Abre Los Ojos || Camilo Madrigal

Inside the Walls

“Miraboo. Got your party pants on, ‘cause I do–” Agustín called but stopped mid-sentence when he saw the vision that laid in front of the two girls. They quickly rushed to cover the glowing green shards from his view, but failed miserably as he had already seen it before their attempt.
“I... broke into Bruno’s tower, I found his last vision, the family’s in trouble, the magic is dying, the house is breaking, Luisa’s gift is fading and I think it’s all because of... me?” Mirabel rushed out.
Agustín stared at Mirabel, stunned. “We say nothing, Abuela wants tonight to be perfect, ‘til the Guzmans leave, you did not break into Bruno’s tower, the magic is not dying, the house is not breaking,” He started to shove the shards into his pockets, “Luisa’s gift is not fading, no one will know, just act normal, no one has to know.”
A squeak was heard across from the nursery where Dolores stood. “I know,” she whispered.
“She’s gonna tell everyone.” Mirabel sighed.
“Time to eat!” Abuela’s voice rang out.
“Miércoles.” Agustín muttered when he saw Dolores run.
“Esto es malo. Esto es muy malo,” Sofía murmured.
***
She, the Madrigal family, Isabela’s boyfriend, and an older lady (who she assumed was his mother) all sat at the table. Sofía sat next to Mirabel, across from the one person the secret of Bruno’s vision relied on.
“The Guzmans and the Madrigals together will be so good for the Encanto.” Abuela said.
“Yes, then let’s hope tonight is not a horrible disaster,” Señora Guzman agreed.
Abuela chuckled before making a toast. “To a perfect night. Salud!”
“Salud!” everyone echoed.
Dolores looked like she was going to pop at any moment. Mirabel hardened a glare at her cousin while Sofía tried to plead to her with her eyes.
I assumed that all was well in La Casa Madrigal… though, when it comes to my Mariano, it is always best to see for myself.” Señora Guzman commented.
Dolores couldn’t hold out any longer. She leaned over and whispered to Camilo the secret. Camilo choked on his food and he shapeshifted into Mirabel then Bruno before his face ended up looking like a chameleon’s, his mouth lopsided and his eyes crossed in complete opposite directions.
Abuela Alma smiled nervously and poured more wine for Señora Guzman to distract her.
“Camilo, fix your face,” Félix hissed to his son.
Camilo shook his head before looking at the girls in concern. He then whispered to Félix. Félix’s eyes widened and he choked on his water, which flew onto Señora Guzman’s plate.
Abuela watched this, quietly panicking, trying to maintain her composure. “Mirabel, the cream, please,”
Mirabel smiled at Abuela and turned to Agustín for the cream. “Pa, the cream.”
Agustín tried to hand her the cream, but his hand was shaking like crazy. Mirabel took the cream from her father’s hands and passed it to Abuela.
Thunder drew Mirabel and Sofía’s attention to... Pepa. Félix whispered in her ear, and now a small swirling hurricane formed over the dining room table.
Abuela, clearly embarrassed, said, “Pepa? The cloud.”
Pepa tried her best to calm herself down to shrink the cloud. “Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies…” she murmured, running her fingers through her red hair.
Julieta leaned over to Pepa, concerned. Pepa whispered in Julieta’s ear, causing her to flush and look at Mirabel and Sofía, worried.
Mirabel tried to avoid her mother’s gaze, and looked at the floor to avoid eye-contact.
“Mirabel...?” Mariano asked.
Mirabel, freaked out, sat up fast, banging her head on the underside of the table, then popped up.
“...everything okay?”
“Everything’s great, she’s just…” Agustín said, “excited! For you to propose, which you should do as fast as you can–”
“Yes!” Sofía agreed.
“Uh, I was actually... gonna…”
“You were actually gonna! Great!” Mirabel exclaimed, Mirabel swiveling Isabela’s chair toward Mariano. Señora Guzman looked a little weirded out.
“Well, well– well...since everyone here has a talent, my Mariano wanted to begin with a song. Luisa, could you bring over the piano?” Señora Guzman asked Luisa.
Luisa, at the end of the table, moaned, fighting tears. She slowly began her walk to ‘get the piano’, knowing she can’t lift it.
“Uh, it’s actually family tradition to sing after.” Mirabel said, shoving Mariano down on one knee and motioned for him to begin.
“Isabela, most graceful of all the Madrigals-”
Mirabel dove behind Mariano, awkwardly horning in on the proposal.
“Um…”
“You’re doing great.” Mirabel gave Mariano a thumbs-up.
“The most perfect flower in this entire Encanto.”
Outside, Luisa tried to shove a piano, making horrible scraping noises. Señora Guzman looked utterly confused.
“No–!” Mirabel gasped.
“Will you marry me?!”
“Nooo!” Mirabel cried as she dove under the table.
Luisa fell to the ground, crying in defeat. Antonio’s tucan looked frightened by Pepa’s storm cloud and flew over Señora Guzman’s head who ducked just in time.
“What is happening?!” Señora Guzman demanded.
“Mirabel found Bruno’s vision, she’s in it, she’s gonna destroy the magic and now we’re all doomed!” Dolores blurted out, her hand clamped tightly against her ears.
And on cue, Mirabel accidentally sent the tray containing the vision sliding down the table, stopping right in front of Abuela Alma.
Everyone looked at the vison, then to Mirabel and... CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Cracks rippled seemingly from Mirabel around the whole room and everyone’s powers fritz and spasm. Camilo’s head shifted into a baby and sprouted a mustache.
The ground cracked under Isabela who, shocked, shot a bunch of vines directly into Mariano’s face.
Pepa’s storm cloud opened up, unleashing a torrent of water onto the whole table. As animals raced out, they blew open the windows where the whole town was out front, ready to celebrate.
“FELICIDADES–” they began to cry out but stopped when they saw the chaos. “Whoa…”
The Guzmans rushed out of Casita.
“¡Señora, por favor!” Abuela called out.
“Abuela, please– there’s gotta be an explanation!” Mirabel exclaimed.
Isabela stomped past Mirabel and cried dramatically, “I hate you!”
Luisa raced past the girls, sobbing. “Ahh, I’m a loser!”
“Luisa!” Agustín yelled.
Pepa ran out, her weather going crazy. “What did you do?!”
More cracks rippled through the house.
“She’s not doing anything!” Sofía defended her.
“It’s Bruno’s vision! It’s…” Mirabel began to say but stopped.
Sofía looked to where Mirabel was looking. And she noticed a green light moving on the ground... a shard of the vision… being carried by... a rat. There were dozens of rats, all of them taking the shards from the dining room and racing up to the balcony.
Abuela continued to chase after Señora Guzman and Mariano. “The magic is strong! EVERYTHING IS FINE! We are the Madrigals!” She slammed the door before yelling, “MIRABEL!”
Thunder clapped and the sky lit up with lightning.
***
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as Mirabel and Sofía followed the wet rats along the upper walkway. But when they turned the corner... they were gone.
Then a noise... and they spotted a single rat tail disappear through an opening under a large painting. Mirabel approached the painting and studied itl then slowly pulled it open, revealing a passageway within the walls.
Mirabel and Sofía climbed into the secret passageway between the walls of the house to find the inside completely covered in cracks.
A rat squeaked as it scurried past the girls’ feet and away into the darkness, but as its glowing shard retreated, the glow moved into the air.
As Sofía squinted to get a better look, FLASH! A bolt of lightning illuminated... Bruno, sinister and evil, who held the shard.
Mirabel and Sofía stared at Bruno. Another flash, and he turned and ran, his shadow streaking away down a distant corridor. Without a word, the two of them ran after the mysterious man.
“HEY!” Mirabel yelled.
They raced through the narrow corridors, struggling to catch up in the winding, twisting labyrinth.
Shafts of light peeked through the interior of the house to illuminate them as they streaked by.
The rhythm of their feet created a strong beat as they moved faster and faster, sliding down unexpected drops and tight turns.
“Stop! STOP!” Sofía cried.
Bruno then leaped across a chasm and it looked too far for the two to follow. As Bruno disappeared down a distant corridor, Sofía jumped across, Mirabel following close behind But the floor below her gave way and she fell, barely catching herself at the last second... but only holding on by a finger. Below her was a seemingly endless fall into darkness.
“No-no– HELP! HELP!” Mirabel gasped. Sofía grabbed onto her but couldn't lift Mirabel up.
“CASITA?! CASITA?! HELP ME! HELP ME!” Mirabel cried to the house.
Too late, Mirabel lost her grip and fell. “Mirabel—”
But her hand was grabbed mid-air, by Bruno. His face came into the light, Sofía saw that he was not at all what she thought... he was small, timid... and straining.
“You’re very sweaty,” he murmured.
But before Mirabel can respond, the floor underneath Bruno collapsed too. Mirabel grabbed onto a loose board and caught Bruno. They were now both dangling from the pit. As Mirabel looked at her tío, a rat popped from his ruana. Startled, Mirabel let go of him, accidentally dropping him to his death...
But... there’s actually a floor right beneath, he’s fine, they just couldn’t see it. Bruno looked around, surprised. “Huh,”
Sofía helped Mirabel up to solid ground before they both helped Bruno up. Bruno looked a the girls... a long beat, then:
“Bye,” And he turned away.
“What? No— Hold on—” Mirabel hurried after Bruno, Sofía close behind, and followed him through a strange ‘back of house’ tour: pipes, furniture, relics, evidence of the rooms on the other side, et cetera.
As Sofía tried to keep up, she saw that Bruno is extremely superstitious, avoids walking under a ladder, and had all kinds of good luck charms around him.
“Wait, wait— Ow — why did you take the vision? — what does it mean — Is it why you came back or—” Mirabel tried to ask him.
Bruno passed a piece of wood. “Knock, knock, knock. Knock on wood,” he said, knocking the wood and then his head. Then he crossed his fingers and held his breath.
“Tío Bruno?”
He passed another piece of wood. “Knock, knock, knock. Knock on wood.”
“You were never supposed to see that vision, no one was — a little salt.” He threw salt over his shoulder.
“But—” Mirabel began but she sputtered on the salt that flew into her face.
“Sugar,” He then tossed sugar and kept walking past rows of hanging aloe plants, then did a hop skip and a jump over a series of cracks on the ground, chanting something under his breath. “Sana sana, colita de rana,”
They passed an area with tons of cracks which have been painstakingly patched up.
“Wait, have you been in here… patching the cracks?” Sofía asked.
Bruno looked up at all of the patched cracks. “Oh that? No, no, no, no, no, I’m too scared to go near those things. All the patching’s done by Hernando.”
“Who is... Hernan—” Mirabel started to say but was cut off by Bruno, who was speaking in a deep voice and had his hood on.
“—I’m Hernando and I’m scared of nothing.” He took off his hood and went back to his normal voice. “It’s actually me. I used to say my real gift was ‘acting’.”
Mirabel and Sofía exchanged a worried glance as Bruno put a bucket on his head.
“I’m Jorge, I make the spackle.”
“How long have you been... back here?” Mirabel asked.
“You never left,” Sofía murmured when she saw Bruno’s living space.
“Well, I- I left my tower, which was, you know, a lotta stairs, and uh in here - eh? Kitchen adjacent - ooo plus, free entertainment!”
Sofía shifted her focus on a cardboard cut-out that was supposedly a ‘rat theater’.
“So whattya like? Whattya like? You like sports?” Between each suggestion, Bruno switched the cardboard cut-out. “Game Show? Telenovelas? Their love could never be.”
“I don’t understand,” Mirabel said, looking around.
“Well, because she’s his aunt and she has amnesia, so she can’t remember that she’s his aunt, you see it’s like a very forbidden kind of–”
“I don’t understand why you ‘left’, but didn’t ‘leave’?”
Bruno looked a little uncomfortable about the question. “Oh, well... because you know the mountains around the Encanto are pretty tall... and uh - you know like I said, free food... and everything…” Bruno then said to the rats, “Yeah, you guys, you guys love the free food, don’t ya? Always hungry, never satisfied…”
Sofía noticed a shaft of light... She followed it and peered through to discover the family dining room on the other side of the wall. She looked down to see Bruno had recreated his own version of the family table in his little room, complete with a stenciled plate.
“Mirabel,” Sofía murmured and motioned her over to look. After she had gazed out of the crack and at the table, Mirabel looked back to Bruno, realizing how badly this guy still wanted to be part of the family.
Embarrassed, he avoided eye contact. “My gift wasn’t helping the family... but uh... but I love my family, you know... I just don’t know how to... I just don’t know how to…” He sat down on his chair during the awkward silence. “Well anyway, I think you should go, because um – well, I don’t really have a good reason, but if I did, you’d be like, I should go ‘cause that’s a good reason.”
The two walked over to him.
“Why was I in your vision? Tío Bruno...?” Mirabel asked her troubled uncle. I just... wanted to make the family proud of me... just once. But if I should stop... if I’m hurting my family... just tell me.”
He looked at her as if he were debating to reveal his deepest, darkest secret.
He sighed, frustrated. “I can’t tell you… because I don’t know.” Bruno took the shards from his pocket and started to reassemble them...
“I had this vision the night that you didn’t get your gift. Abuela worried about the magic, so she begged me to look into the future, see what it meant… And I saw the magic in danger… our house... breaking... and then... and then, and then... I saw you. But the vision was different. It... it would change... and there was no one answer... no clear fate. Like your future was undecided. But I knew how it was gonna look, I knew what everyone would think because I’m Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst... so... so…”
“You left... to protect me...?”
“I don’t know which way it’ll go… but my guess... the family, the Encanto, the fate of the miracle itself - it’s all gonna come down to you.”
Mirabel looked at Sofía, shocked.
Bruno shrugged, grabbing the assembled vision from Mirabel’s hands. “Or maybe I’m wrong. You know, it’s a mystery, it’s a mystery that’s why this vision is–” He blew a raspberry as he put his thumb down.
Then he walked them to his door. “Look if I could help anymore I would but, that’s all I know. Good luck. I wish I could’ve seen more.”
And he shoved them out, leaving them on their own with their troubling, worrisome thoughts.