It had taken a few days for Bruno to discover what his gift was. He'd been getting upset over the fact that his sisters found hers nearly right away. The moment Pepa opened her door a rainbow shown over her head in coloured bands of incandescent light. He'd never forget how that bright rainbow had reflected off of mirrors and windows to create a grand network of specks and dollops of light that flickered and danced around the walls of Casita. It had been a beautiful sight and one he tried to remind her of when she was feeling a little down on herself.

Julieta's gift had been discovered shortly after when she had been helping their mamá in the kitchen. His hermana was a natural in the kitchen and took to it like a fish to water. She always had. She'd wound up burning herself pretty badly and, to soothe her tears, mamá gave Julieta one of the arepas she had made to try and cheer her up a bit by showing her how good her food was. The moment his hermana had swallowed a bite of her food the burn on her hand faded away and mamá had been so happy and so proud.

But Bruno was still left questioning what his own gift might be. He felt more than a little excluded but his hermanas had been more than happy to cheer him up about him. Mamá had simply told him that they he would discover his gift in due time and it was wrong to rush the miracle. He had been so excited to discover what it was but when he did all he wished was that it hadn't happened the way it did.

He'd been in town playing hide and seek with his sisters, even though Pepa was easy enough to find, but it hadn't been Pepa that had made their position obvious. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't, he swore it wasn't. He'd started to feel weird. He was dizzy, his head hurt, and there was a deep pressure behind his eyes. He'd gripped his head and whimpered in pain. Valeria, a kind elderly woman who'd always loved to play games with them, had found him curled in on himself as he clutched his head and whined. She had been especially fond of Bruno and she had no children of her own so she had become something of a surrogate mother to the whole village. She was a wise and well learned woman. She'd knelt down by him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She had been about to ask what was wrong and it was in that moment when Bruno found his gift.

Valeria had been knocked back, tumbling head over heels, when a cyclone of sand shifting to an emerald shade along with the child's eyes. His gaze was empty and void of any sense of awareness. She could barely see him through the whirlwind of sand but she did see his lips part and heard his terrified scream. In an instant the sand fell to the ground and the boy was left holding an emerald tablet. His sisters, and several villagers, came running to him, Pepa and Julieta yelling out if he was okay and what had happened but he had just leaped to his feet and smashed the glass tablet against the stone wall behind him and ran into Valeria's arms, completely hysterical. No one could get a word out of him whether it was from his violent wailing or a simple refusal to talk no one knew. The woman had simply gathered the boy into her arms, despite her aching back, and carried him home. They'd had to pry him away from Valeria as Bruno just refused to let go of her. He'd fought and kicked and screamed as his Mamá finally pulled him away and into the house. The moment his feet hit the floor he ran to his room and found a place to hide. He'd found a corner and cried for hours as he pulled his knees to his chest. Once he had stopped he'd just buried himself in the sand, he found the weight of it comforting, and began to sob again.

Julieta and Pepa had run back to Casita closely after carrying emerald shards in their hands and Alma quickly berated them for carrying the sharp glass, telling them that they should have left it for the adults. They had just rambled about how Bruno had finally found his gift but they didn't understand what happened. They were just playing and suddenly there was wind and a bright green glow. By the time they found him he'd smashed the tablet before anyone could see it and then started crying.

Alma sat at the table and carefully placed the pieces together, an image slowly forming as she did so. She placed a hand over her mouth and quickly shooed her daughters from the room before they could see it. Alma turned back and saw the detailed image of Valeria on her bed, very obviously dead.

It was something that no child, let alone a five year old, should see. As she stared at the tablet Alma felt unsure as to what to do but what she did know is that she had to tell the village something. In the end, she'd settled on the truth and showed the village the pieced together prophecy. A weight had settled on the village and Bruno refused to come out of his room for anything. He'd always had the closest connection to her. Valeria said that she just couldn't resist how adorable his shyness was and was good at reassuring him that he had no need to be so hesitant about things. She'd carry him through the village or walk hand in hand with the boy. He loved the stories she'd tell. Despite her age, the two of them were the best of friends. She'd always joked about snatching him up and keeping him all to herself. She sneak him treats and toys. She'd chase away kids who were mean to him and tell him that they were just stupid little kids and that nothing they said was true. She was one of his favorite people in the world.

He wasn't ready to say goodbye, but it wasn't up to him.

He'd cried for days before she finally came to Casita asking to see Bruno. She held a neatly wrapped present in her hands and a soft smile. Alma had, of course, let her in as her son had been inconsolable and hadn't eaten a thing in two days, let alone come out of his room. Valeria, holding tightly to the present in her arms, ascended the stairs to Bruno's room with Alma's guidance. Valeria turned and asked if she could have a moment alone with him and Alma nodded with understanding. The elderly woman sucked in a deep breath and turned the ornate handle. Stepping into the room around her she found the path blocked off by a wall of falling sand. She clutched the present to her chest and peered passed the sand. It was a good thing she had looked too. The fall would not have been pleasant on her aging body.

She slid down the sand dune and stood in the midst of a desert. The sand wasn't grainy, but soft, warm, and welcoming.

"Bruno?" She called out "¿Dónde está mi ratoncito?" She called out and it wasn't long before the boy had darted out of wherever he had been hiding and launched himself toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face into her belly as he began to sob.

"It's okay." She said, running her hands through his hair. "It's alright."

"N-no it's not." He wailed. "It's not!"

She knelt down and put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his red, puffy eyes.

"Oh, mi dulce ratoncito." She said as she shook her head and gave him a gentle smile. She wiped the tears from his face. "Everyone has to go eventually. We all have our time but my time with you was the best." She ran a hand through his hair and settled the other against his cheek.

"You'll always be my little mouse." She said as she pulled him in for a hug. "I'm not afraid Brunito. No matter what, I'll always be right here with you. Time can't erase that. Don't be upset. Your gift is a blessing, don't let anyone tell you different. Because of you I know and because I know I'm not scared."

She sat down and pulled him into her lap, putting the present aside for the moment.

"And you shouldn't be scared either." She whispered, kindness and love gleaming in her green eyes. "Be strong pequeño ratón. Thank you. Thank you for showing me that my time has come. You have a beautiful gift and I have one for you Brunito."

She turned and picked up the beautifully decorated package and handed it to him.

"I was saving it for your birthday but you can have it now." Bruno's hands shook in his lap and he didn't reach out. She just smiled and set the gift in his trembling hands. "Go ahead pequeño ratón. Open it." She urged him, wiping away more tears with her sleeve.

He bit his lip as it wobbled and slowly, carefully unwrapped it. He pulled out a green ruana that was much too big for him.

"You'll grow into it." She smiled. "Look."

She showed him the embroidered hourglasses along the hem of the cloth.

"For your gift and to remember that it is a gift and as much a part of you as anything else. It's a beautiful, amazing thing that you can do. Don't be afraid pequeño ratón. Don't be afraid. I'll still be here. I'll be right here." She poked at his chest.

A few days later Valeria died peacefully in her sleep.

Of course Bruno was there for her funeral, clutching the green ruana to his chest tightly. He felt numb and distant. He wanted to pretend that it wasn't real. That none of it was real, that he was just dreaming and didn't have a gift at all. The five year old remembered so clearly what she had told him. She stared down at him lovingly with eyes the same colour as the ruana she'd made and told him that his gift was special and a blessing. It was then that he decided that his favorite colour was green. Everyone has their time she had told him and had thanked him for the warning.

The rest of the village did not see it like she did.

People quickly began to avoid the child. The other kids refused to play with him anymore and adults tended to shoo him away and any friends that he had outside of his sisters didn't want to be around him anymore, afraid that he would curse them too. He'd spend most of his time by a nearby lake and just stared into the water remembering what she had said. His gift was a blessing, not a curse.

"It's not a curse." He whisper to himself. "It's not my fault."

The rest of the village didn't feel that way and they made it obvious. As he grew older and his mamá gave him the job of being the town's fortune teller people just grew to hate him more. Why couldn't he give someone a good prophecy for once? The good ones rarely came and the more the villagers talked amongst themselves it became harder to believe Valeria's words. He could hear the whispers and rumors as he grew up. Once he was an adult people became less hesitant in telling him exactly how they felt about what he had told them.

"Don't be afraid pequeño ratón." He kept remembering what she had told him as he rubbed at the edges of his ruana.

But he couldn't help but be afraid when he'd gone home with a broken nose to sneak some of his sister's food before anyone saw. He couldn't help but be afraid at the people who yelled. He couldn't help but be afraid of what prophecy that he might have to give. In fact, he became afraid of every prophecy he had to give because he knew that it would be a bad one. The more times he'd come home bruised and bloodied to sneak more of his sister's food he couldn't help but be afraid. He couldn't help but be afraid of the village and the people and anything outside of his home because Casita was safe.

He'd never be afraid to go down to that lake and sit on the shoreline to just look at the water.

"Your gift is a blessing"

He tried to hold onto that, he really did but over time he couldn't see it that way anymore.

"No matter what, I'll always be right here with you."

He tried to hold on to that too. He really did but, as the years passed by he continued to feel more alone than ever and wished that he'd never gotten his gift at all. He wished he wasn't a Madrigal. He wished so hard, harder than any other wish in his life.

The moment he could fit properly into the green ruana she had given him him he never took it off because it did help him feel just a little less alone. He felt stronger. He felt safer. He'd dared to begin going into town again but still kept his head down and the hood of his ruana pulled up, whenever he was nervous or scared, so he didn't have to see the looks people gave him. As the years passed by, he told himself that she was wrong. He began to hate her for those words, those soft and loving words, that had given him hope.

She was wrong. This gift wasn't special. He wasn't special. His gift wasn't a blessing at all. She was wrong. It wasn't a blessing and it wasn't a gift. It was a curse. An ominous black thing that hung over his head for all to see. Even his mamá saw it that way. Even his sisters. Everyone saw him as a curse and just someone who made bad things happen. It was pointless, he knew, to try and explain that it wasn't his fault and that there wasn't anything he could do to change the future.

"You're the only one capable of deciding your own destiny." He wanted to say, but the words choked him every time.

When he found a small rat by his lake he couldn't help but smile. With how tiny it was it kind of looked like a mouse all drenched and shivering from the water.

"Mi ratoncito."

He carefully picked up the trembling creature and snuck it into Casita to get it dry and warm.

He named her Valeria.