So jumpy

For the Nerves

Sitting under a tree, Bruno was keeping an eye on Antonio. The rest of the family was busy rebuilding and Pepa was busy with Félix. Living with her in-laws must be a bit stressful, that's a lot of folks to stuff in that tiny house, but it was nice to see how well Pepa was doing, not having to flip her mood to do anything. All the kids were getting to spend time with their father's parents, but Antonio kept requesting Tío Bruno.

Antonio was petting one of Bruno's rats and asked, "Tío?"

"Yes Antonio."

"Do you understand what the rats are saying?"

Bruno looked at Antonio and said very seriously, "No, but I think they understand me."

"Really, how come?"

"I don't know, just a feeling I get. We've spent a lot of time together, so…"

"When you were living in the walls?"

"I thought the rats told you everything?"

"They only told me where they were taking the vision pieces. I followed because I was worried about Mira. Abuela was really mad at her. She looked so scared."

"Probably a good thing you did."

"Yeah… I miss Parce though."

"Whose Parce?"

"My jaguar friend. He's really smart and told the best jokes. Kinda like you Tío."

Bruno smiled, "You know kiddo if you think about it, Parce may still be around, in the forest."

"You think?"

"Of course, you don't think he just manifested out of thin air?"

"What does mantlefest mean?"

"Appear from nowhere, like you Mamí's clouds used to. Oh, oh, I forgot something," Bruno said, suddenly up on his feet, "Come on Toni, I have a surprise for you. You can't tell anyone about this place, okay?" He led Antonio into the forest to a massive tree whose trunk was hollowed out. Bruno lit a candle that was near the doorway, which was just some blankets, and waved for Antonio to come in. Antonio did and broke into a wide smile as he ran over to the shelves carved into the trunk and picked up the small stuffed jaguar.

Antonio nodded as he hugged to toy and thanked his Tío. "You should ask Mira to make you one too. Good for the nerves."

"Not a bad idea, kid, but I have enough hangers about."

As Bruno said this, there was a squeak on the shelf recently vacated by the stuffed jaguar. Bruno held out his hand and the rat moved onto it and up to his shoulder. "Come on, time for lunch!"

Antonio grabbed his Tío's hand, and together they walked back to town.