms for as long as I could. I listened to every sound he made. "Goodbye, mi cielo…" those words break me every time I relive that moment in my head. His breathing stopped, he went limp. All signs of life left him in that very moment. The house, our Casita itself, seemed to weep with grief as the whole room was covered in a thick fog of hopelessness. I finally took his ruana and went to my room.

If I could've done anything differently to change his fate, I would've done it without a second thought. I would've given my life so that sweet old man could've lived on to see another day. But… I know that Bruno wouldn't want that. Something about the way he acted suggested that he knew more about his fate than he let on. It's not like I can ask him about it anymore though.

Bruno, my first real friend, the only one to understand me, just know that wherever you are now, I will always love you.

Even in death, you will always be my best friend."

Mirabel.

She stands up from her desk and closes her diary, a hand on her tío's ruana. She walks over to her bed, not bothering to change clothes. She lays down in the bed, covering herself up. She holds the green fabrics close to her face as she curls up tightly.

"I'll always have a piece of you here with me, even if you're gone forever…" She mumbles to herself, snuggling into the green ruana and getting comfy. She slowly drifts off to sleep, welcoming nightmares that are doomed to haunt her for the rest of her long life ahead.