Lena sat perfectly still with her eyes closed as her twin's nimble fingers weaved her hair in and out to make two perfect french braids that ran along the side of her head. It had been so much easier to just keep her hair in braids, rather than try to fight with it especially if their mama was in a mood and it rained on them.

Something about wearing her hair in braids made Lena feel better, like finding a piece of a puzzle long thought missing and incomplete. There were still other pieces missing of course, but for now, the image was a bit clearer.

"Are you sure about this?" Isabela asked with uncertainty, "You've tried this before and nothing happened."

They - Isabela, Dolores, Luisa and herself - were seated in a circle on the floor of Isabela's room on faded red cushions borrowed (stolen) from the dining room table.

Luisa looked the most uncomfortable of them all, having been wrangled from doing chores and had no idea what she had been dragged into.

It had become a monthly ritual for the three oldest grandchildren to gather while Lena attempted to summon the spirit of Tio Bruno. The three had agreed to rotate the location and since it was Lena's turn, she chose Isabela's room. There was a particular corner where there were marmalade bushes growing and if it failed (as it tended to do), she would at least have flowers in her favorite color to look at.

She cracked open an eyelid and peered at her oldest prima on her right for a moment, who shifted uncomfortably under the gaze and Lena closed her eyes again and held out her hands. She felt the cool touch of her twin's hand on her left and then Isabela's.

"Ow." Isabela said.

"Lo siento." Luisa murmured, sincerely.

Lena smiled slightly, knowing that Luisa didn't realize her own strength sometimes, though she meant well.

She took a deep steadying breath and tried to focus, trying to remember the details of her long lost Tio, anything that would help her attempt to channel his spirit.

The sound of the falling sand in his room, though she had only experienced it a few times before he had disappeared, she had found the noise peaceful as it drowned out all other sounds.

The rats that accompanied him wherever he went, oftentimes tucked safely away in his rauna and how he would often talk to them wherever he thought he was alone.

She tried to focus on more physical details, like the green of his rauna and how it always smelled like it needed a good wash but in doing so, the warm familiarity would disappear.

It was that detail that led her down memory lane, to the last time she had hugged him. Just two days before Mirabel's failure of a ceremony.

She had been trying in vain to find out why the spirits were leaving and had shut herself in her room hoping the silence of the cemetery would provide her answers, but it was as deathly still as its inhabitants. When she had finally left her room and nearly tripped over him as he had apparently settled in the doorway with Lupe in his hands.

She wasn't sure who had been startled more, him or the rat as both had jumped several feet into the air. She had apologized profusely of course, to which Tio Bruno had forgiven her, but Lupe scampered back from where she had landed and shrieked quite loudly in protest.

Lena stooped down and apologized more directly and extended a palm as a peace offering to which the rat took as an offer and climbed onto her hand.

"She's never forgiven me that easily," her tio had muttered in bewilderment.

Before Lena could ask if it was a good thing or not, Lupe crawled along her arm and up to her shoulders and brushed her whiskers against her cheek.

"Gracias, Lupe." She had said and then turned her attention to her Tio as if having a rat on her shoulder was the most natural thing in the world. "What are you doing here?"

"I - " Lupe had squeaked, he had corrected himself - "We wanted to invite you to lunch, the rest of the familia left for the village after lunch and your Tia made extra food."

"Is it arepas con queso again?" She had asked almost wearily, she loved her youngest prima but she could only stomach eating arepas con quesos so many times before the very thought made her stomach churn.

"I think someone prefers patacones. "He had replied with a slight smile.

She turned to look at Lupe, "Is that you?"

Lupe had blinked back and had started to clean her whiskers

"Someone may have asked your Tia to make some Hogao to go with it."

Lena's stomach had growled as an answer.

That was how she had spent the late afternoon, eating patacones with hogao. When they were finished they had washed the dishes together and she had hugged him.

In hindsight, if she had known it would be the last time she would actually hug him, she would have done so for longer or asked him not to go or tried to stop him or done anything to keep them from reaching this point again.

She felt tears leak from underneath her eyelids and squeezed them tighter, she had to keep trying. If he was out there, she deserved to know and at least do something to fix everything that she had broken. She needed to fix this and as soon as possible.

Pain arced across her templates and behind her eyes like lightning, she lost her grip on the hands in front of her and moved to hold her head as she temporarily lost where she was for a moment.

She heard the shuffling of a skirt to her left and moved her hand away from the side of her face long enough to crack an eye open and see two, no, four sets of her twin Dolores get up and walk out.

Lena wanted to protest and ask her where she was going and beg her not to leave, but found that her tongue was suddenly heavy and could only manage a weak and muffled "No."

The room violently tilted to the right and she went with it.


She awoke in her bed in her room, no doubt brought there by Luisa. She sighed into the pillows; it was another disappointing summoning. She had expected as much, but the headache from the attempt hit her much harder and worse than the last few attempts.

As a matter of fact the back of her eyelids were throbbing slightly from her heartbeat and an uneasy sensation began to spread through her stomach as she remembered that Dolores had gotten up and left without a word.

The stricken look of her twin's face was etched in the back of her mind.

It was nearly identical to the look that Abuela had given her when she left her room on that fateful Sunday night after learning that Abuelo was gone. It was not unlike the look that Tio Bruno had on his face when talking to Abuela. And probably the same look that Abuelo had taken before leaving her for good.

She was tired of everyone leaving.

She just wanted to know what she could do better to get them to come back and stay.

She would give anything for them to stay.

Tears collected in her eyes and she made no attempt to stop them this time. The pressure behind her eyes only increased and she rolled over to put her face fully into the pillow welcoming the slight relief, but knowing she needed to roll back in order to breathe.

She had rolled back and let out a sigh before letting herself drift back to sleep.

She had lost track of time and was now hovering in that sweet spot between being aware of being asleep and just before waking up when she heard someone whisper her name.

She frowned to herself, unsure if she had reached the point of hallucinating spirits or not until she heard a sniffle and then the rustle of clothing. Spirits didn't shuffle their feet as they walked across the concrete floor nor did they sniffle.

"Lena?" A trembling voice questioned.

She immediately bolted upright the hairs on the back of her neck raising in alarm at the sound of the fear in her hermano's voice.

"Cami? What's wrong?"

She flicked on the nightstand lamp and saw her hermano's pallid face, her heart slammed against her chest and leapt out of bed, rushing to him. Giving him a quick once over to make sure nothing was bleeding or broken.

"¿Qué sucedió? ¿Estás bien? "

He shook his head and whispered," I-I saw him."

"Saw who?"

He swallowed "I-I went to get a snack in the kitchen and saw Tio Bruno."

Her blood ran cold "¿Qué? No se habla de Bruno."

He shrank back from her words for a moment and she regretted it instantly and gathered him into her arms, "You just gave yourself a scare, He's gone. It's not anyone's fault."

She wanted to believe those words, she really did but deep in her heart she knew better.

He stiffened against her and squirmed out of her embrace.

"But I saw him. "He insisted, stubbornly. "He was there. I'll show you."

Before she could voice her doubt, she found herself being dragged bodily down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"He was right there." Camilo said and pointed with his lips toward the counter near the fridge, not letting go of her hand.

She made a move to step forward but he pulled her back.

"There's no one there." She reassured.

"He was there and I saw rats along his back."

Lena would have snorted and rolled her eyes at her hermano's dramatics if his tone wasn't deadly serious.

"Okay, I believe you," as she wiggled her fingers out of his iron grip on her fingers and stepped forward to investigate further.

"Here?"

"More to the left."

She moved slightly." Here? "

"Si."

She turned back to him. "And where were you?"

He frowned for a moment and then stepped back a few steps. "Here."

"Okay, and what was he doing?"

"Just standing there, muttering. I think he was talking to his rats or something."

She nodded, and then looked around for possible evidence that Tio Bruno had been there. There were a few arepas missing from the plate on the counter.

She sighed.

"What? Did you find something?"

"Nothing but missing arepas from dinner. If you wanted seconds you could have asked Tia Julieta. "

He frowned, "I had seconds at dinner."

She held out the missing plate. "Then explain this?"

"But-"

"Cami," she yawned and walked back toward him, "There's no one here . I know you miss him, we all do but he's gone and you don't want to upset Mama do you? "

She pushed a few of his curls out of his face affectionately while he pouted.

"No, but I know what I saw."

She hummed a response. "Come on, let's go to bed."

He hesitated when they got to his door.

She sighed knowing what he was going to ask, "You can stay with me tonight. "

His face lit up. "Really?"

"But only tonight." She warned and shook her head, "Dios mio, you squirm entirely too much to be sharing a bed with. Vamos, vamos."


She tried to move to roll over on her other side, but found herself pinned down. She frowned and opened her eyes to see that her left arm seemed to disappear under a mass of curls that belonged to her brother who had somehow managed to roll himself into a blanket burrito that was her comforter. She snorted slightly at the sight and tried to pull her arm from underneath him but inadvertently caused him to stir.

Before he could even begin to wiggle out of it she pulled him closer and yanked the blanket with enough force to send him rolling out and onto the floor with a thud.

"Oh no! My burrito de Camilo lost its filling!"

"Hey- "he began to protest but his eyes widened at the sight of her peering over the edge of the bed mischievously.

She grinned and leapt off the bed with the blanket in hand, threatening to cover him with it again.

He let out a very undignified shriek and made a break for the door, opening it and brushing past a very confused Mirabel who had her fist up about to knock.

In the distance Dolores clamped her hands over her ears and Lena grinned, capturing her favorite prima in the blanket who giggled in delight.

"Now it's a burrito de Mirabel! Lena exclaimed and pulled it closer and took pretend bites out of it."

"No! "The blanket-clad girl cried dramatically as she burst into a fit of giggles, "Don't eat me!"

Lena couldn't help but return the laughter and removed the blanket to give her a hug.

"Buenos dias."

"Buenos dias, I didn't know you and Camilo had a sleepover. " Her prima looked a bit hurt.

Lena felt a pang of guilt.

"He had a nightmare." She half lied with a shrug.

"Did you tell him about the headless ghost again?" Her prima asked, straightening her glasses. "Or about La Llorona?"

"Oye mi hija, again?" Her papa groaned slightly as he walked by," I'm going to move you permanently to the nursery so you can stay up with them when they have nightmares. "

"Lo siento, papa." She said sincerely

"I like those stories." Her prima whispered to her so only she could hear.

She smiled slightly at that and felt a bit useful.


After breakfast she had volunteered to go to the market, which in itself wasn't unusual or cause for concern but what was unusual was the way she chose to come back. Taking the longer way around the market that led her straight by the church.

She stood in front of the church for a while trying to be brave enough to enter it, remembering vaguely a time before she got her gift when it was a place of peace. But now it was a place she hadn't visited for years, not since she had dragged Tio Bruno from Casita after his involuntary vision, thinking back on it now she should have realized how terrible of an idea that really was and had paid better attention. Her Papa had always told her to pay attention to what people say and how they say it because sometimes the two did not add up and it was important to understand what was unsaid.

She really should have known better, but she had been so eager to prove herself then so full of hope and joy and so damn naive that it almost hurt. She wished she could go back in time and warn little Lena that her gift was a curse and it would only bring sadness. The only peace that she would have is inside the walls of her room and even though the spirits couldn't follow her there the residual memories did.

The glimpses were the last living moments of the deceased and they flickered on in the back of her mind at night playing over and over and she was forced to relive every moment in vivid detail.

The man who slipped off the ladder, the kid who drowned in the river for swimming out too far, the woman in childbirth, the uncle who had a sudden heart attack, the grandmother who slipped and shattered a hip, every gasp, scream, shudder and prayer to God she heard and felt.

She had gotten better about waking her family up with her screams or had tried to, sometimes she got so tangled in the memories she couldn't distinguish reality from memory and those were the mornings she would wake up in water soaked sheets thanks to her mama and feeling more exhausted than when she went to bed. The tired and concerned looks from her parents spoke louder than words and hung heavier than the rain clouds above her mama's head.

The easiest way to prevent the entire scenario was to just skip sleeping altogether, it allowed her family to sleep and kept her from being pulled into the downward spiral of memories she didn't want nor ask for. So she spent her nights laying in bed staring at the walls or ceiling or mentally rehearsing the excuses for why she missed breakfast the next morning.

She would be just late enough to miss Abuela's look of disappointment, her parents look of worry -which wasn't nearly as severe as the nightmare looks of worry - but not too late for Tia Julieta to hand her a plate of warm leftovers. She would pick at those for the next twenty minutes, while watching Tio Agustin outside as he continued his ever losing battle with the bees over who truly owned the garden - the bees had been winning for the past ten years - he fought valiantly on - and she would wait for her queue, generally three mutters under his breath before getting up, going outside and handing him the plate so that the swelling would disappear.

He was always so grateful and she tried hard not to look at him too long because she would always be afraid to laugh and she really shouldn't but his swollen ear and nose were easily three times their normal size and his fingers were sometimes turned into chorizos and she had to sometimes bit her lip to stop from giggling.

She would later relay the story to Mirabel and send her prima into fits of crying laughter in her room at the description. Her hermano would round the corner and wonder what was so funny and Lena would innocently say that it was a funny looking animal she had seen, it would always earn her a doubtful look from him, an eyeroll and shrug as he continued on his way. Lena preferred to keep some things between the two of them she felt that she owed Mirabel that much at least.

A sudden breeze rustled the paper bag in her hands bringing her back to the present as she stared at the church. The voices whispered to her begging for answers

Where is my family?

Why am I stuck here?

What happened to me?

Questions she didn't have answers to, though if she did would she really want the answer? She took a deep breath to try to steady herself, it was just a building, just paint, wood and stone. There was nothing to be afraid of. The spirits couldn't manifest into something solid and harm her, especially not in a church. If she was safe anywhere it would be here. The church had stood in Encanto as a beacon of hope for those in need of saving for the past 60 years.

And if anyone deserved saving it should be her. She felt like there was nothing but darkness and death that surrounded her, people only sought her out to obtain closure otherwise they avoided even looking at her as if one look would suck their very souls away.

She snorted inwardly at the thought and shook her head, the same villagers were fine with her mother whose mood could literally change the weather or her tia who could heal injuries but she was the one who made them cross themselves and cross the street in fear? Now she understood why Tio Bruno avoided the village whenever possible and she idly wondered if he had seen his own future and if maybe she had made a mistake by not asking him to look into hers all those years ago.

Lena looked up at the church again and shook her head, maybe she'll try again another day.