A song pulls me out of my sleep and I groan in frustration. Though it is quite lovely, the music that is emanating from some unknown source has kept me up for the past three nights. Every time, it wakes me up and pulls and tugs at my soul, calling for me to leave my room and follow. Tonight is no different. Though Bruno's stairs have become almost second nature at this point, I do not relish the thought of taking an extra unnecessary trip in the middle of the night.

The song, though, persists, as does the tug that I feel in my heart to follow the sound. With an exasperated sigh, I sit up in my bed and fling my feet off the side. Grabbing a thin robe for modesty's sake, I rush out the door and down the awful stairs.

The pull takes me through the sand wall and toward Bruno's door. Within the hallway, the melody overwhelms me like magic. It enriches every part of my being, dancing across my body and brushing along the soles of my feet to spur me forward. As if in a trance, I walk down the hall and toward an archway. Passing onward, a twirling staircase stands before me, leading upward into a black void. I walk up each step with no hesitation, following the bliss of obedience. At the top, I glance throughout the room, spotting a single candle resting in a window. Golden designs swirl around the base, trailing up it like the tracks of a pixie. The flame gives off a bright glow, brighter than any candle I have ever seen, shimmering and filling the room with its sheen.

Touch it, the song sings. I reach forward on command. The tips of my fingers are mere inches away from the smooth wax.

"Wait…" a voice whispers, and the trance is gone.

I flip my body around to see a shadowed figure in the corner, arm reaching out, and a green hood obscuring his face. Before I can react, the man turns around and takes off down the stairs. My instincts kick in and sending me flying after the figure before my mind can even comprehend it. With my heart pounding in my ears and feet thumping against the steps, I hit the bottom step, eyes frantically searching for the hooded man's trail.

But I see nothing.

It's as if he vanished in thin air. I was moments behind the man; he should have been visible right down the hall as I reached the floor. My chest frosts over and a chill zips up my spine. Perhaps he found a way to escape or perhaps he was…a ghost.

Señor Bruno's ghost

I rush back to my room.

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I begin my day playing with my children. Our favorite pastime has always been acting out little skits together. If it was a story that they knew already, they would take the reins on a certain character or narrator. This morning, though, I've chosen to reenact one of the plays that I used to be a part of as a child, jumping around from side to side and changing my voice to fit the different characters. Ale and Mila laugh throughout, taking moments to pull themselves together in between, only for another silly scene to occur, sending them into a fit of giggles. This play had always been a fun one for us as kids to act out, though it was difficult to hold back the giggles and stay in character.

Surprisingly, Isabela and Delores, who I haven't had much time with, stride up toward us to ask what we're doing. They explain that Delores's power of hyper-hearing had brought our voices to her ears. She had told Isabela and they decided to come over and check out what was going on.

"So you were an actual actress. Like, on a stage and everything!" Isabela's eyes are wide with delight.

"It's not as fancy as you're thinking. We were just an amateur theatre group with big aspirations. I wasn't able to stick with it…once I was married."

The two girls nod, though hopefully not fully understanding my accidental comment.

"What was it like? Delores asks in a soft voice.

"Wonderful," I exclaim, "and everything I ever wanted at that time. Though, priorities change as you grow." I turn and kiss Ale and Mila on the heads. Mila giggles but Ale angrily swipes it away, a glowing red blush covering his cheeks as he glances up at Isabela. "I was able to travel around with my most cherished friends; I was doing things that I loved; I was even able to see some new places, though we didn't go very far before I left. I'm thankful for the time I did have."

"Wow," the two say in unison before falling silent.

Delores suddenly straightens and looks over at Isabela. If she were a dog, her ears would stand tall, perked up as she listens to a distant noise. "Camilo wants to play man hunt." The two promptly hop up from their places, dusting the grass off their dresses.

Alejandro jumps to his feet before frantically crying out, "Can I go too, Mamá?"

"Me too, Mamá!" Camla says.

I nod. "Stay with your brother, and Ale, keep her safe."

"We will," they both call back toward me as they run to catch up with the girls.

I laugh, watching the children exit the scene. Taking a sigh in relaxation, I close my eyes and lean backward onto the heels of my hands. The breeze feels nice over my face and blowing through my hair. The grass tingles nicely as it brushes lightly over my arms and legs. Basking in the sun's warm rays, I find solace in this little bit of heaven.

"Children are beautiful things."

I jump, not noticing the approach of the woman now standing beside me. Hopping to my feet, I rush to stand beside the woman, holding back an instinctual bow for the older woman that demands respect so naturally. I straighten and dust off my dress, hoping to look at least a little presentable in the woman's eyes.

"I agree, Señora Madrigal." I say, trying to hold back my heavy breathing.

"It a shame what a lack of foundation will do to a child. This world only wants to gobble them whole; we must prepare them to stand on their own. They need stability from a young age to truly flourish."

"Are you suggesti—" The matriarch lifts her hand to silence me.

"I am offering you that stability for your children. You may stay as long as you'd like so long as you do not become a hinderance to my family in any way. I protect my own. I suggest you do the same." The woman then walks away and I watch her go, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.

"What was the point of that? I think to myself. "Did I do something wrong?"

That night, I spent a little extra time with the children after tucking them in for bed; I tell one more story and sing one more song, squeezing a little tighter with our good night hugs. Though I know not to depend on my children for emotional support, they can be comforting in difficult times.

Once I am finally safe inside Señor Bruno's room, I let the tears flow. Though the matriarch's words hurt me, the tears that I'm shedding now are not only from a few cruel words. These tears flow for my children, for everything they experienced at such a young age; they flow for the pain I've had to endure at the hands of my father and my husband; they flow for the lack of true friendship and family for many years, the utter loneliness. I take a moment to ponder the emotions I've avoided for sake of sanity, just to allow them a moment of freedom, a moment of healing.

With a broken heart, I begin to sing. Though my voice is watery and shaky, I try my best to create a beautiful sound and set it free.

From that moment onward, I decide to make it my number one priority to find someone to help build a home for myself and the children. Maybe someone in the town would be willing to help us to settle on our own. In our own home, so that we're no longer a burden to those around us.

A shadow moves underneath the bedroom door and I let out a squeak, my song cut short. In one swift movement, I fly off my bed and toward the door, swinging it open to reveal the hooded man from last night. He immediately turns to run out of the room but I grab the back of his ruana, causing him to stumble. This only slows him down a bit as he takes off out of the vision room. I stay on his tail, hoping that I can keep up this time. Soon enough, we're speeding out of the door and running down the hall. We're lucky that it is so late at night or someone would have found themselves bulldozed over in our chase.

Suddenly, he makes a right turn toward the wall, which confuses me enough to make me stumble. I right myself just in time to catch a pair of green eyes disappear behind the coffee pot painting. Rushing forward, I swing the painting open to find a hidden passageway, the man now turning the corner at the end. Without hesitation, I jump inside.

What was only a steady chase before has now become an obstacle course, of which I am far less equipped to take on. As the hooded man swings on pipes and jumps from plank to plank, I find myself scrambling to keep myself upright and uninjured.

For a few minutes of the run, I'm able to keep up pretty well, copying his jumps and movements, but it only takes one screw up to ruin a plan. Right ahead of me, the man jumps over a hole in the floor, so I stare at my feet, making sure not to fall into it myself. As I'm looking down, I don't see his next move, which turns out to be a horrible mistake. Immediately after jumping over the hole myself, my skull cracks against something hard and metal, the ringing of it echoing around me before everything goes black once again.

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Blinking my eyes open, I try to ignore the pounding headache that is throbbing through my brain. I try to ask, "What happened?" but it may have come out as more of a slur of syllables.

"Um—you ran into a pipe…sorry, I, uh, shouldn't have run away like that." As my vision clears, I begin to see the clear image of the infamous Bruno Madrigal, though I'm not completely surprised after the turn of events. He stands in the center of the room, slightly slouched and squirming uncomfortably. His dark curly hair only slightly obscures those bright green eyes, much nicer than the painting could have ever portrayed. I blush at my thought, choosing to glance around my surroundings as a distraction. I'm currently sitting in a faded red chair, which sits within a small room. By the looks of the walls around us, we may still be within the hidden passageway, just a slightly larger area. Rats are scattered all throughout the room, seemingly making themselves at home. I suppress a shutter. I can deal with rats, which can't be said for spiders, but they are not something I would choose to keep as pets.

"Here, take this. It'll help with your head," Señor Bruno says. I look back at him to see him standing a step closer, holding out an arepa toward me, "I nabbed it from the kitchen earlier."

Taking the snack, I quickly bite into it, thankful for the relief from my headache. I briefly throw a few words of gratitude his way before promptly scarfing the arepa down. Bruno's lips twitch slightly in the corner, as if holding back a smile.

"Have you been back here this whole time, Señor Bruno?" I ask him while wiping a few crumbs from my lips.

The man seems to cringe at the words. "For about two years, yes. And, um, please—just, don't call me Señor. Bruno is fine."

I nod and give a little shrug before jumping up to look around a little. A few daily items are scattered throughout the room with no particular organizational method. The man would benefit greatly from a few baskets to place his things in, but instead of mentioning the thought, I ask, "Why would you stay back here, though? You didn't want to travel somewhere? Seems kind of lonely."

"Well," he says, albeit hesitantly, "I didn't want to leave forever, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get back if I left. No one has ever left Encanto before, nor has anyone found it…before you."

My head swivels in his direction as I harden my expression into a glare. "You've been watching me. Don't deny it. I've heard you sneaking around a couple times. Not to mention you were outside my door…"

A small blush paints his cheeks and his eyes widen, which would be rather adorable if I wasn't mildly horrified with him at the moment. "N—no! I, well, I didn't mean to at first. I was just curious the first day you showed up; it had never happened before, you know. You were something new and interesting. Then…well, I meant to avoid you…but your voice. I'm sure you know it's quite lovely." Now it's my turn to blush once again. "When I heard it, I just wanted to come closer and listen. It's soothing. There's not much to ease the nerves when you're just alone with a bunch of rats for company." One of the rats sticks his head up, turning toward him in offense before letting out a squeak that sounds suspiciously like a scoff.

"What about last night? With the candle?"

He throws his hands up in surrender. "That was a coincidence, I swear. I tend to sneak into the house to grab a few necessities at night. I was on my way to the kitchen when suddenly, you came walking out of my room in some trance-like state. I followed you to make sure you were okay. When you almost touched the candle, I knew I had to stop you. That could have been catastrophic."

"What's so special about a candle?"

"It's no ordinary candle. It's the physical manifestation of the magic that holds Encanto together, that gave us our powers."

"Dang. What happens if I touch it?" I ask, curiosity peaking.

"I'm not sure. Only mi madre is allowed to hold it, except on each Madrigal's fifth birthday, when we receive our gifts."

"Hmm," I say, a hand moving upward to rub my chin in thought, "so no one other than you Madrigals have gotten to try. Maybe the candle just wants to spread the love a bit?" I laugh, shocked with myself. I never speak this carelessly with someone I've just met. Something about this man brings out the goofy side of me. Maybe it's because he lacks the intimidation that many men find pride in, not that I would let him know that since I'm not sure if that is considered offensive in man-world. There's a certain awkward sweetness about him that makes him seem so real.

With a nervous smile and a shake of his head he speaks again. "I suppose I shouldn't have stopped you, then. There's no reason for us to have a monopoly on magic. Though, if Mamá had caught you, I'm not sure what she would have done."

My smile drops at the mention of the matriarch. Her earlier words echo in my head and pain sears my heart for a moment. In an attempt to change the subject, I say, "You know, your family really misses you." Now his smile drops. With shoulders tense and jerky movements, he waves me off and turns his back toward me. "They're better off this way," he says.

I sigh. "I know I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that Julietta wishes you were back. She's told me how much she misses you. I know things were hard for you; I can't even imagine—"

Bruno turns toward me, his eyes illuminated with fierce passion. "I didn't leave for myself, señorita—"

"Estrella, please."

"Estrella, then." Bruno's confidence seems to dissipate slightly as his shoulders droop and eyes drop to the floor, lacking their glow once again. "You know my gift, correct? To see into the future?"

"Yes, I've heard."

"I saw something I wish I never saw. I knew how it would look to everyone. I've always been hated for what I can see. I didn't want my vision to cause her the same hatred, to be the outcast in her own family. I just, I couldn't allow that…never…"

I recognize the feeling within him. It's one thing to allow yourself to be treated a certain way but allowing it to happen to someone you love is unacceptable. I feel the same for my two children. The moment it seemed Ale would face the same fate as myself, I finally took action and got us all out of there.

"Who were you protecting?"

He sighs. "Mi sobrina, Mirabel," he says. I hold back a gasp, thinking of the little ball of joy that is Mirabel Madrigal, mi conejito. "It was the night of her gift ceremony. She couldn't receive one and no one understood why. Mamá had asked me to see into her future to find out the problem, or how to solve it, I suppose. What I saw was destruction. The house, the magic, the family, it was all falling apart and Mirabel was at the center of it. I couldn't let Mamá see it, though I knew she'd never let it go. So, I did the next best thing. If I'm not there to show them, no one would have to know about that vision and Mirabel can live her life happily."

Tears sting the corners of my eyes. "Oh, Bruno," I say, "I'm so sorry."

He shrugs, moving to slump into his chair. "It's not a big deal. I'll be able to go back eventually. I'll be there for Mirabel when she needs me."

Silence fills the room, Bruno in his despair and me in discouraged pondering. An idea suddenly strikes me. "What if we change it?"

Bruno lets out a pitiful chuckle. "Out of the thousands of visions I tried to change, I was only able to get anywhere with one. And all Señor Lorenzo did was break his other arm. I've tried, Estrella. Visions don't change."

"But you were able to change one. That means it's at least possible! We have to try!"

With a sad smile, Bruno says, "It's a fool's errand, Estrella."

I let out a grunt of frustration before walking over toward him and leaning forward to grab his shoulders. "Bruno," I say sternly, looking into his eyes, "this is your sobrina we're talking about. You can't give up just because you've never been able to do it before! This is for Mirabel. I know based on your actions so far that you'd do anything in your power to protect her. Just as I'd do for my own children. Let's do this together."

Once again, the room is silent, this time in anticipation. As we stare into each other's eyes, my heart begins to pound and I internally beg him to answer so I can look away.
Eventually, he replies, "…you have children?"

I roll my eyes at the man, dropping my hands and placing them on my hips. "Okay, okay, I agree," he says with hands up in surrender once again, a goofy smile sliding onto his lips, "of course I agree."

With a satisfied smile I say, "and yes, I do have children. Two to be exact. Alejandro and Camila, but you can call them Ale and Mila."

"Hmm," Bruno says, seemingly deep in thought for a moment ad standing to pace around the room a few times. "So how do you expect us to change the future?"

"Well, I say we need to look at that vision one more time."

"Use my gift again?" he asks and I nod. "I haven't used it in so long…"

"Well, it's never too late to pick it back up," I say excitedly, "I'm sure it's like riding a bike."

After a few minutes of bantering back and forth, Bruno finally relents, agreeing to meet with me this weekend, since I'll be teaching all week and don't need to stay up all night before a school night. With that, I bid him good night and promise to come back and talk with him again so he's not always alone.